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Vinjeøra

mid Norway

Vinjeøra is small village at the end of Vinjefjorden. A long narrow fjord, steep on the north side going up to over 600m at the highest point. I have only paddled out from the village Vinjeøra for a distance of 10km and back. I have yet to paddle the outer fjord which branches out into other fjords.

As with all narrow fjords I have found, the tidal currents can be quite strong at times. I try to plan my journey going in the direction of the tides if I can. I have paddled here only a few times, but being close to home I hope to be paddling on it a lot more. As always there is resident sea eagles, nesting on the north side, high up on the steep sided mountains. Only last week a small, inquisitive mink was looking out as I paddled by, not perturbed whatsoever as I paddled closer to take photographs. Red deer can be seen quite close up on the steep sided slopes again undisturbed by my presence, a local fisherman explained to me that they try to preserve their energy in winter while grazing places are few and far between, so don't tend to run as they normally would. And again only last week after paddling almost 20km and looking forward to coming back to a warm car, I seen a fin nearby. Stopping and getting my camera in position, I noticed the battery symbol on the screen blinking red before shutting itself off. I ran out of battery but thankfully I didn't run out of cameras. 

It seemed as if he was swimming around feasting on a small shoal of fish. I identified it as a Atlantic white-sided dolphin. Possibly the same solitary dolphin that I seen on a nearby fjord only a few weeks ago. He circled round my kayak for around ten minutes, but not to close. I wanted to paddle closer but that goes against the rule, stay back, observe and let them come to you. After a while he disappeared, swimming further out in the fjord. Another local fisherman told me he has been around for three weeks and regularly comes up to the side of fishing boats. The locals even gave him a name, ''Springer.''

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