Tromso (and photos)
Hey everyone.
Click here for photos
Its been a while since I last posted, so here is an update. Fiona and I were both been really busy at work throughout January and we were hanging out for our trip of a lifetime (my words) to Tromso, in Norwegian Lapland, well up inside the Arctic Circle - about 70* north. And, we weren't disappointed.
Tromso is a truly stunning place, a small island with a population of about 50,000 just off the coast of Norway. A bridge over the freezing cold, calm waters links the town to the mainland and the landscape is filled with snow covered mountains. After two, two hour flights (via Oslo) we arrived Thursday afternoon. It was dark by around 3:30 - 4pm, but we did have a bit of a walk around the town at night to get ourselves oriented. As an aside, 4 kiwis live in Tromso - because of Norwegian women I am reliably informed.
Friday (the next day) we spent looking around the city, browsing through a few shops and taking a bus across to the mainland to see the Arctic Cathedral and visiting many of the sights around the town, including the Perspektivet Museum, which had a photography exhibition on Norwegian and Russian relations. Friday night we treated ourselves to a fantastic meal of reindeer, served with potato and mushrooms. Funnily enough, is tasted a bit like venison, but a bit more rich and more substantial a cut - like steak. Very, very nice - sorry Rudolph!
Saturday we did a bit more looking around the town. Fiona went for a walk slightly above the town while I did some retail therapy. We also visited "Blast" the northern most glass blowing open workshop in the world, and Mack brewery (which was the world's northern most, but some one build one somewhere else a few degrees further north). We also visited the Polaria, a polar centre on the water front, home to some native bearded seals, which we watched being trained.
Saturday night was the "main event" so to speak. We were picked up from our hotel by coach and went about an hour inland to the husky farm. Provided with thermal overalls, boots, hats, gloves etc were were given our own sled and team of huskys to follow the trail. Fiona sat on the front of the sled and I stood on the back, pretending to look like I knew what I was doing, with foot firmly planted on the break. By the time we all got organised all the dogs were howling, more than ready to go. So with no steering and just a break, we were on our way in about -10 degrees.
Our team of five were fantastic, incredibly strong dogs. It was a bit of a learning curve and after about 5 minutes of sledding we went a little too fast, tipped the sled a little too far one way and I fell off. I held onto the back for a few seconds being dragged along in the snow before letting go while the sled with Fiona on board kept going without me! Thankfully the leader in front calmly grabbed the dogs by their harnesses, who happily stopped. Quite a few people fell off at some stage, so I didn't feel too bad, or look too stupid. After that, it was all plain sledding, up and down the hills, gliding along over the knee-high snow along the valleys in amongst the towering snow covered mountains. Although it was dark, the sceenery was spectacular and eerily quiet, with a beatuiful clear sky.
After a little while, we saw the northern lights - which drifted across the sky for the rest of the 2 and a half hours we were out sledding. They were mostly white, sometimes green and a little bit pink at one stage. They were truly amazing, spread across the entire sky making beautiful shapes and patterns, many koru-like. At one stage, when it was just our sled with no others within sight in front or behind, sledding across the snow beneath the northern lights, it felt like the best place in the world.
On the way back, we stopped at a camp and had a meal of soup and bread. Sledding was actually quite hard work, as you sometimes had to help by taking your weight off pushing along like a skate board, or getting off completely and running behind - jumping back on before the huskys took off without you. And then, that was that. After about 3 hours with the dogs we were back on the bus and back in Tromso after midnight, and back in London by Sunday evening. It was everything I expected, and 10 times more.
Since Tromso we've been doing our usual things, shopping at the market, watching sport and other usual weekend stuff. On valentines day we went to a show at the O2 (aka the Millenium Dome) to see the UK version of Dancing with the Stars, which was pretty cool.
Next stop, off to France (Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley) for the week prior to Easter
Click here for photos
Its been a while since I last posted, so here is an update. Fiona and I were both been really busy at work throughout January and we were hanging out for our trip of a lifetime (my words) to Tromso, in Norwegian Lapland, well up inside the Arctic Circle - about 70* north. And, we weren't disappointed.
Tromso is a truly stunning place, a small island with a population of about 50,000 just off the coast of Norway. A bridge over the freezing cold, calm waters links the town to the mainland and the landscape is filled with snow covered mountains. After two, two hour flights (via Oslo) we arrived Thursday afternoon. It was dark by around 3:30 - 4pm, but we did have a bit of a walk around the town at night to get ourselves oriented. As an aside, 4 kiwis live in Tromso - because of Norwegian women I am reliably informed.
Friday (the next day) we spent looking around the city, browsing through a few shops and taking a bus across to the mainland to see the Arctic Cathedral and visiting many of the sights around the town, including the Perspektivet Museum, which had a photography exhibition on Norwegian and Russian relations. Friday night we treated ourselves to a fantastic meal of reindeer, served with potato and mushrooms. Funnily enough, is tasted a bit like venison, but a bit more rich and more substantial a cut - like steak. Very, very nice - sorry Rudolph!
Saturday we did a bit more looking around the town. Fiona went for a walk slightly above the town while I did some retail therapy. We also visited "Blast" the northern most glass blowing open workshop in the world, and Mack brewery (which was the world's northern most, but some one build one somewhere else a few degrees further north). We also visited the Polaria, a polar centre on the water front, home to some native bearded seals, which we watched being trained.
Saturday night was the "main event" so to speak. We were picked up from our hotel by coach and went about an hour inland to the husky farm. Provided with thermal overalls, boots, hats, gloves etc were were given our own sled and team of huskys to follow the trail. Fiona sat on the front of the sled and I stood on the back, pretending to look like I knew what I was doing, with foot firmly planted on the break. By the time we all got organised all the dogs were howling, more than ready to go. So with no steering and just a break, we were on our way in about -10 degrees.
Our team of five were fantastic, incredibly strong dogs. It was a bit of a learning curve and after about 5 minutes of sledding we went a little too fast, tipped the sled a little too far one way and I fell off. I held onto the back for a few seconds being dragged along in the snow before letting go while the sled with Fiona on board kept going without me! Thankfully the leader in front calmly grabbed the dogs by their harnesses, who happily stopped. Quite a few people fell off at some stage, so I didn't feel too bad, or look too stupid. After that, it was all plain sledding, up and down the hills, gliding along over the knee-high snow along the valleys in amongst the towering snow covered mountains. Although it was dark, the sceenery was spectacular and eerily quiet, with a beatuiful clear sky.
After a little while, we saw the northern lights - which drifted across the sky for the rest of the 2 and a half hours we were out sledding. They were mostly white, sometimes green and a little bit pink at one stage. They were truly amazing, spread across the entire sky making beautiful shapes and patterns, many koru-like. At one stage, when it was just our sled with no others within sight in front or behind, sledding across the snow beneath the northern lights, it felt like the best place in the world.
On the way back, we stopped at a camp and had a meal of soup and bread. Sledding was actually quite hard work, as you sometimes had to help by taking your weight off pushing along like a skate board, or getting off completely and running behind - jumping back on before the huskys took off without you. And then, that was that. After about 3 hours with the dogs we were back on the bus and back in Tromso after midnight, and back in London by Sunday evening. It was everything I expected, and 10 times more.
Since Tromso we've been doing our usual things, shopping at the market, watching sport and other usual weekend stuff. On valentines day we went to a show at the O2 (aka the Millenium Dome) to see the UK version of Dancing with the Stars, which was pretty cool.
Next stop, off to France (Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley) for the week prior to Easter
posted by Steve at 11:15 AM
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