Lofoten

There is nothing more spectacular than a wall of snow covered peaks rising from the sea. I have been haunted by the Lofoten since I first saw them 6 years ago, twice I have returned, but I fear that shall not be enough…

Norway Stock Photo: Panoramic photograph of Lofoten Islands in Storm.  © Cody Duncan Photography

Storm

It was a cold May evening that I departed Lofoten, where I had spent the previous three weeks; arriving on an even colder April night in the middle of snow and wind and darkness. My destination was Trondheim, two days to the south traveling on the Hurtigruten, where I was then flying out the next day back to (warm) Germany. By May, being this far in the north, the days are nearly endless. Time becomes irrelevant, the sun is simply always there, or rather more correctly, somewhere behind all the clouds. As the boat gently rocked on its way to Bodø I found a nice couch in a quit part of one of the lounges to curl up on. By 4:00 the next morning I was up again, staring endlessly out the windows at mountains and snow and water and clouds and light. All day, the boat passed in and out of storms: Snow and hale and wind only to become a peaceful and calm sunny day a few moments later. As a storm would approach, I would put on every piece of clothing I had and head out to the outer deck. Blasted by wind and cold, any exposed skin would be numb in a few minutes. Then the storm would pass and I would squint into the bright reflections off the water, only to repeat the process again and again and again. I didn’t get much sleep those days…

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Stormy weather along Norwegian coast from Hurtigruten coastal ferry. © Cody Duncan photography

68º North: Arctic Surf

A small day at Unstad back in April. Checkout this video for some better conditions. About makes me want to make the effort to get my board all the way up there…

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Arctic surfing at Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Arctic surfing at Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography

up to the north

Monday afternoon, April 16th: I’m walking out the door – my jacket and backpack full of camera gear already on – to go shoot some photos of the fields of flowers in the area. By chance, I glance at my plane tickets to Norway which were sitting on the table by the door and notice the date is for the 17th. 17th, 17th, 17th, hmmm, I thought. Shit! Todays the 16th, I leave tomorrow, not Wednesday, I realize in a sudden panic.

Tuesday, April 17th, Aprox 1:00pm: The flight left Munich on time, despite having a 5 hour layover in Oslo, I had still been worried about missing my connection (I haven’t had the best of luck with flights being on-time in the last year, in fact, I’ve come to expect that they will be delayed.). But now I’m planning on what to do with 5 hours in Oslo as I’m watching the beautiful colors of the German spring pass beneath me as we are slowly gaining altitude. Suddenly after around 20 minutes in the air, the plane suddenly makes a quick decent and we enter into a sharp turn towards the south. Hmmm, this doesn’t seem too good. A few minutes later the pilot comes on and says there is a ‘Technical Problem’ and we must now return to Munich. Well, I still have 5 hours in Olso, no problem. Well, the airplane cracked a windshield, which took 5 hours to repair, I arrive in Oslo as my flight I’m supposed to catch to Bodø is taking off. Luckily the airline was nice enough to put me on a later flight from another airline (as this was their last flight of the day), and once again I find myself walking out of the Bodø airport around midnight, looking forward to a night on the floor in the ferry terminal (which I’m now quite familiar with). At least its warm, which is more that can be said about the snowstorm outside.

Only a few pics for now:

lofoten norway

lofoten norway

lofoten norway

dead whale lofoten norway

drying cod stockfish lofoten norway