Toska

The peat bogs on Toska have been mined for peat since 1946, when the island got electricity. In this treeless coastal landscape, peat was the most important source of energy, and this took quite a toll on the bogs.

Vågenes

On Vågenes, on one of the prominences out toward Eitrevågen, one finds garnets in anorthosite. The garnets are both older, and not least bigger, than average.

Hana

Skreien

Hisøya

"I am going to prove to you that I am right". That is what the idealist and county doctor Christian Heitmann is supposed to have said in the early 1890s. He sat together with the parish priest, Kullmann, at Heitmann's home in Stord and discussed whether the islands in western Norway could have been forested or not. The priest thought that the area was too barren and weather-beaten for forest to have been able to grow so far out in the sea. But, Heitmann was sure he was right. He challenged the scepticism and set off to work.

Lykling- gold

During the summer of 1979 a rock was found at Lykling in Bømlo that contained 450 grams of gold, and at the end of the 1980s a great many gold samples were laid out for sale. In the old mining area there are still gold miners hunting for the precious metal. But, the big adventure stories are a thing of the past.

Lykling- soapstone

Moster amfi

Siggjo

Siggjo is a cone-shaped, volcano-like mountaintop in the part of Hordaland where one finds the best preserved volcanic rocks. The rock types originate from one or several volcanoes that spewed out glowing lava and ash. But, the shape of the mountain, as it appears today, formed later and by completely different forces.

Skogafjellet

You have to travel to Scotland in order to find pine forests similar to those at Bømlo. The nearness to the sea has contributed in different ways to shaping one of the westernmost pine forests in Norway.