A late summer overnight stay at Bjuröklubb Aug 22 2026

Thursday afternoon. It is just before the bus stop that I discover the first fly agarics of the year. I have walked about 3.3 km from our home in Obbola to the nearest bus stop. From here it’s half an hour’s bus journey to Norrlands universitetssjukhus, the hospital where I meet Annika.

We take her car, heading north to a well-known place: Bjuröklubb. The first time I went there was 25 April 2010, just three days after I moved to Sweden. The last time I was there was with Annika on 28 June 2024, when we rented the cabin Spanarstugan for an overnight stay.

Since we both have Friday off and the weather forecast looked promising, we have hired the cabin again at very short notice. Luckily it was free. After a 120-km drive, we arrive there, carry our things up the last 250 metres on foot and there we are again: at one of my favourite places, having the large cabin for ourselves and everything we need for a tasty outdoor dinner.

After dinner we go up the hill to the lighthouse Bjuröklubbs fyr which, despite its age, is still active. From here you have a unique view of the sea and, weather permitting, beautiful sunsets.

As the sun sinks lower and lower, the light gets warmer and warmer and it takes a while for the sun to set behind the distant, flat hills in the north.

An hour later it has become darker and the stars are out. The pine trees appear as black silhouettes and the lighthouse has started its work.

The next morning the weather is still clear. A small sailing boat is already out at 6 o’clock. Where does it come from, and where is it heading?

Today is Annika’s and my sixth wedding anniversary and I’m not only blessed to have Annika as my wife, but also glad that we are here together and the weather is nice and the hares are running and the birds are chirping and the butterflies are fluttering around and that we can even have breakfast outside in the sun. But before that: New day – new photos!

Stone field and pines – typical for Bjuröklubb

After lunch, Annika is picking berries while I am walking and climbing to the old lighthouse Bjuröklubb Nord Östra, an abandoned leading light situated by the sea.

I unscrew a hook that locks the metal door, open it and peek in. While the windows still retain their colours, the light source is long gone.

On my way back I meet Annika in the sun. She is still collecting blueberries. Although the warmth of the sun makes it feel like a summer day the bright red leaves on the blueberry bushes show that autumn is near.

Meanwhile, the café has opened. Time to buy some ice cream. After I have finished mine, I try to take photos of the many, many butterflies. Anyway, that’s not easy because I left my big Nikon camera at home and my small Sony camera is a bit picky when it comes to focussing on such subjects. These are the best shots: European peacock (Aglais io) – painted lady (Vanessa cardui) – small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) – red admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

Flying a drone Aug 1 2026

I’m sitting on a bench at gate E18 of the Tromsø Airport. E18 means it’s an international flight. I am flying to Munich and will be spending a week in Augsburg. In Tromsø the temperature exceeded 20 °C on only two days in July, Augsburg will be hot with temperatures up to 35 °C. I like summer but this heat is not my thing and I’m longing for cooler temperatures already now. Like 6 May 2023, when temperatures in Tromsø reached only around 6 °C.

On that day I tested a drone of the Norwegian Polar Institute for an expedition. Flying a drone always means having to leave Tromsøya because of the airport restrictions.

Last week I tested again, this time a newer drone belonging to the Norwegian Polar Institute and a better remote control for my own drone, which I bought second-hand a few days ago. I really like the institute’s DJI Mavic 3 Pro because it is larger, more stable, and has three cameras. But I’m pretty content with my own DJI Mini 3 Pro, especially now with the updated remote control. Under good light conditions they both make great photos. Here is one from Kattfjordeidet, Kvaløya, and the others are from Sommarøya. You can try to guess which drone took which photo. I couldn’t.

About half a year ago I had my drone with my as well, this time on the frozen Baltic Sea where I flew it several times. Publishing aerial photos taken in Sweden always takes a while, as you need to apply for publication permission for each photo. I have obtained permission to publish the following photo of the lighthouse Dynan and the island Bredskär. So, here it is:

If everything goes according to plan I will go on a three-week work cruise with the icebreaking vessel Kronprins Haakon between Svalbard and Greenland in October. Hopefully, we will have good conditions for ice stations. Then I’ll take orthophotos of and on the ice again.

Steindalsbreen 2026 Jul 26 2026

It has become a tradition for me to hike to the glacier Steindalsbreen on the Lyngen Peninsula once a year. I was there on 24 September 2023, on 28 September 2024, and on 14 September 2025. This year I’ll be away most of September, so I hiked there already yesterday with my friend Christine.

We know the way – the ascending forest path by the river Gievdanjohka (Steindalselva) …

… the Steindalshytta cabin, where my wife Annika and I stayed overnight last year, the bridge over the river Doaresjohka (Tverrelva) and the small hilltop from which you can see the glacier for the first time. Then the U-shaped valley, broad and easy to walk before the ascent where the landscape looks high alpine between 1500-metre-high mountains.

Now the landscape is dominated of rocks and the vegetation is sparse and low. Here a favourite flower of mine grows: Ranunculus glacialis – also known as glacier buttercup or glacier crowfoot.

The landscape rises in several waves and then we can see the glacier lake. The water level looks higher than usual. I don’t know if it’s due to the wet summer or the time of the season. This time the lake has some small icebergs in it.

I’m not sure if it is possible to reach the glacier without taking an icy swim but it is surprisingly easy to follow the small path on the scree slopes. The other years it was possible to walk along the glacier front on banks of sand and mud. This year I am limited to the tiny reachable edge of the glacier. This makes the photography part much shorter this year.

The lake looks murky and so do some of the huge ice blocks by the lake. They are covered with rocks, pebbles, and clay and only the smooth side reveals that under the debris there is solid glacial ice.

On our way back I hardly took any photos, just an snapshot of this flower with my mobile phone to look up what it is. According to my app “Flora Incognita”, it is Saxifraga aizoides – also known as yellow mountain saxifrage.

Thanks for the trip, Christine, and for driving all the way.

A summer overnight stay at Blåkollkoia cabin Jul 5 2026

The weather in Tromsø for the weekend didn’t look promising, but for Friday it did. I leave work just after lunch so that Annika and I can hike up to Blåkollkoia cabin together. At half past one I park the car in Tønsvik. From there, it is an 8 km walk up to the cabin. The first 2½ km we follow a gravel road that leads to some private cabins.

Then the road turns into a marked hiking trail. It leads through fern thickets and birch forests; it crosses grassy plateaus and bogs with cotton grass.

It is perfect hiking weather. The air is not too warm, but the sun is quite strong and we are glad about the occasional wind cooling us down. There are hardly any mosquitoes, but plenty of flies seem to fall in love with us and follow us everywhere.

Below the cabin we use the bridge to cross the river Goahtevuomieatnu/Tønsvikelva. We were here in August 2024 and took a bath; now the river carries a lot more water.

Then we arrive at the cabin. It is locked and we use the key provided by DNT (Den Norske Turistforening) to enter. We have booked two beds in Room 2.

I go outside several times to take photos, while the sun is slowly sinking lower and lower. It is still polar day in Tromsø, so the sun won’t set. I sleep a bit but after midnight I am out again enjoying the beautiful scenery that is illuminated by the low sun in warm colours.

The next morning the scenery is quite different. The sky is overcast, some mountains hang in the clouds and it has started drizzling a bit.

After a two-course breakfast (fried spaghetti and muesli), Annika and I pack our things, clean the cabin with the other guests and start our tour back to the parked car.

First it is just overcast, then it becomes foggy and in the end, when we are on the gravel road again, it starts to rain.

Luckily, a friend of ours lives nearby. Here we can change into dry clothes and we get hot soup and coffee. Thank you, C. for the food and good company! A perfect ending for a great hiking tour that took less than 24 hours.

After work visit of Kvaløya Jul 2 2026

A bit of hiking – a bit of dining – a bit of bathing – a bit of geocaching – a lot of sun.

All after a regular work day, together with Annika.

Skoganvarre—Tromsø – the last stage of our car trip Jun 29 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-06: Obbola—Finland—Tromsø”.

Part four of the journey from Obbola to Tromsø

It is Saturday morning. My wife Annika and I are having breakfast in the kitchen of the campsite Skoganvarre Villmark. It is raining and people passing outside are wearing pyjamas and carrying umbrellas or wearing raincoats and crocs. Campsite fashion. Skuvvanvárri (Northern Sámi) or Skoganvarre (Norwegian) is located in Norway, but most of the guests here are Finnish, and it seems to me that more or less all of them are here for fishing.

The grey weather follows us to Lakselv where we meet the sea again in the form of the southern end of the huge Porsangerfjorden, the fourth longest fjord in Norway. We passed the road leading north before, but it was the first time that I saw the fortification high in the mountain walls left of the road. It is part of Banak fort, started by the Germans in WWII and continued by the Norwegians and used until 1987.

On the other side of the road the scenery is completely different. Stabbursnes nature reserve is a large protected area dominated by wetlands.

Annika started geocaching a while ago. Sometimes I join her in the search for I found a place to park the car, sometimes I focus more on looking for photo subjects, ideally I do both. At one of the geocache locations behind a gravelly area I first find this lonely birch and then surprisingly beautiful coastal cliffs, although it looked a bit dull in the grey weather.

I hardly take any photos of one of my favourite landscapes on this stage of the journey – the plateau of Sennalandet. I only stop for the Aisaroaivi kapell after the sky has cleared up a bit.

Some more photos from this day:

At 7 o’clock in the evening we arrive at our last overnight stay of this road trip near Sørstraumen. This time we used Airbnb and found a real gem, owned by Gunn, who is a fantastic host. Gunn rents out rooms in her private home and not only invites her guests to her kitchen for a chat but also provides huge amounts of waffles with jam. I can highly recommend her when you like meeting interesting people. We met two Germans who wanted to go north for fishing and a motorcyclist, who is driving all coastal roads of mainland Norway to collect money for ME-fondet, part of Norges Myalgisk Encefalopati forening. We are talking about 50,000 km – what a trip! This is his Facebook page: Around the Coast 2026.

A last photo of this day.

The next day at Gunn’s place began a bit like the evening before: a lively chat and waffles. One thing was different, though. Gunn already told us about whales she saw and showed some videos. While eating another waffle I looked at the fjord and saw movements on the surface. It was a school of white-beaked dolphins passing by the house. We observed them for a while, swimming, jumping, blowing and hunting. They were far away, so even with the big telephoto lens I only got images like this one:

Later than usual, we left this wonderful place to drive the last stage to Tromsø. We could have made it in four hours but it took us seven and a half. The reasons: geocaches, photo stops, detours and an outdoor lunch break. Here are some photos.

Around 18:00 we arrive in Tromsø, my “work home”. I’ll be here for about four weeks and Annika will join me the first two weeks.

Obbola—Tromsø via Finland – part one Jun 23 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-06: Obbola—Finland—Tromsø”.

Obbola—Oulu

I face the shark, we look into each other’s eyes. I am standing and so is the shark. It waves at me. On its stomach is the word “Wasaline”. That’s the name of the ferry to Finland that we are on.

My wife Annika and I are travelling from our house in Obbola, Sweden, to my workplace in Tromsø, Norway. We have a whole week, so it’s a vacation, not just travelling. We decided to take the ferry from Holmsund, Sweden to Vaasa, Finland. Holmsund is just on the other side of the river Umeälven and we can see the arriving and departing ferries from our house. It is 7:50, the ferry Aurora Botnia departs ten minutes ahead schedule.

I am standing outside taking photos and looking for the lighthouses. About four months ago I walked to four of them over the frozen Baltic Sea. Now, when I see the small skerries and the isolated lighthouses surrounded by the sea it feels unbelievable. Two different worlds! After we passed Storbränningen, the lighthouse furthest away, I go inside to join Annika at the rich breakfast buffet.

Storbränningen – the furthest lighthouse I visited in February

Some hours later we cruise through the Finnish archipelago near our destination, Vaasa where we arrive at 12:30 Finnish time, which is one hour ahead. We leave the ferry and drive north, partially on the main road E8 (it would lead us to Tromsø), partially on smaller detours, which are nicer to drive. The weather is mostly sunny and we start looking for beaches to go for a swim.

We turn left to the beach Kalajoen Hiekkasärkät which is surprisingly large. Boardwalks lead along the dunes and to the sea. The sea is pretty shallow. That kills my motivation a bit and we stay on land.

We enjoy the windy but fair weather for a while before we continue our travel north. We start to get hungry and I am looking for a restaurant in Raahe, about an hour away. Many restaurants close already at 18 o’clock, but I find an Asian restaurant that is open longer. When we arrive there and enter the building we are confused. There is nothing but an elevator. We enter it and find only three levels to choose from: (1), (12), and (13). And there – in level 13 is the restaurant with a wide view over land and sea and a huge buffet of sushi and Chinese and Thai food. The reviews on the web were a bit mixed but I liked it very much.

After two more hours of driving we arrive in Oulu, a major city in Finland which is European Capital of Culture this year. We take a short walk and get wet in the only rain shower of the evening. I like the many bridges, the areas of water, the fact that Oulu is a very bicycle-friendly city and the meeting of historical and contemporary architecture.

In the apartment house right in the center where we’ll stay two nights we have another elevator encounter. This vintage “hissi” looks like from the fifties and has no inner door, which gives it a bit of a steampunk appearance.

Tomorrow we’ll spend the day in Oulu. The weather forecast looks great, perhaps I’ll go for a swim tomorrow.

The end of high summer in Tromsø Aug 24 2025

One month ago was the last polar day in Tromsø, where the sun did not set at all. Now it gets dark again in the night. Rain clouds may help as well to make it darker and I got a lot of help from them, when I made an evening stroll through the forests nearby yesterday evening.

It was still light when I set off and it was raining. The big leaves of the wood cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum) beside the forest paths had started to turn yellow.

The small, grass-covered bogs always look like autumn. The vegetation is just yellower and browner. Because of the recent rain they were pretty wet and partly covered with water.

There were still flowers in bloom, like the pink fireweed and the thistle in the next photo, but more and more it was the leaves bringing the colour—like the wood cranesbill, whose leaves turn a vivid red in autumn.

Red leave of the wood cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum)

Most of the forest paths were mostly dry but some of them had turned into deep water puddles. Rubber boots came in handy.

Half past nine – it was getting darker. Now and then I caught a glimpse of city lights through the trees, but most of the time I was away from town—sometimes going cross-country through the forest, sometimes staying on the paths.

Another sign of autumn was starting to show. Various mushrooms have popped up beside the path. I don’t pick them—I haven’t got a clue about mushrooms—but I do enjoy spotting them.

When I came home at 22:20 my rain clothes were so soaking wet, that I hung them into the shower. Today was the first day after months, where I put on the electrical heating in the living room.

July 2025 – photo supplement Jul 31 2025

No matter whether I blog little or much, there are always photos left, that could be published but weren’t. Today I just show four photos from this month that comes to its end in less than two hours from now.

4 July – Obbola

Just on the eve of my journey from Obbola to Tromsø, when my telephoto lens was already safely packed in the suitcase for next days travel the doe with its two fawns came back. This time they didn’t just passed by but all three stayed in our garden. First the fawns were frolicking around, running back and forth, then they joined their mother and grazed the long culms round the rock in our garden. Meanwhile I found my old telephoto lens and took photos through the window pane. That’s far from being ideal but I didn’t wanted to disturb our visitors peace.

11 July – Tromsøya

One week later I walked home through the forests on top of Tromsøya. Four weeks ago there still had been deep patches of snow, now it was blooming everywhere. Fields of lilac cranesbills, patches of yellow globeflowers and where it was wet und muddy a favourite of mine, marsh-marigold with its bright yellow petals. There is still snow on the mountains, but on the island Tromsøya it is summer.

23 July – Tromsøya

17 °C may not sound hot, but when the wind is calm and it is sunny it makes a summer day in Tromsø. A day Annika and I used for taking a bath in the lake Langvannet. There’s a sandy beach over there at this woodland lake and some quite curious ducklings. After the bath we took another way home that led us to another lake. Lillevannet is far from being a lake for bathing but it shows the beauty of Tromsøya’s nature.

Lillevannet, one of the lakes on Tromsøya

27 July – Tromsøya again

A good friend will start a very special trip the following week. She will embark the three-master Statsraad Lehmkuhl and sail from Nuuk in Greenland through the Northwest Passage to Cambridge Bay in Arctic Canada. What a journey! Time to bid farewell with a barbecue in the forest, but before that another hike to Langvannet – 2 km from my place – to take another bath. We met an acquainted duck with three ducklings (last time one of them tried to nibble my toes all the time). Then another duck family arrived with much younger ducklings – still nestlings. While being less curious they were equally confiding and we could take some photos of them. This is my favourite.

A pretty confiding duckling on Langvannet, Tromsøya

That’s all for today. Perhaps I have some photo leftovers again in the end of August but I guess I’ll blog before that. See you soon in the digital world.

Just a pick-up at the station… – part II Jul 26 2025

< to part 1

Tuesday, 22 July

When I wake up early, the mountains and the sea have vanished. Thick fog surrounds our overnight stay Marmelkroken on the island Andøya. I take a walk through the wet grass to the bird observation place but beside of some seagulls and a lonely curlew that flies around there is nothing to see.

One hour later Annika and I sit inside enjoying our gorgeous breakfast. We get a table-side presentation of the dishes. More or less everything has been produced locally and we eat it all.

Then we head of. We want to catch the one o’clock ferry in Andenes that will bring us to the next island Senja, second largest in Norway (again, when we ignore Svalbard). The weather soon gets fair again, but around the mountains still some clouds are hanging.

Yesterday we took the western road, today we cross the boggy island to take the eastern one. On the way there we pass the village Å. There are several Norwegian places called Å, the most famous one is on the Lofoten. The next stop is the octagonal church in Dverberg.

A bit north near Myrset there is a huge area of peat mining. Andøya has large areas of peat bogs and parts of it has been drained to extract the peat. I climb on a hill of peat – it bounces like a water bed – to take some photos of this moonscape. Then I protect my camera lens, because each step emits a cloud of brown dust. But that’s nothing compared to the huge double-wheeled tractors anyhow that produce huge clouds of peat dust while driving. My car is brown now.

We take it easy, we have time – that’s what I thought. When we however arrive at the ferry terminal it becomes quite obvious that we would not join the next ferry. Too many cars are ahead of us waiting. So the one o’clock the ferry departs without us, leaving us behind but in a much better start position. Now we have to wait for four hours. Time to explore Andenes a bit.

As hoped and expected we find place on the next ferry. Now we are on the way north to Senja. Soon we are in open water, accompanied only by some sea birds.

The ferry trip takes one hour and forty minutes. Then we arrive in Gryllefjord on Senja.

Unfortunately we won’t catch the last ferry to Kvaløya today, they are not coordinated. We have to drive via the mainland – a large detour. Although it is another detour we decide to take the coastal route. 289 more kilometres to go which means a five hour drive in Norway. It is evening and we will make less breaks now.

Stop one – Tungeneset, a scenic rest area.

Stop two – another one of the many beautiful views on a fjord and the mountains on the other side. Here we see something special: a cloud waterfall. Clouds fall down a steep mountain range where they vanish in thin air. New clouds come from behind. The cloud waterfall is several kilometres broad and looks like a huge waterfall in slow motion. An impressive view.

(Note to the meteorologists: is this a orographic cloud spillover?)

We take the bridge from Silsand to Finnsnes. After two days we are on the Norwegian mainland again. Although it is still midnight sun season – the sun won’t set, it just moves lower and lower until it is hidden behind the mountain. I took the next photo at eleven o’clock in the evening.

At half past twelve we arrive home in Tromsø, my “work home”. Although it was only one evening and two days of travelling together it felt like real holidays.

We think about doing the same in half a year. I have to check the ferries, but it would be interesting to visit the same places in wintertime.

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