Norway - Tromso - Mountains & Fjords Trip

June 2006

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The day of the trip started off much the same way, just making it in time for breakfast after getting to bed after 2 in the morning then wandering around the town a bit. We did shop for and buy ourselves some warmer fleece given that it was the middle of Summer (-: we did come equipped for cool weather but the evenings were quite chilly and we guessed (correctly) that the bus and boat trip would be colder. The weather was not behaving well and we set off in the drizzle. Thankfully, even though it remained a grey day all day, we were afforded some of the most incredible views. As I said in an sms I sent from the boat, neither photos nor words could do it justice! The trip itself took us over some amazing roads, passing the arctic mountain range Lyngsalpene, through valleys, along the edge of Fjords, on two ferry trips across smaller Fjords, on bridges crossing Fjords and, in one area, through a tunnel UNDER a Fjord where we went deep enough and it was cold enough to mist over all the windows on the bus! Finally we were dropped off at Skjervoy, the largest village in North Troms county at the "Coastal Steamer", named the "Richard With", operated by Hurtigruten. This is known as "The world's most beautiful voyage", we were lucky enough to spend the next few hours travelling back along the Fjord back to Tromso and marvelling at more amazing sights. At one point of the trip we were not able to see much as the mist descended to a level that we could not see to the edge of the water. We took the opportunity to go and have some supper while we weren't missing the view. The information about the trip said in the summer, the midnight sun, fog and the salty smell of the sea are all part of the cruise experience, it is safe to say we got the full experience (-; By the time we got back to Tromso it had cleared up a bit and, although we did not see the sun at midnight this time, it did come out later and I got to see the start of my birthday in sunlight!!