During their different journeys of the MEMORIA Norway project, SpringerParker will update the Logbook on a regular basis.
It documents their route and events in forms of on location photos and descriptions sent directly via the mobile phone to this website.
Clicking at the geographical data to the left of the entries lets you follow their route on the map.

EXPLORATION AUTUMN (Nov. – Dec. 2009)

back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | next

A thing for trees


Maybe driving through Scandinavia for some weeks makes you develop a thing for trees, but the birch that is being lumberjacked right next to our car probably wishes that it grew someplace else. That reminds us of the most beautiful birch in the Finnmark which we used to do sound recordings of, and which only recently made way to some electric transformer building. Sad story.


Pit Stop


After an unexpected pit stop in Vilhelmina last night, we are getting the two caravan batteries replaced by a friendly mechanic. We don't know whether he knows about the iceberg drifting next to Australia or whether he would care about that, but what he knows is, that the last four winters in his city have been unseasonably warm. Sweden's low temperature record of -53 degrees C was measured in 1941 about 20 km north of here.


Do trees have dreams?


After driving through the same scenery for hours and hours, all that we can come up with is a Poe-resampling: All that we seem to see, is but a tree within the trees. Yeah, we know it's lame, we also like Edgar's version better. Are we there yet?


Jokkmokk


We spent the night at the Arctic Circle, near the city of Jokkmokk. The curves of the frozen river next to us gave the city its Sámi name (River's Curve), which for some reason our mobile phone refuses to write. There is a famous Sámi market, which is taking place every year and which tradition reaches back to the 17th century.


Kiruna


We're approaching Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden. When looking at the map in satelite mode you will notice the huge iron ore mining area which has a long history. In 2004 it was decided that for safety reasons, the whole city with buildings and inhabitants will have to be moved at least four km over the next years. The ore vein runs directly underneath the city and there is an imminent danger that the ground that already got fractures from the mining activities might collapse.


On the border


We will now cross the border to Sweden, it's really hard for us to leave North Norway after such a long and intense time.


Ups and Downs


During the last hours, while driving through hills and valleys, we had temperatures reaching from -19 to +3 degrees C. In Narvik there was no snow at all. It's remarkable, how much brighter and more visible the landscape appears during the mørketid (dark time), when there is snow around.


back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | next