Magerøya means “steep, barren cliff”, though a direct translation would be “the meagre isalnd” which is what it is. In spite of looking barren it has in the summer a surprisingly varied plant life with over 200 registered species. Some of them you know, such as dandelions and daises, bluebells, violets and wild chives.

There’s also a selection of alpine plants, which in Switzerland and Austria grow on a 3-4000ft altitude, here they grow all the way down to the sea. There are no trees here – the tree line is a hundred miles further south. There are trees in Honningsvåg, planted in peoples gardens, but they rarely get taller than 3 feet. The owners protect them in the winter, covering them and then in summer they needed to be protected from the reindeer.

No farming is carried out on Magerøya, but each year six Sami families from Karasjok drive their reindeer flocks to graze here on the North Cape plateau in the summer. The plateau appears bleak and barren but around 200 different plants have been discovered here. Along the cliffs, there are millions of nesting birds and the sea around the island is teeming with life. Marine species include Killer Whales, Minke Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises and various species of seals.

The orange poles along the road are snow poles, Sometimes in the winter there is so much snow that you can barely see the tops of poles. The first snow arrives in November and lasts until April. They can easily have 5-6 feet of snow. The problem is that there are no trees on the island, so the snow drifts.

There are no reindeer here in winter. The first ones arrive by truck or boat in April. Then they are too weak after the long winter with sparse food to get over the island. In October they are all brought back to the mainland, after the summer grazing of the 5-6000 animals there isn’t enough food left. They are strong enough to swim back and then be herded for three weeks back to he Finnmark plateau. This is a safe place for the reindeer – there’s no predators on the island.