The day after our marathon and wanting to seize our last chance to explore Tromsø, we decided that it would be nice to take a walk across to the mainland and check out the view from one of the surrounding mountains. The walk through the town to the main bridge leading off the island only takes 15 minutes or so and with hardly a soul around to disturb on a quiet Sunday morning is it a pleasant one. Once over the bridge and having attempted to take some photos of the quaint shoreline within the tiny window of light that is offered between 11-1pm we headed for the cable car up the mountain.
The mountains themselves are not large and on a clear day in the summer would be a pleasant climb, but with thick snow, unpredictable weather, fleeting visibility and a lack of sturdy footwear not to mention torches, it would be ill advised for anyone with a short time constraint. The cable car runs every 30 mins from a small wooden cavern at the foot of the mountain and takes its passengers to a cosy wood cabin nestled into the side of the snow-covered landscape.
When you reach the top of the lift you arrive at the main viewing plateau from which you can see the whole of Tromsø and when dusted with snow and bathing in the oranges and reds of the diminishing day light it makes for an irresistible opportunity for any level of photographer. The chair lift taking you back down runs in the same 30mins cycle until it closes at 4pm, so given that we had almost 2 hours to play with we decided to do the short hike up to the summit for a spot of light exercise and to check out the changing views. If you attempt this in the winter it is advised that you have 3 things; warm cloth including a water proof, sturdy footwear with snow tracks (you can pick these up from the local sport shop in the town centre) and a torch. Whilst the lodge does have a red beacon which flashes constantly, if the cloud descends it becomes very difficult to see anything more than 10 feet away from you and given that it will be dark after 3pm a torch comes in handy. That being said we did not have one and still managed to find our way back down thanks to the beacon.
On the way up after getting stuck on a large patch of windswept snow and having zero grip on our shoes which resulted in the very funny situation of having to crawl on all fours in a sideways crab motion across the mountain side for several minutes! We decide that the best way up is to stick to walking across any rocks and visible bracken for grip in order to get to the top. As with any hike or ramble it is always satisfying when you get to the top, turning back to look at all below you, especially in this landscape given the beauty of Tromsø. We walked around for a few minutes and took a few photos of the large kerns at the top, but as a thick cloud began to decent upon we reckoned that it would be a good idea to head back down.
At seven in the evening and after revisiting our favourite restaurant once again, it was time for us to head down to the harbour to the meeting point for our northern lights experience trip called Natur I Nord. After the tour guide introduces himself as Ivar Haugen and the evenings proceedings are explained, we all huddle into the mini bus and begin our journey towards the Finnish boarder. On the way there Ivan puts on a documentary of the northern lights made by one of his friends who is a professor at the local university, going through everything from their historical significance in local folklore where you learn that some people believed them to be the souls of dead children playing with the skull of a seal, to the science behind their existence and colour.
We continue to drive through the dark wilderness for a further 45mins watching the still mountains appear and disappear in the moonlight until, seemingly out of nowhere we arrive at a clearing and turn the bus engine turns off. Ivan explains to us that if the lights show themselves this evening this will be one of the best places to see them and his track record of experience would be hard to dispute. The clouds were not playing friendly to begin with so people start to set their cameras up and to talk to one another about their experiences so far.
For our part we had already agreed that the trip had been a large success until this point and having already seen the lights previously, we were happy just to look at the canvas of stars spread out in front of us and enjoy the regular supply of hot chocolate and cake supplied by Ivan. At one point when we were forming at orderly hot chocolate queue someone from the group sounded the call and we all looked up to see a soft green streak drifting across the bright star covered sky. The lights were not as strong as the previous day, but it did not detract from the moment while we all gazed quietly until it slowly faded out of sight as the hot chocolate warmed our cold hands.
