Eigerøy Light at Dusk

Eigerøy Fyr ( Lighthouse ) -

The word for lighthouse in Norwegian is "fyr". So in keeping with my norwegian heritage, I am using that word in this post.

This particular fyr located on the island of Midtbrød is also cast iron as was the Ona Island Lighthouse in the previous post. Some 12 km southwest out towards the Atlantic coast from the town of Egersund, it is about a 30 minute walk along a pedestrian path called Fyrvegen ( the lighthouse road ), and is cordoned off with wood railed gates at several points to keep local farm animals such as sheep, goats and cows from escaping. 

The conical cast iron fyr was first built in 1854 and was Norway's first made of cast iron. Many others followed, up and down the coast of Norway. There have been 212 lighthouses in Norway with only about 154 ever being operational at the same time. The first lighthouse was at Lindesnes in 1655. Current navigational aids along the coast of Norway number around 5,052 spanning from Sweden on the south coast to the border with Russia in the northeast. These are unmanned but automated and many are only light beacons. The first order Fresnel lens used here at Eigerøy is Europe's strongest lit, burning some 3.95 million candelas strong and shining out into the Atlantic 18.8 nautical miles. Automated in 1989, it stands 108 feet tall (33 meters). During WWII there was a German outpost just out of camera view to the right in this photo. Its concrete shell remnant still remains. 

We arrived here very late in the afternoon. So late in fact that the dragonfly- sized mosquitoes were out in full force. If not for wearing long sleeve shirts and hats, they would have eaten us alive. As it was, we did not stay long and kept moving only stopping long enough to set up the photo shoot and drink some water.