Hole in the mountain and more

We were attracted by the challenge of the climb - it was steep, for sure, but didn't seem very long. So we gave it a go and once we're half way up the path, we're hooked even though it was getting quite difficult - we've done all that climbing, if we gave up, we didn't get to see the hole and still had to make our way down the treacherous downhill path. So we soldiered on and made it to the hole in the mountain!  

Amazing views up there and truly a natural phenomenon, with that hole in the massive granite dome. Legend has it that a troll was trying to chase a beautiful girl and aimed the arrow at her when he realized he couldn't get her. The troll king threw his hat into the arrow's path to save her - and the hat turned into the mountain with the hole in the centre...As expected the downward hike was more difficult, but we picked our way very carefully and got back safely but our knees and calves were sore for the next day.

That piece of rock in the top left corner is Torghatten

Rocky path to the top

Nice view though!

This was where we thought we're almost there, but it's another 15 minute climb up

At the hole!  It's actually quite big - see the people on the other side

The treacherous downhill path on wet rocks

It was a good thing that the afternoon excursion to the island of Vega was a zodiac cruise, so we didn't have to walk except to the Visitor Centre. And very productive too - we saw two White-tailed Sea Eagles, some eiders, mergansers, an oyster catcher, a blue heron, two families of greylag geese and best of all, a fight between a Great Black-backed gull and a cormorant - all from the front row seat of the zodiac!

White-tailed Sea eagle

Pair of Common Eiders

Red-breasted Merganser

Great blue heron on a tree and in flight

Greylag goose family

Cormorant with big fish

Gull tried to steal fish but got bitten by cormorant

Ouch! That hurts!

Vega is the largest island in the Vega Archipelago which consisted of 6500 islands. The Norwegian government was unable to service all these islands and tried to persuade the population to move to the mainland (some islands have only 1 or 2 inhabitants!). The eiderdown makers on the island of Vega applied for UNESCO cultural site status and received it in 2004. The business of making eider downs is thriving - it required a lot of patience and tending to the eiders and their nests - "women's work".

We attended a tour at the Visitor Centre after being treated to fish soup and waffles - great narrative by an articulate young lady on the superstitions kept by fishermen (women are bad luck, if they saw a woman on the way to the fishing boat, they would turn back, etc.).  The eiderdowns are almost weightless. We closed our eyes and let someone put a ball of eiderdown on our hands, we wouldn't feel it at all. An eiderdown could cost upwards of 60,000 krones ($9300 CAD). It was an interesting visit!

A fishing village in Vega

Leaving Vega

Another group named "Seven Sisters"