a cloudy day on alsta

it was a cloudy day so we spent the morning hours cleaning up my friend's overgrown garden. she was impressed with the progress we made so she suggested that we take a tour around the nearby island of alsta

to get there from leirfjord you have to cross this bridge

the clouds concealed the mountaintops as we approached the city of sandnessjøen

in the city we made a stop at the docks just as a coastal cruise ship was departing

most of the buildings at this dock were decked with murals

this is my favorite, here in black and white

we didn't spend much time in the city because we wanted to get to a unique mountain chain called the seven sisters.

these shots are taken from the ferry landing at Søvik which is just at the western end of the group. the clouds obscured the tops but it was still quite a spectacle.

the ship we saw leaving sandnessjøen passed by with all the passengers likely taking in the view of the seven sisters

and then a ferry pulled into dock. there are three ferry landings on alsta. this one connects to some other islands which we hope to get to in better weather. the ferries are both essential to the residents of the islands and also very popular among tourists. islands that lack easy connections to the mainland tend to become depopulated over time so as a measure to encourage the inhabitants of the islands to remain the ferries are free of charge.

the clouds on the mountaintops are shifting so hopefully they will eventually clear

we continued on to tjøtta at the southern tip of the island where there are ferries to other islands and the mainland farther south.

then turned back and had a late lunch at a world war 2 memorial cemetary. during the war british forces mistakenly bombed and sank two norwegian ships sailing under german flag off the coast of tjøtta carrying prisoners of war. more than 2500 died under the attack, making it the worst catastrophe in norway during the war. their remains are buried behind the stone wall along with parts of the ship.

the stone picnic table by the parking area was also impressive.

we headed back home. on the way we noticed the clouds had lifted on the outer islands and promising better weather.

hopefully we'll take a ferry tomorrow in sunshine

this is the sixteenth post in a series of photos i took in Leirfjord, Norway at the end of August.

links to previous ones:
@eolianpariah2/a-sunset-walk-to-the
@eolianpariah2/rust-by-the-seashore
@eolianpariah2/friendly-robots
@eolianpariah2/a-hike-in-forslandsdalen
@eolianpariah2/more-seaside-rust
@eolianpariah2/an-evening-walk-along-the
@eolianpariah2/gone-fishing-in-leirfjord
@eolianpariah2/the-bridge
@eolianpariah2/the-old-house-by-the
@eolianpariah2/morning-walk-along-the-leirfjord
@eolianpariah2/fagervika-sunset
@eolianpariah2/an-odd-form-of-treasure
@eolianpariah2/let-s-go-fisshing
@eolianpariah2/rust-as-art
@eolianpariah2/another-evening-walk-in-leirfjord

more to come