I'm not spending a lot of time writing, you may have noticed, so lets sum up Tromso in bullet points so I can catch up…….and I'll try to go back and cover the Hurtigruten later.

For now I will work on keeping photos up to date and captioned

Tromso

• · We stepped off the boat at 2:30pm local time. It was -9 degrees and dark. Welcome to the Arctic circle.
• · Arriving on Christmas day things were quiet for 1.Julday and 2.Julday as the locals write it. 1st and 2nd day of Christmas
• · The boys asked for snow, and they got it by the bucketload…..and it tops up most days. We have been in a constant snow ball fight for the last 4-5 days
• · Our first night, Christmas night, we finished eating our 2 pizzas for $70 at one of the only restaurants open and as we watched our ship, the MS Trollfjord, sail off the Northern lights appeared.
• · We climbed one of the local hills and stood in a dark field for 90 minutes of the most stunning display of lights. Best Christmas present ever!!! Even in -9 degree temps you don't feel the cold when watching them….OK maybe a little
• · Tromso feels like Queenstown taken up multiple steps……colder and more extreme scenery….yes its that stunning….from what you can see in the darkness. Everything is focussed on adventure and outdoor pursuits. Summer would be amazing here.
• · 2.Juleday/St Stephens day/Boxing day or Dec 26, whatever you call it, there was very little open so we wandered along the waterfront and went to Polaria……basically a seal show with 2 bearded seals. Big blubbery creatures with lots of whiskers…I felt at home.
• · Food - Expensive, VERY expensive. Basically its $30 for a burger in a restaurant, 30-40 for a main, Pizza is $30 for a small, $40 for a medium and $50 for a large.
• · Bucket loads of supermarkets, every second shop is a supermarket or a church so self catering is definitely the option for the majority of meals.
• · Light. There is a soft light on the southern horizon that starts to appear at about 9:30-10, depending on cloud and is well and truly gone by 1:30. Definitely no actual sun, just a lightening of the sky.
• · Day 2 - Walked over the big bridge in town, wandered past the Arctic Cathedral on the way up the cable car (see pictures)
• · 6-7 hours of waiting for the Northern lights on night 2 was rewarded with a weak 10 minute show……but I kept up with the test match while waiting.
• · Night 3 we went reindeer sledding…..Seriously cool, and that's not the -11 degree temp out there. 30-40 minutes of sledding, then reindeer sledding and then into the traditional Sami tent around the open fire for stories and a dinner of ………Reindeer. Yep, something wrong about that but it was very tasty. Thanks Rudolph.
• · No lights on night 3
• · Day 4 all about tobogganing and playing in the snow. Wont be a big chance for that in the cities so enjoying it here. Tobogganing might be too extreme a description, technically 'plastic bagging' is what they are doing. Or 'repurposing plastic shopping bags' if you have an environmental preference.

Off to Oslo tomorrow morning