Journal

Notes from the water

Honest writing about northern Norway — what it looks like, what it feels like, and why the less obvious places are usually the best ones.

Aurora and a shooting star over the mountains of Senja

5 min read

Senja, Not Tromsø

Tromsø sells the northern lights to a lot of people at once. The sky over Senja is the same sky — darker, quieter, and two hours from the crowds.

The Eagles & Lines boat on a calm inner Senja fjord — sea eagle country

5 min read

What the Sea Eagles Are Doing Up There

The largest bird of prey in northern Europe lives along this coast in numbers found almost nowhere else. A closer look at the bird you will see from the boat — and what it is actually doing.

Segla mountain rising from the Senja fjord — dramatic and entirely uncrowded

5 min read

Senja, Not Lofoten

Lofoten is spectacular. It is also heaving. The island you want is two hours further east, and almost nobody knows about it yet.

Golden midnight sun light over a harbour and calm fjord

4 min read

The Midnight Sun Nobody's Photographing

The famous version is a hotel rooftop and a hundred people with tripods. The real version is an empty fjord at 11pm and light that stops you thinking.

Fishing boat on the Arctic water at a vivid orange sunset

5 min read

Fishing for Real, Not for a Photo

There is a version of Arctic fishing that is a prop. And there is the version where you are actually on the water, hauling in a line, with no guarantee of anything.