2024: A year of stories from Norway’s coast
This Christmas, we reflect on a year of heartfelt stories from our precious coast.
Throughout 2024 we’ve been inspired by the people we’ve met and the stories they’ve shared with us, all along Norway’s coast.
From Jennifer, who found strength in sailing our shores after a life-changing diagnosis, to flower farmer Per-Gunnar Holmberg and Able Seaman Isak Hals, for whom the coast is a way of life.
From filmmaker Grace Lin and artist Catherine Harvey Jefferson, whose first visits to our shores moved them to capture the magic of Norway’s skies, to islanders like Anita, Siw, Åshild and Gisle, who depend on the rhythms of The Coastal Express as a lifeline.
Thank you for a year filled with stories that have stirred and enraptured us.
Wishing you all a god jul and a story-filled 2025.
Stories from the coast
Dear Coast, from Jennifer
For Jennifer Drescher, the urge to see the Northern Lights on what might have been her last trip in life led her to sail The Coastal Express. This is her love letter to the Norwegian coast.
Dear Coast, from Myklevik Gård
When Åshild and Gisle saw Myklevik Gård on the Lofoten Islands, they realised that what they thought was their plan for life, was not the plan at all. This is their story.
Dear Coast, from Lofoten Seaweed
How two women embraced the ocean, overcame the odds, and created an exciting new industry in the north of Norway.
Dear Coast, from the flower farmer of Hjørundfjord
Per-Gunnar Holmberg has dedicated his life to flowers. Bouquets of his flowers bring people extra joy when Norway celebrates its national day on 17 May.
Dear Coast, from Catherine, a landscape artist
When professional landscape artist Catherine Harvey Jefferson set sail on The Svalbard Line, she took her paints with her. This is her story of capturing the extraordinary light of the Midnight Sun.
Dear Coast, from Isak Hals
An Able Seaman on MS Vesterålen, Isak is the latest in a long line of Hals family members who have worked on our ships, going all the way back to 1893 when we first started sailing.
Dear Coast, from Træna Badstue
If anyone can persuade you to take a dip in the sea above the Arctic Circle, it’s these two.
Dear Coast, from Huset
Those who live in Longyearbyen will tell you that the heart of their town beats in Huset. This building, affectionately known by locals as “The Old Lady”, carries the stories of Svalbard’s capital within its walls.
Dear Coast, from Grace Lin
A Taiwanese filmmaker and aurora chaser, Grace tells us about her experience of seeing the Northern Lights on our Astronomy Voyage.