The Far North - Norway - page 865

Tuomainengården HISTORIC FARMHOUSE
(Slettengate 21) This Finnish farmhouse, built in 1840, in its time had its own bakery,
sauna and blacksmith.
Esbensengården HISTORIC FARMHOUSE
(Hvistendalsgata) Just around the corner and als constructed in the mid-19th century, this
isanaltogethermoreopulentmerchant'sdwelling,completewithstableandservants'quar-
ters.
Kjeldsen Fish Factory FORMER FISH FACTORY
( noon-6pm mid-Jun-mid-Aug) The third museum site is at Ekkerøy , 15km east of
town. The complex retains its old stores and lodgings, a mass of arcane fishing equipment,
the former shrimp processing and bottling room and - to make you wince at childhood
memories - a vast black vat and boiler for extracting cod-liver oil. Plan to arrive when
hunger is beginning to bite and you can enjoy an excellent fish meal in the Havhesten
Restaurant ( 90 50 60 80; mains Nkr120-180; 2-10pm Tue-Sun) , housed in one
of the outbuildings. Its maritime artefacts could be an extension of the museum and, if the
wind isn't whipping, you can dine on the jetty with the sea sloshing beneath you.
Luftskipsmasta HISTORIC AIRSHIP SITE
This oil-rig-shaped airship mast on Vadsø island was built in the mid-1920s as an anchor
and launch site for airborne expeditions to the polar regions. The expedition of Roald
Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Lincoln Ellsworth, which floated via the North Pole to
Alaska in the airship Norge N-1, first used it in April 1926. Two years later it was the
launch site for Nobile's airship, Italia, which attempted to repeat the journey but crashed
on Svalbard. Amundsen - together with 12 steamships, 13 planes and 1500 men - joined
the rescue expedition and disappeared in the attempt, becoming a national martyr as well
as a hero. It's well worth the breezy 600m stroll across the grass flats to savour the rich
variety of aquatic birds that quack and croak in the small lake just beyond.
Vadsø Church CHURCH
(Amtmannsgate 1b; 8.30am-3pm Mon-Fri mid-Jun-mid-Aug) As so often in these
small Finnmark communities, the church is the most interesting structure architecturally -
and all too often the only building to have survived the devastation wreaked by retreating