Bodø is as far north as Norwegian railway (NSB) goes. The train will cross the Arctic Circle. Will the backpackers on the train celebrate the event as if it were the Equator? Let’s see.
Poor Bodø had a hard time in the war. 6,000 people lived there in 1940 when it was bombed by the Germans. 3,500 of them lost their homes. Miraculously only thirteen Norwegians and two British soldiers were killed.
Yesterday and today we have seen rivers probably teeming with salmon. The greatest of these salmon rivers is the Alta (sometimes Alten in English). Like the Wye a century ago, it is famous for its big fish. Here, in July 1968, my grandfather’s friend, Clare de Burgh, landed a 53 lb. salmon. It took her 2 1/2 hours to play and during the struggle she and her two Norwegian boatmen went down the Svartfoss rapids. It was only the second time in living memory that a fish had been followed down them.
Here they are with the fish and, by the look of it, another they had caught earlier. Big fish are still being caught on the Alta by fisherwomen. In 2008, Mollie Fitzgerald landed a 54 lb. salmon after 45 minutes and a perilous descent of rapids. The Alta is further north than Bodø but one’s thoughts turn to fishing stories on a long train journey (ten hours).
The only animals I have seen since leaving Oslo were a field of sheep yesterday, so it’s nice to have a canine companion on the train today.
There is a piffling rule on NSB that alcohol consumed on the train must be bought on the train and drunk in the buffet car. As this area is populated by noisy children I think it is an injunction asking to be broken. So, surreptitiously mixed Pink Gins at our seats are the cocktail de jour. After a few, the noise of the train and the clicking of Robert’s camera make me, like Peter Rabbit, soporific.
The conductor announced that we were approaching the Arctic Circle. It is marked by stones on either side of the track. The backpackers continued sleeping or playing cards.
Robert’s pictures are still in his camera so you will have to make do with mine today, taken from the train.
Aa in this case does not mean alcoholics anonymous but is the unusual name of the southernmost place in The Lofoten Islands which are near Bodo and definitely worth a visit if you have the time.