A wintery journey to the Arctic Circle - By Nordland railway across Norway

The Nordland Railway in Norway, travels from Trondheim through the isolated regions of Trendelag and Nordland. After Mo I Rana, it traverses the Arctic Circle and ends in the northern Norwegian town of Bodø. The railway covers a distance of some 729 kilometres, passing by dense, snow-covered forests, frozen fjords and snow-capped mountains. Temperatures of sometimes minus 30 degrees are quite normal here for months, on many days there is no more than five hours of daylight. Kindergarten teacher Kaia Aarstrand und her husband, Bjørnar, a technician for the municipality, live with their four boys in Aursletta, deep within the Vistenfjord, far away from civilization. All made possible by the Norwegian state: electricity, mobile phone connection and a speedboat that brings the family to school and to work. But when the Vistenfjord freezes up, the family is isolated for days. Tormod Schøning spends hours on end on his Saltfjellet whenever snowstorms occur and he has to clear the only road connection between North and South Norway with his snow plough. For the duration of his shifts, Tormod lives in the snow plough station.