Sun
6 Nov
2016
(05th, 06th November, 2016) – Where were we … yes, Lofoten. It has been a while since. A lot has happened in the meantime, more about that later. Let’s get on with the blog, with the journey, which took us back north, to Tromsø and surroundings. A natural stopover on the trip up to Spitsbergen.
And definitely worth to spend more time there than just an hour between flights at the airport. „Paris of the north“ may be a bit exaggerated, but it is a nice place, it has life, it is a good place to be. The old polar museum and the modern arctic show centre Polaria are natural places to visit for any high latitude enthusiast.
The waters near Tromsø are now regularly visited by Orcas during their season, as we saw so beautifully just recently. An orca safari from Tromsø has good chances to make for a great day, as it is currently.
And then there are the northern lights. Of course you need a bit of luck. You just won’t see anything without a clear sky and some electromagnetic activity in the magnetosphere. But chances are good, at least if you have a few days.
We had just two days in Tromsø, but the timing was good. No complains about the northern lights it is definitely a good thing to be able to get around quickly and to keep a good eye on the local weather. Where is the sky clear, where do you have good scenery together with the aurora? And not too much artificial light? That is actually not that easy at all. It is good to know the places or at least to have a thorough look at the map. And there is also the option to join a guided northern light chase by bus, which they offer regularly in Tromsø. That is not a bad option at all, they know their business and they allow for surprisingly much time for observation and photography when Lady Aurora is dancing.
Gallery – Tromsø, Kvaløya – 05th, 06th November, 2016
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Within the few hours of daylight, we even got a little extra by surprise. On the outside of the large island of Kvaløya, to the west of Tromsø, there is the little island Sommarøy. Red light of the low sun over the whole scenery with the sea, fjords, lots of small islets and stunning coastlines. I was thinking … Sommarøy, Sommarøy, I have heard that before, and not too long ago. And yes: this is where Wanny Woldstad was born in 1895. The woman who later referred to herself as the „first woman as fangstmann in Svalbard“. Fangstmann is Norwegian for trapper. She explicitely used the male version of the word. And nobody in the very male arctic scene of the 1930s or later would ever mind. Everybody knew her about her adventures as a polar bear hunter in Spitsbergen. Recently, we had a chance to visit the hut in Hyttevika that she used during five long arctic winters. And now we saw the house where she was born on Sommarøy.