The sun has gone down in Tromso and it won’t come up again till the 21st of January – apparently there’s a big party in town when it returns. All part of living in the Arctic Circle. We were keen to peek out of the bedroom window on our first morning to see what it was like. It’s a bit like twilight – a sort of blueish light. A bit eerie really. Mid morning we headed off, wrapped up in scarves and beanies, camera in hand. By lunch time it was already getting dark. Lights on in the shops, street lights blazing. Stopped by an open air market – no refrigeration needed to keep the prawns cold! Little radiators going underneath stalls to keep people’s feet warm. There’d been snow the day before so we needed to be extra careful walking about – lots of ice – but we really enjoyed ourselves. We visited Polaria – a real tourist attraction – and watched the seals being fed. Reg had a go on a simulator – guiding a ship into port. We all survived! Did some grocery shopping on the way home – our accommodation has a good guest kitchen so have made the most of it. Unfortunately our Aussie dollar had not improved against the Norwegian Kroner – so everything is very expensive.
We have been staying at the AMI hotel, excellent value, great atmosphere, friendly staff and amazingly clean – much appreciated after the hostel in Alesund! The hotel has been a warm, cozy base and we’ve needed it. We went for a long walk on our second day – crossed a rather long bridge to the other side of the harbour. When we got back our drink bottle lid had frozen shut and there was a layer of ice on the top of the water. There are people from everywhere staying at the hotel and we’ve made lots of friends – Ann and Nicola from the UK, Timmy from Hungary, and two Aussie girls currently studying in Oslo. Also got to meet a group of young men from Saudi Arabia – great to talk to them about life in the middle east.
We decided to go on a late evening bus tour to “chase” the Northern Lights. We headed off in a 16 seater bus with lots of other tourists, our guide confident that all would be well. We drove out into the country side, parked the bus and waited. It was minus 6 or 7 degrees but we braved the temperatures and all stood out on the road looking to the skies. Warm padded jumpsuits supplied! An hour or so passed – nothing to be seen. So we moved on to the coast where the sky was absolutely clear – again the guide was hopeful. We chatted away to an Aussie family currently living in London – the father works for McGuigan wines. Not sure what the temperature was – maybe a little higher on the coast – but it was still pretty cold. We eventually headed home without seeing the faintest evidence of any Northern Lights activity – but everyone seemed philosophical about the disappointment. It had been a good, although chilly, time.
Flight to London today. A real change of scenery!
Love to all
Di and Reg
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