Invercargill, the last great city of the south

This is quite remote, though not arctic or antarctic; anyhow I see it as an extreme south 'Thulean' city.

Invercargill is the southernmost city in New Zealand, and in the whole Asia-Pacific region, around the same latitude of the Kerguelen Islands.

It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti river's estuary, amid rich farmland, and is the commercial center of New Zealand's Southland region.

The Oreti flows southwards to the Pacific, through fertile flat lands.

The town center, the large Dee and Tay avenues, the Water Tower at left: built on flat land, it strangely reminds of  arctic canadian and alaskan towns - most buldings are just two or three-storey high.

Coordinates:  46° 24′S, 168° 20′  E
Population:   ~53 000

Bank Corner, the traditional town center

The Bank of New South Wales

Bank Corner is the intersection of Tay and Dee streets. In the middle of the roundabout is the Trooper's Memorial which honours those who died during the Boer War in South Africa.

When the commercial area moved some blocks away, the banks closed. They remain as remarkable architectural works and testimonies of an era of economic boom.

Built in 1878, the Bank of New Zealand is now the Bethel Centre, a Lutheran social organization.

The National Bank of New Zealand, on the Crescent, is now an Art gallery.

Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Great Britain, mainly Scotland: Dee and Tay, Tyne, Esk, Don, Thames, Mersey, Ness, Yarrow, Spey, and Eye rivers.

Dee street

The corner of Dee and Tay.

The 'Briscoes' building, 1880, one of the oldest stores in town.

The Alexander Building, on Dee street: late victorian style from 1901

The Grand Hotel, from 1913, with cast iron balustrade balconies.

Tay stret

The Town Hall and Theater, from 1906, where the town's cultural life takes place.
The theater auditorium can accomodate over 1000 spectators.

The Crescent

In this short curving street by the Bank corner is located the glorious Victoria Railway Hotel, from 1896 , with an octogonal turret and ornate balustrades:

Also in this building is the exclusive Gerrard's Restaurant
http://www.hotelinvercargill.com/

Esk Street

The home of the Southland Times newspaper, from 1908

Esk Street is the main shopping street of Invercargill. The west end of Esk Street is anchored by the new Wachner Place.

Spring time on Esk street

Wachner Place is the new comercial and civic open area, with pedestrian streets; it has become a place to sit and people watch.

Invercargill umbrella, a modern town's landmark on Don street.

Modern architecture, cafés and leisure facilities in Wachner Place.

The Water Tower:

Completed in 1889, it is 42.5 m high.

The Southlands boys high school:

St. Mary's basilica:

A catholic church on Tyne street, the basilica was completed in 1905 in the late Victorian style.

St Mary's Basilica is another one of the more notable landmarks of the city.

First Presbyterian church:

In polychrome brick, from 1915, after italian romanesque style.

Invercargill Civic Theater at night:

http://www.icc.govt.nz/ServicesA-Z/CivicTheatre/Theatreinformation.aspx

Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are frequent over Invercargill, mainly around the equinoxes:

Piteraq season, the most feared in East Greenland

A Piteraq is a cold katabatic wind which originates on the Greenlandic icecap and sweeps down the east coast, commonly in the fall and winter.
Piteraqs blow frequently during the cold season over the Ammassalik fjord towns - Tasiilaq, Kuumiut and Kulusuk.

The word "piteraq" means "that which attacks you" in inuit.

The approaching of a Piteraq is a dreaded cold season hazard: the hurricane-force wind speed can reach 80 m/s (290 km/h). Wind speeds typically reach over 50 m/s. On February 6, 1970, Tasiilaq was hit by the worst documented Piteraq ever in Greenland, reaching an estimated speed of 90 m /s and causing severe damage.

When Piteraq is coming, you can see the mountains starting to smoke and if you look at the ice sheet several hours in advance it becomes blurred.
If this happens, all the towns and villages close completely down, the shutters come on the windows and you are indoors for the day or so it usually lasts.

The town of Tasiilaq is the most subject to Piteraq winds in Greenland.

Piteraqs often occur when there are no clouds, in a fall sunny day.

The air closest to Greenland’s icecap cools off rapidly by contact with the ice so that even in summer the air temperature might be between -20 and -30ºC, while the layer of air above it stays warm, so  actually the temperature increases with height.

Near the coast, air in the valleys is warmed by the sea. Gravity pulls the cooler air down into the valleys, which suddenly within minutes sets up a strong wind blowing from the west-northwest.

Piteraqs are most intense whenever a low pressure area approaches the coast. Down-slope winds flowing from high elevations of mountains, plateaus, and hills down their slopes to the valleys, planes or sea below are called katabatic winds.

Katabatic is derived from the Greek, meaning "to go down".

It is very cold air from the Davis Strait and Canada that need eastward across the ice sheet, and is associated with a very strong low pressure at Ammassalik sucked out of the Denmark Strait.

Tasiilaq under a piteraq storm

Similar winds are seen in Antarctica, where they give rise to the polar deserts known as the “Dry Valleys”.
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Today I found a friendly blog, also about arctic locations and matters, that deserves regular visitation:
Adventures of a Polarphile

Stamsund, Lofoten Islands- cheerful scenery plus a fabulous arctic beach.

Stamsund, in central Lofoten Islands:

Stamsund is a fishing village located on the southern side of Vestvågøy island, along the Vestfjorden, in Norway's Lofoten archipelago.

Coordinates: 68 ° 08' N, 13 °50' E,

                  170 km above de arctic circle

Population  ~ 1400

Stamsund's pier, from 1845

Presently Stamsund is one of the most precious spots on the fabulous Lofoten Islands, offering breathtaking scenery all around and a colourful ambiance thanks to the careful restoration of the wooden rorbuer, the mostly red houses where fishermen lived. Many of these are now cabins to rent for tourists.

Stamsund's  pier is carefully restored.

Stamsund has one of Lofoten's largest fishing ports, and was early an important center in the local fishing and shipping business.

Main products at Stamsund are fresh and frozen parts of cod, saithe and haddock.

The Aker Seafoods factory (now Havfisk) founded in 1876 is one of Norway´s leading producers and exporters of fish products.

The buildings are concentrated on the eastern side of the peninsula, with steep Steinetind mountain behind.

Stamsund has become a popular tourist destination:

The rorbu-hostel of Stamsund, two old fisherman cabins located on the pier, presently under renovation.

Skjærbrygga

Skjærbrygga is the main restaurant and rorbu, the best in Stamsund.

http://www.skjaerbrygga.no/

Stamsund is also known for the popular Nordland Figurteateret, an annual international puppet theatre, and two art galleries - Gallery 2 by Scott Thoe and Ulf M's Atelier.

The village center, with Gallery 2 at left.

Outside 'Ulf M' Atelier

Several hundred meters stone quay was built up and Stamsund Harbour - one of the ports where the Hurtigruten Coastal Steamer arrives.

The Hurtigruten Express service stops twice a day at Stamsund's harbour, southbound from Svolvær and northbound from Bodø.

Hurtigruten ship arriving and mooring at Stamsund at twilight.

The midnight sun here is just a whole-night dim clarity.

Samsund by night.

The midnight sun during the summer months and the northern light during the winter months attract a lot of visitors.

Aurora over Haukland beach

Haukland beach

On the north coast of the island is one of the most amazing spots on the Lofoten.

Haukland beach has a superb wild background, two coves framed by a mountain cirque of exceptional beauty.

Amazing white sand, turquoise blue water... more like a tropical lagoon than the shoreline of the Arctic.

The regular Cove of bright white sand under the Sun, the crystal clear waters, the lush green shores, a feast to the senses.

And to complete the picture, in the background a succession of mountains, peaks and steep ridges. Sumptuous.

It's also quite popular in summer, in spite of the freezing water !