Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Risøya

My beautiful Phoenix amongst an amazing backdrop!

The whole of risøya. The white house was built in 1856.


View north from the summit of risøya- 104 meters above sea level.


In a way I love that when you're about to leave a place you actually make an effort to do all the things you had planned on doing when you actually had time! But at the last minute you try to fit everything in. Spending a weekend at a cabin was one of those things.

My wonderful co-worker Kenth invited our family to join his family at his cabin on the island Risøya. Since the queen of Norway had once visited there, we couldn't say no! We drove one hour out of town to pick up a ferry which sailed about 1.5 hours before reaching the small island northwest of Tromsø island. We sailed amongst the various islands dotted with cabins dropping of passengers as we went. It was a cool yet sunny day.

Risøya was established by Kenth's great-great grandfather. At one time 30-40 people inhabited the island. There was a bakery, a fish oil factory and a down feather factory. Russian fisherman would come into shore to trade their goods. Today there are no longer any permanent residents. Kenth and his relatives utilize the main house and the fisherman's houses as cabins. Once the snow is gone they are there every weekend and spend their entire summer vacations there.

As you can see, there isn't much to do there and that is what cabin life is about! Taking it easy. Taking it slow. Watching the clouds, talking about the weather, predicting the weather, hikes, catching crabs and boat trips on the little outboard. Kenth's daughters enjoyed swimming in the frigid water with their wet suits. Ben and I enjoyed the good food and wonderful company, while Phoenix and Rio spent their days throwing rocks in the water, playing in the sand and "flirting" with the girls!!! It was a fantastic getaway before the stress of moving began!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds absolutely perfect C.