I have always enjoyed visiting island communities. Sailing the coast of Maine for so many years, and having friends who live on Vinalhaven, Chebeague, and Peaks, I have gotten to know a few. They each have their own personalities, attractions, and dramas. But wow - out of approximately 300,000 islands off the coast of Norway, over 2,000 are inhabited. They are connected by many graceful bridges or ferries of many shapes, sizes, and speeds. The oil-funded infrastructure allows people to live on these islands comfortably. Many people work in the salmon farming industry, which is huge over here.

We visited the archipelago of Træna, located in the Helgeland region, just a couple of miles south of the Arctic Circle. It is 33 nautical miles from the mainland. Ferries run several times a day to the main island, Husoy, and then a small, high-speed ferry connects the five inhabited islands of the group.

Our goal was to go to Sanna, the most spectacular of the islands. It had one guest dock space that was taken so we went over to the main island, found room at the dock, and planned to go over the next day by ferry. In two days thousands of people were going to descend on the area for an international music festival, but there weren't any signs of increased activity yet.

Sanna is in the background.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the town of Husoy, which had a decent grocery and hardware store where we could get propane. We are here in the height of wildflower season.

A view to the north from the water tower

This chapel is a memorial to those who never returned from the sea.

Sanna and the ever-present salmon farm

These are the traditional red fishing huts called rorbuer. They are in every community. The red must be cheery during the long winter.

The next day, we went over to Sanna, which has a small population of 400 year-round residents.

It has a NATO radar installation that originally was part of the DEW line (early warning system).

We first hiked to a cave called Kirkhelleren (Church Cave), where scientists have discovered evidence of human habitation that goes back 9,000 years. The flag of the region has three stone-age fish hooks based on the ones found in the cave.

This is where they will have a concert in a few days. The acoustics are supposed to be incredible.

We then hiked up the road from town to the radar installation. The road entered a totally dark tunnel through two of the rock spires. Luckily, we were warned to bring a flashlight because it was a kilometer long. 

Once we emerged into the light, there were incredible views on the way up.

The other highlight of the walk was the profusion of wildflowers.

We wandered through the cemetery on the way back and noticed that many of the stones had the same saying carved on them, Takk for alt. We translated it: Thanks for everything.

After the hike, we caught the ferry and went around to the other towns in the island group before heading back to the boat. There is a large fish meal plant on Husoy that employs many people. Workers can live on these outer islands and commute to work on this small ferry that goes 24 knots. You should see it zipping through rock-strewn passages and narrow passages like they were nothing at all. The ferry would land, pick up passengers, and take off in about a minute.