The intoxicatingly fresh smell of the sea penetrates the air and makes one want to go fishing. And now, in late summer, nature displays all her picturesque glory, adding to the impression. Houses are painted in intensely bold colours, creating the impression of a fairytale setting. Another striking feature of the local architecture is colour. Others cultivate wild strawberries on top of their houses. Some people grow herbs near the edge of the roof, ready anytime to be picked for a salad. In summer, the green roofs look like flower hats. Some of the roofs are covered with thick turf, which creates perfect insulation in winter. People have lived here for centuries, but most of the buildings are modern and very well kept. Grey boulders covered with moss and grass dominate the landscape into which the inhabitants have fitted large family homes and small holiday cottages. Located on a hilltop near the harbour, fifteen meters tall, it is the perfect vantage point for the entire island. The ancient maroon-red lighthouse built on Ona in 1867 remains the main sightseeing attraction. There is hardly any traffic on the few paved roads of the two islands, and everything is within easy walking distance. I have been enjoying my afternoon coffee in it ever since. I add a tall, distinguished-looking, dark blue mug to my collection. The other workshop, located on the other side of the harbour, offers dark, elegant products which immediately catch my fancy. ‘These all look as if they were wearing pyjamas,’ my husband comments with a smile. As if on purpose, the one located east of the harbour specialises in light, pastel colours and frivolous patterns. The two shops are a paradise for a coffee-mug collector like myself. With an estimated fifty permanent inhabitants Ona and Husøya do not require much of an infrastructure, yet they provide a small cosy hotel with a restaurant, a well-stocked grocery shop with some banking and postal facilities, and two ceramic workshops – all situated in the vicinity of the harbour. ![]() We already had them on the ferry where, we have been assured, they always taste best. Downstairs is a café selling svele – traditional big fluffy pancakes one can have with butter and sugar or brown goat’s cheese, a Norwegian speciality. We move into a spacious grey house next to the harbour, rented out before it is to be sold to a new owner. Even though it is almost eight, the sun is still bright and it will take two more hours to set quite a change after the short winter days of Cape Town in August. With one hand she holds a child to her breast and with the other she shields her eyes from a setting sun or a merciless wind, her whole posture an expression of anticipation. A stone statue of a woman welcomes the people descending on land. After an one-and-a-half-hour journey from Småge, the ferry docks in a small harbour in Ona. A ferry transports supplies, tourists and locals to and fro between the mainland and the islands five times a day. The two islands almost form one landmass and are connected by a narrow inconspicuous bridge. It shields its twin Husøya from the open sea. Situated exactly in the middle between the former medieval capital of Norway, Trondheim, and the Hanseatic city of Bergen, Ona is the island located furthest away from the mainland in this region. With him rest a few dozen other souls, former inhabitants of these small Norwegian Sea twin islands called Ona and Husøya. ![]() The last of the keepers who kept vigil up here at the lighthouse every Christmas with his grandson is long buried in the small graveyard facing the fjords on the adjacent island. ![]() Today, the navigational light up on the hill changes automatically from white to red and green.
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