Kongsfjord - 70°43'N 29°21'E
Location (click here for map)
Kongsfjord is a small fishing hamlet, part of the Municipality of Berlevag in the extreme north-east of Norway. Once a population of several hundred, today only around 50 are left, most of them older people. One fish processing plant is still in business though, and some of the younger folks are working on transforming Kongsfjord into a tourist attraction for those who seek adventures.
Veines (old Norse for "Hunting Point") is the site of the KONG DX-peditions. Located a kilometer away from the rest of the community, Bjarne has an old farmhouse built in 1923. Bjarne's grandparents were both fishermen and peasants, and built the house from Russian timber (Siberian Lark) that came floating ashore as a result of Russian timber shiploads being lost in the Barents Sea. Most pre-WW2 houses in this area were built that way as there are no natural timber resources around.
The past few decades, the property has been used for recreation, and since 1997 as base for the KONG DX-peditions. It is relatively high-standard compared to earlier generation's use, with H/C water, 230VAC, sufficient heating for cold and windy days, and facilities to do fancy cooking. RFI levels are extremely low, and the topography allows for quite long beverages in most desireable directions.
Fishing and fish processing is the main industry in this part of Norway. This area in specific does export a lot of cod, haddock and king crab to the European and North American markets. It is expected that energy production will be another major industry in the future, as oil and gas exploration activity will increase over the next five to 10 years, and there are plans for giant windpower parks two to five years ahead.
Kongsfjord enjoys good communications with the rest of the world, with two commuter airports within a 45-minute drive and a regional airport less than 3 hours away. Finland is 2 hours away by car, Russia 3 hours.
You can see some excellent pictures from Kongsfjord and Veines (and even more from the Berlevåg area) on this German homepage.
