Quickly let’s get the geology out of the way. Ofotfjord is 78 Kms long and 553 m deep at its deepest. The name could refer to the shape of the fjord on a map; its forks look like the talons of an úfr, the locally common Eurasian eagle-owl. The port of Narvik sits pretty far inside the fjord, roughly where the talons begin to fork. The landscape was formed in what is called the Caledonian Orogeny, about 430 million years ago, when the paleo-continents of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia collided and created the metamorphic rocks what we see now at the surface. In our times this seam is open again. (If this text confuses you, see this beautiful video of 750 million years of geological history). At the northern end of the continent, tens of thousands of years ago, glaciers began to sculpt the metamorphic rocks, the Caledonian nappe, into the deep valley that we saw.
The weather was extremely changeable that day. The tide was out. We found a beach and walked down to it (it is probably called Langstranda). Herring is common in these waters in winter and mackerel in summer. One indication was the fishing village that we could see in the distance (we visited a different one later). It is said that Orca often enter the fjord to hunt fish, but we couldn’t sight a pod. On the other hand, looking up we saw a White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Satisfied with this lifer we went on.
The weather kept changing. On one side the finger of the fjord broadened out. I could see a bridge across it at that end, the Hålogaland Bridge. We would take this later. First we crossed over the Rombak Bridge and drove east for a while until we reached the Sildvik waterfall.
The water was frozen into hard blue ice. Three people were climbing this frozen waterfall. We watched as one of them took a few steps up. I noted the equipment needed: crampons, pick axes, helmets and harness. I’d seen different colours of ice, so I walked back to look for examples. It turns out that the rock here has lots of iron. It’s not surprising given the huge seam in nearby Kiruna which has not been mined out in more than 125 years. So I found red ice all along the road. We got back in the car soon, made a U-turn and drove on to Narvik.
This is for Esther: Who takes a rocket any more? You’re shot out of a gun from a planet to a moon, with your oxygen tanks strung on a lanyard behind you. If I’m bored, I crotchet. All I need is in this warlock’s bag.
Don't hold your breath 
