Honningsvåg

Morning at Havøysund

Magerøya. 

Honningsvåg.

Honningsvåg church.

Built in 1885, Honningsvåg Kirke is the oldest building on Magerøya, in the north cape. It was spared while the rest of the town was burned to the ground at the end of the World War II. When the reconstruction of Finnmark began, the government wanted to move Honningsvåg to the mainland. But determined residents fought to rebuild their town in it's original location. People returned and set up camp in the church. A bakery was established, pews doubled as beds and with the church as their home this heroic group began the building of a new Honningsvåg. The church stands as a symbol of faith, hope, community and determination.

The church during the war....

Honningsvåg.

Medical assistance in harbour?

Day 6 Hurtigruten

Arriving Vardø

Finally back on the ground.

We had a quite nice trip today, seeing a lot of remote places on our journey. We also had a nice dinner and I was reading my book before I slept a few hours. We arrived in Vardø at 03.15 and it was really exciting, this was a new place to me. Although we were tired it was good to put our feet back on solid ground again. We packed our bikes and went to the place where we had a room booked so we could sleep a few hours. It looked like some old house in Russia almost falling apart. But the room was ok.

The town is named after the island on which it is located; Vardøya. The Old Norse form of the name was Vargøy. The first element is vargr which means "wolf" and the last element is øy which means "island". The first element was later replaced (around 1500) with varða which means "cairn". The village of Vardø on the island of Vardøya, was made important because of the Vardøhus Fortress that was built on the island in the early 14th century. The village grew up around the fortress and became a major trading post between the norwegians in Finnmark county and the nearby russians.