Europe and Hunting the Northern Light in Norway
After unsuccessful attempts to chase the
Northern Lights in Iceland, we decided to try again in 2016.
Possible destinations that we considered : Iceland, Norway and Finland. We decided on Norway
so that we could take it easy onboard one of their famous cruises. Since our objective is to chase the Northern Lights, we booked a 4days/3Nights Tromso-Kirkenes-Tromso
cruise that sailed above the arctic circle.
Day1: Oslo -Tromso, Temperature above 0C, Cloudly
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| View of Tromso from the air |
With cloudy and rainy weather, there was no way to see the lights in the evening. We wandered around the town centre, and drank coffee, and then dinner before calling it a day.
Day2: Tromso
We took a cab to the Arctic Cathedral in the early
morning.
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| Part view of the Cathedral and surrounding |
From there, we walked to the Fjellheisen Aerial
Tramway to take the tram to the mountain.
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| Signage and View from top of tramway |
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| View of Tromso from Fjellheisen |
It was a worthwhile trip to the mountain. We took
and the tram down and walked across the Tromso bridge to go back to town.
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| View from Tromso Bridge |
We also visited the Polarmuseet museum.
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| Polarmuseet Museum |
After wandering around the town after the museum visit,
we decided to book for a husky-dog sledding since we were already in Tromso and
had nothing to do in the evening. We managed to book a slot for the evening.
Day 2 Evening : Dog-sledding
After being picked up at the town centre, we
arrived at the dog-sled compound, geared up, and got onto the sled with a guide
and about 10-sled dogs. The weather was wet and still rainy.
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| Buddy System Dog Compound |
Unfortunately, we didn't get the view you'd see in brochures that show pictures of
sled dogs against northern lights and the guests with happy smiling faces, because the weather was cold, cloudy, and rainy.
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| Forming the dog-team |
We formed two groups, and with the dogs howling and the rain splashing onto our faces, with the occasion
pee spray from the last dog onto the front rider,
we sledded and bumped across the darkened terrain for about an hour.
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| Running, Howling and Peeing dogs |
After the sledding, we were briefed about the dog-training program and
shown around the compound. The dogs are well-loved here and the guides are
competent in their care for them.
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| The puppy compound |
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| Hot tea by the fireplace |
A much-needed hot dinner and tea were included in the package. It was a worthwhile, albeit expensive experience.
Day3 : Tromso - Hurtigruten
We walked around the town centre and the shopping
streets.
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| Tromso Afternoon |
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| Heart-Shape Christmas Decoration |
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| 'Hangout' at the cafe in the rightmost building again |
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| Lunch by the harbor front |
Boarding the Hurtigruten
At 3:30pm, we boarded the Hurtigruten, which only departed at
6:30pm. |
| The Cruise Map |
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| Cruise from Tromso back to Tromso |