Day 19 - Alta to Tromso

For those ornithologists amongst the readers of the blog, here is the best still shot I managed to take from my video of the white-tailed eagle that flew over us yesterday.

 

This morning we left Alta at around 8.15am for the drive west to Tromso which included two ferry crossings of fjords. Once again, it was an overcast morning with a slight drizzle that we have become used to while we have been above 70 degrees latitude. As we drove away from Alta, we came to Kafjord, the fjord where the German battleship Tirpitz was at anchor, hiding from the British. We could see why the Germans had chosen this fjord with high mountains around it, making it difficult for bombing raids to succeed. The Tirpitz then moved to Tromso fjord where it was finally sunk by British 'Tallboy' bombs.

We then began what I can only describe as 'One of the Great Drives in the World'. For over 210 kms we drove along the coastline of one fjord after another, with magnificent views of spectacular Norwegian scenery. The sun, shining now, made the whole setting even more stunning. The final icing on the cake was the fact that we came up behind only one car on the whole drive and that was after 200 kms!! Below is a selection of photos we took.

 

 

 

   

We reached our first ferry with 40 minutes to spare before the 11.45am sailing. We sat in the car and watched the ferry arrive and, when it raised its front door to unload the cars, it looked like a giant mouth opening! Unfortunately we didn't take a photo of the doors fully open, just the ferry docking, but you can just see that they are beginning to open.

The 40 minute crossing was an absolute delight. In glorious sunshine and on a dead flat calm fjord, we enjoyed ourselves sitting on the top deck admiring the never-ending wonderful scenery. What a country Norway is!

 

Who's a lucky girl then, travelling like this???

 

 

The view towards the other side of the fjord and you can see the Landcruiser on the right hand side of the car deck below us.

The ferry's Norwegian flag against a lovely blue sky.

More views as we crossed the fjord.

We disembarked quickly and needed to drive the next 22 kms within 30 minutes in order to catch the second ferry. It turned out to be an easy drive and we arrived at the ferry with ten minutes to spare.

More great scenery!

Our car in the middle of the car deck.

The second crossing took just twenty minutes and then all we had to drive was 46 kms to Tromso. The weather continued to be perfect and we arrived in Tromso at about 2.30pm

A couple of views as we drove into Tromso. The first of the famous Arctic Cathedral, which we will visit tomorrow, and the second of the bridge across Tromso fjord into the centre of the city.

 

We checked into our hotel, The Clarion Bryggen, but were so disappointed with our room that we checked out and booked into the Clarion Collection Hotel immediately next door. Here is the view we have of the Arctic Cathedral and the mountains beyond.

We all went out for a walk around the town and spent a very enjoyable hour in the Polaria Museum, which is dedicated to the Polar regions and their protection. The museum architecture is quite something and looks like a row of giant dominoes that have fallen over.

Berthed in the harbour next to our hotel are three Norwegian minesweepers. They are very menacing- looking boats and have what look like a row of black rubber balloons hanging down at the bow, just above the water line. If anyone can enlighten me as to their purpose, please let me know.

Wendy sent a text to Bob to let them know we had arrived in Tromso and heard back that they had been out fishing in Honningsvag and had caught a lot of fish. I will post more about this when we meet up with them again, the day after tomorrow.

We ended the day with a good meal in a pasta restaurant. It has been another special day of this great Baltic drive. Tomorrow is a rest day for us here in Tromso, while the others take the Hurtigruten ferry from Honningsvag to Tromso. They are scheduled to arrive about midnight.

Late addition to the posting! At 11.45pm, we took the car across the bridge and drove up one of the streets on the side of the mountain to watch the midnight sun. We found a good spot that looked down over the Arctic Cathedral and the centre of Tromso and then, at precisely midnight, we took a photo of the sun above the mountains behind Tromso. It was a perfect way to end our day.