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Continue reading →: A Gradual RevealFor two days now the magnificent peaks of Senja have been under wraps, concealed by low cloud and mist. As I write the sky is clearing for a fine week. Those peaks are starting to show themselves, and as the cloud ascends and disappears the gradual reveal is special indeed.…
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Continue reading →: The first of the five Fingers of SenjaLeaving the island of Bjarkøya I continued on the long way round to get to the island of Senja, by way of the islands of Grytøya, Rolla and Andørja. Small as Grytøya is, it is a mountaineer’s paradise, but the hiking is at a low level, above 300 metres, and…
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Continue reading →: Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
translated from the Norwegian by Marjam Idriss Biology student Jo arrives into an English university town where the only accommodation she can find is a flatshare in a former brewery warehouse., with no permanent walls, and where every sound is amplified. With the introduction Hval has created an atmosphere of…
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Continue reading →: Three Peaks on the island of BjarkøyaThe vast bulk of tourist traffic, the convoy of motorhomes, campervans and cars with roof tents plod their way slowly northwards from Stave to Andesnes, departing the Vesterålen islands by ferry to the island of Senja, where they stick to highway 86 to head from Tromso and north to the…
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Continue reading →: Just a Mother by Roy Jacobsen
translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw The Barrøy Chronicles was initially a trilogy, but luckily we got a fourth book, and maybe even we will get a fifth. This isn’t the best of the Chronicles, an accolade I would bestow on The Unseen, but readers are…
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Continue reading →: Some days on Stave Beach, AndøyaI’ve been four days at Stave beach which was busy when I arrived but after a day of rain yesterday there is hardly anyone here today. I’m at a campsite as Andøya is popular with visitors particularly at this time of year, and wild camping is forbidden in most, if…
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Continue reading →: Loop Track
This is a good low budget horror film that demonstrates one of my theories on the genre, that the most difficult thing is often the ending. It’s a 90 minute film, and for 70 minutes it builds tension on a typical New Zealand four or five day bush tramp, or…
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Continue reading →: Dr. Josef’s Little Beauty by Zyta Rudzka
translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd- Jones Set in a Polish nursing home in the 1960s for those damaged and maimed in the war, this is the harrowing story of two sisters who survived Auschwitz. In order to survive Leokadia and Helena convinced everyone that they were twins, however,…
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Continue reading →: Andøya, Vesterålen IslandsAfter a day of cloud and drizzle on the Vesterålen island of Langøya we have moved east to the next island, Andøya. Despite the rain we hiked a good section of the coastal walk on the west of Langøya yesterday. As usual with such rocky coastal walks, there was plenty…
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Continue reading →: Onwards to the Vesterålen Islands24 hours of sun takes a bit of getting used to. I’m not having any problem sleeping, but it can mean that by 6 am the sun is much higher in the sky than one might think. This results in mornings like this one, when that is the warmest time…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias. Rua is my fox red labrador pup, born 14 Feb 2026 and learning fast..
Where is Rua?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 