wednesday walk scenes from the harbor at sunset

please join me on my sunset walk along the harbor. it's a lovely time and a lovely place so i'm sure you'll be glad you did.

a century ago the tiny hilltop called mølleberget- the mill hill had a windmill for the locals to grind their grain. nowadays it is a popular lookout over the harbor and the sound with great views of citadelløya, the citadel island which is about 1 km out to sea and provides sheltered waters in the sound.

a kind soul had the presence of mind to place a pink blanket over the railing of the ramp to floating dock #1. it must have been placed there to catch the last rays of the sun as it set behind the hillside which was behind me

there is a footbridge over the entrance to the inner harbor which is for small boats only. it connects all the docks on the east side of the harbor to the small city center. from this angle below the launch looking toward the outer harbor the citadel island seen earlier appears to be part of the mainland. (i have shown a similar shot on a gray evening walk last month but i include it today because the sun is clearly shining)

the launch

those crossing the bridge are mostly folks and dogs like myself out for an evening walk

the harbor is quiet this time of year as there a few vessels in use other than the lobster boats. lobster season starts midnight october 1st and lasts until november 30th. not many fish the full season as the weather is often rough and cold and the best catch is early in the season.

years ago there was a major naval base in town with the strategic location at the mouth of oslofjord. the hilltops around the harbor are dotted with lookout posts connected to the base. now the base is converted into a park with some offices for the department of justice and a police academy occupying the historical buildings. i will take a walk there one day soon.

meanwhile here is a view of the far end of the park from across the water at the foot of mølleberget. you can see there is a small beach which is popular in the summertime but empty now.

i'm almost back home but i will leave you with a few closing shots from roughly the same spot. turning to the left is the outer harbor with newer houses on risøya in the background.

a little to the right is the lighthouse stavernsoddenfyr which is at the tip of the island we first saw. the lighthouse has of course long since been automated and the historical house for the attendant is well kept. during the summer it is possible to book a room and sleep there with a modern standard the attendants of old could never even imagine.

farther to the right, looking out through the sound, the lighthouse is barely visible on the left side and a neck of the mainland on the right. leaving the sound will put you in the far rougher waters of skagerrak- which is the dutch name for the waters with denmark to the south and sweden to the east and norway to the north.

looking even more to the right i will say goodnight with this trick shot of minnehallen, the national monument to the seaman fallen in the last two world wars. standing at exactly the right spot the pyramid lines up with a much closer lamppost topping the peak of the pyramid.

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