Above the Arctic Circle!

I was all excited in Iceland when I saw that there was a fishing village and campground named Raufarhöfn just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle. I put it on my list for when I go back to Iceland later this month. Then, when I was trying to decide where to travel in Norway, I realized that a large part of the country was north of the Arctic Circle! And, thanks to the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, it's not as cold as other arctic areas. So, after minimal research (this whole trip is rather free form), I booked a round trip air ticket to Tromsø and a rental car for a week. I actually looked into doing a loop (one way flight and driving south from Tromsø), but the cost was a lot more than what I'm doing.

My plan is to work my way down the coast to the Lofoten archipelago. (I found this map that shows the area, but I have no idea what the red lines are.) I'm staying at Airbnbs which range here from really cheap rooms to resort pricing. I've got my first 5 nights booked, with nights 4 & 5 in a town called Reine at the very end of Lofoten. I'm particular interested in night 3, where I'll be inland a bit at a place called Bardu Huskylodge. Yep. Lots of huskies and they are happy for you to play with them. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, this morning John dropped me at the airport. I checked my bag and went to Starbucks for my first decaf mocha of the trip. (Decaf has been really hard to find, so I'm caffeinated again, at least until I get home.) The flight north was less than 2 hours on a regional carrier. (By the way, I don't think I saw any masks today, even at the airport. John told me that there is very little Covid here. I haven't looked up the stats to see if that's true, but I was bad and didn't wear my mask on the plane.) As we left Bergen, I saw the oil platforms that I had noticed yesterday. They are so close to Bergen, but I guess it's no different from the oil derricks in Los Angeles.

After I got my bag, I headed to a nearby building to get my rental car. The woman at the counter was so nice! Since there wasn't anyone waiting, she took the time to tell me where an open grocery would be (most are closed on Sunday) and to recommend a bistro for authentic local food. When I got to my car, a Ford Kuga, I discovered it's a hybrid. (Apparently, it's similar to a Ford Escape.) I took some time to figure it out, and was a little concerned by some error messages. At this point, the counter woman knocked on my window to ask if everything was okay. I said yes, but there are error messages. And then she said she didn't like the sound of the engine and that I needed a different Kuga. (The name may be derived from the Ford Cougar.) So, I switched from an error-prone, somewhat dinged black Kuga to a sparkling new white Kuga and was on my way. Picture to follow, but it is a very nice small SUV!

I grabbed some basic groceries (coffee, skyr, grapes, ramen, etc.) then headed to the bistro. I took one look at the menu and knew I was in trouble. I went to the counter—in many restaurants here, you order at the counter, then they bring the food to your table—and asked for help. Luckily, there was no one waiting, so the counter girl started to go down the menu with me. I made it only to the first item, which she said was their most popular dish, cod with bacon. I got my silverware from the shelf (something else different here—you get what you need and take it to your table), and had a seat. Then I started playing with my phone, knowing that there had to be a way to translate menus. Yep! Google Lens to the rescue! The image in the center is what showed up on my phone. The food was delicious! (Bacon 🥓 🥓🥓 !) Underneath the fish and bacon were potatoes with enough butter that it was almost too much for me, and that's hard to do. (Just ask Jake!) After I finished, the counter girl/waitress brought out a basket of ice cream treats for me to chose from. Apparently, dessert was included, but I was too full.

Right near the restaurant was an imposing church, and I realized it was the Arctic Cathedral that I had read about on a Tromsø tourism page.

Arctic Cathedral

It's actually a parish church, not a cathedral. I figured that I'd stop, since I was right there. And, I just realized that I didn't get any good images of the front. Oh, well, there are plenty out there: Arctic Cathedral images. I did get some good images though.

I then started the 47 mile drive to my first Airbnb on the island of Kvaløya just west of the town of Tromsø (still in the Tromsø Municipality). I think the 47 miles took me two hours, and it wasn't because the road was bad. (Well, it was narrow, but not bad.) There was just so much to see! Almost as soon as I crossed to Kvaløya and started inland, the scenery went from coastal to majestic. I don't know if my pictures will convey that, but they are what I have.

Panorama

Did I mention that the leaves are changing here?

When I came back down to the water, the scenery was still impressive. This is part of Nordfjorden—my Airbnb is on this fjord.

When I reached the small fishing village of Sjøtun Brygge at the head of the fjord, I went into birding overdrive when I looked down by the water to see this:

It was a pair of white-tailed eagles feeding, and a bunch of hooded crows trying to horn in. Luckily, there was no traffic behind me, because I stopped in the middle of the road and shot many photos. I got noticed in return.

They are huge birds, with a wing span that can approach 8 feet. Anyway, I got really excited.

I finally did get to my Airbnb. This is one of the cheap ones, a room in the host's house for $32, but I can use any part of the house. Before dark I walked down to the fjord. It got colder as it got later, but only to around 45˚F. There were two jellies on the shore. Well, one was stranded and the other was just off shore. The Seek app said they were both some kind of lion's mane jellyfish, which is a jellyfish found in arctic waters. They can get really big (like up to 7' across!) , but these were only about a foot across. I tried to figure out a way to refloat the stranded one, but couldn't do it. So, I headed back to the house for the night. Tomorrow morning, I'll head to Senja, the next island south, by ferry. I could drive it—there are lots of bridges connecting the islands to the mainland—but ferries are fun. My next Airbnb is on the south end of Senja, and I plan to meander around the coastal road to get there. I'm going to an island off Senja island, called Husøy, because someone said it was a cool place.

Oh, and at least some manhole covers in Tromsø have reindeer!