As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.
"Magerøya (
Norwegian) or Máhkarávju (
Northern Sami)
[1] is a large
island in
Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of
Norway. The island lies along the
Barents Sea in
Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the
Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of
Porsangerfjorden lies off the east coast of the island."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mager%C3%B8ya.
Nordkapp, located on the Barents Sea, is a well-known vantage point overlooking the Arctic Ocean, with no significant landmass between it and the North Pole. It is the northernmost point in Continental Europe.
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| Map of Magaroya with Honningsvag and Nordkapp marked up North |
Our ship berthed in
Honningsvag on Magaroya Island. As we had explored this pretty town on a previous visit we signed up for a tour to
Nordkapp (North Cape). When we last visited Nordkapp in 2015 the visibility was so poor that we could barely see a metre or two ahead of us. This time we were in luck.
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| Unassuming entrance to the Visitor Centre at Nordkapp |
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| Globe Monument, erected in 1978, can be see from the Centre |
As the weather was favourable we opted to explore outside the centre first.
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| A Tribe of tourists at the Globe |
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Aussies at the top of Europe
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| Looking down to the sea from the Globe area |
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| View along the coast from the Globe area |
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Children of the Earth Monument symbolises global friendship
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Obelisk of King Oscar II, inaugurated on July 2, 1873
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| Large stone coins at Nordkapp |
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| Two large trolls welcomed us back into the visitors Centre |
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| Spacious area and cafe in the Centre |
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| Downstairs there were displays depicting local wildlife and history |
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| A surprise find in the lower levels of the Centre was a Chapel |
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| The world's northernmost chapel is an ecumenical space for contemplation and meditation |
Our visit to the Isle of Mull where we stayed in
Tobermory was as part of our Back-Roads tour. From Mull we took a ferry to Iona mentioned in
my I post.
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| Tobermory, Mull |
"The Isle of Mull, or simply Mull, is the second-largest island of the
Inner Hebrides (after
Skye) and lies off the west coast of
Scotland in the
council area of
Argyll and Bute.
Covering 875.35 square kilometres (337.97 sq mi), Mull is the fourth-largest island in Scotland. Between 2011 and 2022 the population increased from 2,800 to 3,063. It has the eighth largest island population in Scotland. In the summer, these numbers are augmented by an influx of many tourists. Much of the year-round population lives in the colourful main settlement of
Tobermory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Mull".
We viewed some striking landscapes and interesting creatures as we motored around the Island.
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| Perched on a hill our hotel gave us spectacular views over Tobermory |
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| View from the Hotel Restaurant |
There was plenty of colour in Tobermory
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Tobermory Distillery - a link with the past
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Other M islands we have visited include
