When we arived in Tromsø after negotiating with arrivals service about our missing luggage we killed a bit of time by marching down to the shore.
Enjoying the balmy weather with some sunshine and the clear water of the ocean. Nice vegetation, lots of flowers and high grass, the place is actually a jungle. Something one would not expect from a place well north of the Arctic Circle. It is the Gulf Stream that makes all the difference.
And here is the second installment. It is 0h30 and my rucksack has arrived, but not Jim's. So we are still unhappy. But kind Tina from airservices has decided to put us up in a hotel for the remainder of the night.
A few words about Tromsø, it's beautiful, it's green and it is not cold. The sun at night seems to just disappear behind the horizon. There is no darkness.
No, the bag has not arrived, the saga continuous. On inquiry with Tina she phoned someone in Oslo to inspire them to look for the rucksack. In the meantime we decided to buy some coffee and cooldrink. Cost, 25 Kr for 0.4l of Pepsi and 10 Kr for a small cup of coffee. And whilst sitting there commiserating about the missing bag Tina arrived to tell us that the bag has been located and will be on the next plane. We felt considerable lighter and started looking at the country site for a possible place to hike to. There was a waterfall on the next island (everything is an island here, except when you cross over to the mainland). To get there we had to cross a long and high bridge, this we did after leaving my rucksack in Tina's office.
And off we go, lovely flight moving speedily further and further north. Outside temperature 6°C, which seems to be the standard at this time of the year. Once out of the airport I knew exactly where to go, much to Jim's amazement I was out of the building, straight down the hill and here we are at the official camping ground, ruled over by the camp commander, or as Irene referred to him: the Gauleiter (he was German and you will hear a bit more about Irene later on). Setting up the tent and walking around a bit I got a bolloking from the Gauleiter for disturbing his fucking birds. They were attacking me like they did with anybody else who got a bit too close to their nesting ground. How was I supposed to know about these things. Well we made peace and paid our camping fee. The place is very comfortable in the hut with showers and toilet and a communal room for eating and sitting around. And here is the initial view out of the window from the communal room. The blue tent is ours. Shitty weather, isn't it? Fortunately it wasn't like this all the time.