Erin's Adventures: Tromsø

July 14^th-16^th: train Trondheim-Bodø, Hurtigruten Bodø-Tromsø

We started our trip with our usual technique of taking the night train – this time, operated by SJ. It turns out to be pretty much identical to Vy, though! we left the apartment during a brief but heavy downpour I'm concerned that might be a bit of foreshadowing for the rest of the trip... We had a windy but dry morning in Bodø and spent the first few hours hanging out and cooking lunch the wind was eventually accompanied by rain, and it was truly miserable by the time we got on board the MS Kong Harald.

The little island where we had lunch (at least - it's an island at high tide...)

View during lunch

Another view during lunch

We spent some time relaxing in the windowless cabin, then walked around a bit and had a cup of tea, and then Dražen offered to upgrade us: the weather was bad enough that I was struggling without being able to see the horizon. The sections in open sea were nonetheless rough enough to justify staying horizontal! We reached Tromsø on time, and we were both quite glad to be on dry land. And – miracle upon miracles – it was actually dry when we arrived.

A photo from our window as we passed the other Hurtigruten ship which was headed south

We had booked an apartment via Airbnb, which gives us a place to cook, sleep, stay inside when the weather is bad – and avoid people. We were able to get in as soon as we arrived, which has also made it very convenient. After unpacking and eating, we decided to make use of a few dry hours to go for a hike up “Sherpatrappa”: 1203 stone steps to the top of the gondola. It's a very nice easy walk when you have limited time, and the steps are beautiful. Otherwise, we've been trying to rearrange and plan the rest of our trip to make the best out of the forecast (which is quite bad).

Some of the stone steps of the "Sherpatrappa"


View of Tromsø from the hike

Another view of Tromsø

July 17th: Tromsø + kayaking on Kvaløya

After a bit of a lazy morning, we decided to get out for a few hours while there was a relatively dry window of time period we crossed over the bridge again, and this time cycled as far as we could up the valley. The path that we took is probably a ski trail in the winter – a very nice climb through lush forest by bike. Once it got too rocky to cycle, we switched to hiking, and climbed up high enough to see the lake at the base of the amphitheater of mountains. We decided against continuing up into the clouds and fog. I bet that Tromsdalstinden is a fantastic hike on a sunny day, though! We spent the afternoon at the rented apartment, and cooked, napped, read until it was time to head off on our guided kayak trip.

The guide had agreed to move the trip one day earlier, given the better forecast than for Sunday night, and picked us up in town. The weather was dry, but with stronger winds than predicted, so we had to stick to the safe alternative route rather than the more spectacular (exposed) option that he would otherwise use. Still, it was nice to be in a kayak, though somewhat frustrating to fight the wind.

The guide’s political views were quite far from our own, but it was interesting to hear his side of things – and to hear about the struggles of keeping a tourist-dependent business with fixed costs (85 Huskies for the dogsledding tours have to be fed, regardless) running during the pandemic. I’m glad that we could support him a bit (with DNB’s gift card!) but I don’t think a two-person trip does much for him…

The best part of the kayak trip was a small island that we reached during a sudden calm. The water was clear and there were birds, fish, and sheep (who spend their summer on the tiny island). The return trip without the breeze was much more fun, and I'm glad that we took the sheltered route. The weather picked up again as we put the kayaks away, and we spent some time around the fire in the gapahuk before getting back to town.