I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to identify an uncredited viral photo from the internet. I must have come across this picture of an underground cave cottage/ hobbit house/ Flinstones shack – whatever the internet was calling it – more than a dozen times on my internet travels. It could have been located anywhere from Scotland to Scandinavia and the viral nature of the internet saw to it that anyone with a desire to actually track down the dwelling and discover it in real-life, would be met with plenty of inaccurate guesses. Fortunately, to keep my internet digging skills sharp, I like to solve at least one mystery photograph a day…
(c) Tovep / Instagram
(c) aeliii / Instagram
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Welcome to the storm shelter known locally as “Uværshula” on the island of Hadseløya in North Norway. In the village of Teigan near the shoreline, a simple sign on the road made out of driftwood indicates you’re close to finding it.
(c) Finnstagramz / Instagram
It was built in the 1990s by local school teacher, Mr. Johansen. It has a wood burning stove for boiling coffee and cocoa on cold days. Always unlocked to shelter visitors from a storm, the hut has its own log book filled with comments from travellers from all over the world.
(c) Tovejeane / Instagram
(c) Jerry Webb
(c) Jerry Webb
Uværshula, which translates to “bad weather cave”, is best experienced when, you guessed it, the weather is really miserable. When storms rage in winter and you feel as if the wind might blow you into the sea, only then will you understand why Mr. Johansen built this special hut. You’ll also find a booklet on the history of storms on the island inside.
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(c) Nick Cobbing / Instagram
Supervised only by the seabirds, if you plan to stay the night in the 2-3 square meter abode, just remember that it should be left as it was found. It’s a very special place and should be treated as such.
(c) Trinemora80 / Instagram
I’ll leave a rough location for it here.
Solving internet mysteries, one cave house at a time.