Norway

NORWAY - Big Challenges And Stunning Scenery.

Tromso is a truly amazing place, filled with such natural beauty. We’re so grateful to have been able to experience all that we did above the Arctic Circle, with such clear weather and fresh snow at the start of our 12 night stay. 

However, while in Tromso, we experienced some of the most stressful and awful incidences of our whole trip. More on that at further down in the blog post. But first, lets admire some of the stunning scenery.

The photos below were taken on a day with beautiful weather - the 22nd of December I think. I was able to wander around town by myself, capturing these beautiful photos during the daylight hours. 

Our Christmas day was very quiet and cosy! We had prepared a few small surprise gifts for the girls and Santa also stopped by with some small presents - mainly books, colouring pens, digital watches and a few trinkets. We were planning to go to the English-spoken Christmas Service at the Arctic Cathedral at 4pm, but by 3pm the bad weather had set in, with rain and strong winds. So we stayed in a watched movies and played monopoly instead. I cooked reindeer stew for dinner and I’m pleased to report it taste just like the stew at the Reindeer excursions with the Sami. (You can get frozen reindeer meat at the local supermarket)

Bad Weather, Missed Flights and Lost Toys

From Christmas Day to the 28th. The weather really turned - it was rainy and windy and the snow all turned to slush, making it really slippery and wet to walk around. I really feel for people who arrived in Tromso on Christmas or after. So many of the whale watching tours and northern lights tours were cancelled - even the cable car stopped running due to the high winds. On these days we ventured off to two of the museums, which I’ve written about in a seperate post, but simply walking around the footpaths felt really dangerous. 

But departing Tromso was one of the worst, most stressful things to happen on our trip, thanks to a rescheduled flight that we missed, resulting in us having to book a whole new flight and an extra night of (very expensive) accommodation 😭😭. What kind of airline bumps a whole family to an earlier flight with less than 12 hours notice - those 12 hours literally being the night before 😡😡😡😡. Wideroe, that’s who! 

Our original flight wasn’t cancelled either, so there was no real reason that we were bumped - I’d be ok with being bumped to a later flight, we would atleast have had a chance to reorganise ourselves. We were definitely not prepared for getting to the airport at 6am rather than 12pm on the 28th. 

However, I am proud of how the whole family handled the awful situation. Braino and I kept our cool, no one raised their voices or lost the plot or had an emotional meltdown. We just got things sorted as best we could in a calm manner. 

I’m also incredibly grateful that we have budgeted well and stuck to our budget, which means we have a healthy amount in contingency put aside for unforeseen things like this. I’m currently trying our luck at getting some sort of reimbursement from Wideroe but I don’t like our chances. Our travel insurance unfortunately won’t cover something like this - I’ve gone through the terms and conditions in detail. 

The other absolute lowlight of our time in Tromso, was loosing Hallie’s treasured toy wombat Happy Bang. It’s been her comfort toy ever since she was one year old and has become some what of a family icon. She mysteriously disappeared from a carry bag that was filled with other toys, gloves and beanies while we were out. ( I was carrying it, so I’m the most to blame 😭😭😭) 

We retraced our steps multiple times, searching high and low, asking in the 7-Eleven we stopped at, contacting the bus company and even making the trip out to their head office to search through the lost and found. The lady who worked at the lost and found department put in an amazing effort to search all the 34 buses and 26 buses for us, the two buses we caught during the short window of time were she could have disappeared. We even posted on a Tromso community Facebook group in the hopes someone picked Happy Bang up. 

Hallie handled the devastation really maturely, she even set up a gravestone for Happy Bang in the yard of the accommodation when we left. Braino and I seemed more devastated about it really. We thought Happy Bang would be the one toy we’d keep forever. It feels akin to losing a pet. We have since implement a no toys to be brought out on day trips rule, even Farley’s favourite Leprechaun Clover. They always end up in a bag or with Braino or I carrying them and we can’t handle another loss, we already had a few close calls before this incident. 

Ironically, we did purchase exactly the same wombat toy many years ago, in the instance that this exact thing would happen. It’s called Sad Bang but it’s face isn’t as cute so it never achieved the same level of attachment as Happy Bang (the name Bang is a reference to the book Happy Birthday Wombat from the Diary of a Wombat book series, where the wombat pops balloons with a BANG! . I read the book to Hallie as a baby and Bang was one of her first words. I guess she always associated the word bang with wombats.) 

Rest In Peace Happy Bang, I hope she has found a loving home in Tromso. 

NORWAY - Family Friendly Museums of Tromso

Tromso has a surprising variety of museums for a smaller, remotely located town. We visited two that were ideal for kids - the Troll Museum and The Science Centre of Northern Norway 

The Troll Museum is quite small but has vast array of exhibits dedicated to the fairy tales and folklore of Norway, many of which the mythoogical creature that is iconic to Norway - The Troll. 

Many of the Norwegian Fairy Tales that feature trolls were displayed as beautiful designed miniature dioramas, along with the some human size trolls. I really like the display that shows all the rock formation around Norway that have inspired Troll myths and legends. Many actually looked like the rock giants from Frozen 2.

 Hallie and Rooney loved the interactive sand display, which has a landscape projected onto the sand from above and changed as they dug out and piled up the sand. The dug out parts would become an ocean via the projection while any piled up parts became island with trolls stomping around. 

The Science Centre of Northern Norway includes a planetarium and I was very keen to see the featured film Extreme Auroras that you can view inside the planetarium dome. It features breathtaking time lapse footage of the Aurora and was shot and produced by renowned photographer Ole Christian Salomonsen,  who is local to Tromso. 

While the Science Centre is on the smaller side, it kept us busy for hours and had a number of interactive displays that we hadn’t yet come across in the other science centres we have visited.

Here is a list of other museums and attractions that would be worth a look. You can purchase a Tromso Pass which provides discounted entry into a number of these museums, along with admission to the cable car. We opted not to get one as we had booked the other excursions like whale watching and reindeers and we wanted to factor in some down time. Plus, not going to lie, Norway is very expensive! The exchange rate against the Australian Dollar is a killer so we had to restrain ourselves when it came to all the touristy recommendations.

Polaria 

An aquarium in a impressive modern architecturally design building that hosts seal shows and a hands on rock pool. 

The Polar Museum

A small museum dedicated to Arctic explorers and expeditions  

Tromso Museum / The Arctic University Museum of Norway

A university museum dedicated to the arctic region, include the history of the Sami, the science behind the Northern Lights and ecosystems of the Arctic. It looks like it has a good kids section too. 

Full Steam Museum 

This museum is located next to the Polar Museum along the wharf area. It has exhibition about the Sea Sami and the Northern Lights. 

NORWAY - Northern Lights Above Tromso

We were extraordinarily lucky to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis dance across the skies above Tromso on multiple nights during our stay, between December 17th to December 24th.

Many people book Northern Lights Tours, were they go out with a guide for hours at night, traveling to remote areas beyond Tromso, away from the light pollution of the city. However, we didn’t not plan to book anything like this, mainly due to the high prices and also the fact that it’s not really idea for kids to be outdoors all night in below freezing temperatures. Plus many tours group do not cater to children under the age of 10. But Tromso is know as a place where it is common to see the Aurora Borealis from town and we definitely got lucky with great conditions.

The best vantage point for seeing the Northern Lights is from Storsteinen, which is 421 meters above sea level and is accessible by the Fjellheisen Cable Car in Sollivenien in Tromsdalen, across the bridge from the main island of Tromso. We went up to the top of the mountain around 5pm on a very clear night and miraculously timed it perfectly with a stunning Aurora Borealis display stretching across Tromso. An hour or so later, the Aurora had disappeared but no doubt it returned throughout the night. The girls loved sliding around in the snow, along with a number of other kids who didn’t really understand the magnitude of what they were witnessing in the skies above.

I would have loved to have gone up the cable cab during the daylight hours also, to capture the breathtaking view. But, the cable car is very expensive so we planned our trip to maximise viewing the Aurora Borealis. There is a walking track that leads up the mountain but it’s only recommended for experienced hikers during the winter months.

The view from the top of the Fjellheisen Cable Car

The view from the top of the Fjellheisen Cable Car

The view from the top of the Fjellheisen Cable Car

The view from the top of the Fjellheisen Cable Car

The view from the top of the Fjellheisen Cable Car

The photos below are from a different night where we could first see the Aurora from right outside our door, which why Braino thought it would be funny to go outside in his summer cloths for a photos, despite it being freezing!

Later that evening, I decided to venture off to the other side of town to Prestvannet in Tromso. Prestvannet is a small lake on the highest point of Tromso, which is easily accessible by bus 40 - just get off at Stalheim. The lake was completely frozen, covered in deep snow, with many other groups of people out photographing the Northern Lights too. A lovely couple took my photo in exchange for me taking a photo of them.

The view from our accomodation in Tromsdalen

The view from our accommodation in Tromsdalen

I was incredibly impressed by how well my iPhone 15 captured the Northern Lights, just shooting handheld. Braino much old iphone didn’t produce the same results. From the lake and the top of the cable car, we could see the vibrant green colours of the auroras with our naked eye, but it does look more vibrant through the lens of a camera. Around the town, with a bit more light pollution, the auroras can look a lot more pale in colour to the naked eye.

It’s made me appreciate how much effort and time it takes to capture professional footage of the Aurora Borealis. It’s so incredibly cold, my hands were freezing when I had them out of my ski glove to work the camera. Being outside all night, in remote landscapes, capturing timelapse photos, you’d really need the best quality clothing and camera gear.

The view from the frozen lake at Pressvannet

The view from the frozen lake at Pressvannet

The view from the frozen lake at Pressvannet

NORWAY - Reindeers Sled Rides with the Sami

A few days before Christmas we had a wonderful afternoon learning about reindeers and the Sami, the indigenous reindeer herders of northern Norway with Tromso Arctic Reindeer.

The Sami have inhabited the Arctic region across the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia for over 10,000 years. Traditionally, they have had a close bond with reindeers with reindeer herding providing the basis for their economy. There are also Sea Sami who make their living from catching fish and large aquatic creatures.

If you’ve ever watched Frozen 2, the Northuldra people in the movie are some what based on the Sami. We had a very big Frozen 2 phase during 2020, Braino and I probably have more of a sentimental attachment to the movie than the girls to be honest. It certainly kept us entertained during the lock down year of 2020.

The reindeer tours with the Sami run during the winter months and are very popular with tourists in Tromso. We booked our tour via the Tromso Tourism Website and joined 3 other bus load of tourists at the main bus terminal to set off for our afternoon adventure.

The Sami camp and reindeer paddock is about 30 mins north of Tromso, located along the water. After a brief introduction, we were able to fed many of the friendly reindeers in the herd. The reindeers were so sweet and quite slow paced (not like the bossy deer in Nara, Japan). They leisurely ate pellets out of the buckets we were provided with. However the girls were a little nervous about having their big antlers too close. We saw two reindeers locking antlers and fighting but even that seem pretty relaxed.

After some hot chocolate in the dining tent to warm, it was our groups turn to go on the sled ride. The Sami guides led the train of reindeers pulling the sleds around the paddock with beautiful views out across the mountains. The sleds were quite simple wooden platforms with seats and blankets - the girls really enjoyed this part. I had imagined we’d go sledding through a forest but this was still really special.

Once the darkness settled in, all the guests huddled into the traditional Sami tent, a ‘lavvu’, where we were able to try reindeer stew cooked over the fire and listen to stories and information about the Sami culture. This was my favourite part! It was so fascinating to learn about the history of the Arctic and the people who have lived in this part of the world for thousands of years.

Like many indigenous cultures, the Sami have faced persecution and have had to fight to retain their culture and way of life. The Sami religion is similar to Paganism, based around spirits of nature; it came under persecution when Christianity spread across Norway in the 17th Century. The Sami have a special way of singing, called joiking (pronounced Yoiking), it’s similar to a chant and every Sami person has a tune that is unique to them. (Again, it’s similar to what you can hear in Frozen 2) As a big group, we learned how to Joik and sung around the fire.

One of the guides explained how the idea of the tours grew from tourists stopping by the paddocks, asking to pat and take photos with the reindeers. But while the large group did feel very touristy, I appreciate that its a way for the Sami people to earn money while educating the rest of the world about their culture. Being able to get up close to reindeers the snow was obviously a very unqiue Christmas experience for the girls.

If I have one recommendation it would be to book the morning tour so you get a little more daylight, which is better for photos. We left booking a tour a little late and there were only afternoon times available - the daylight disappears around 2:30pm. Alternatively, you can do a tour at night, with the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights along with the reindeers.

P.S: We all really enjoyed the reindeer stew, so much so that I made some more for dinner on Christmas Day.

NORWAY - Arriving in Tromso, Above the Arctic Circle

When we were planning our trip, we thought how incredible it would be to plan for a white Christmas. But when we starting researching places to go; to guarantee snow at the end of December, we’d have to travel up to Scandinavia.

Rovaniemi in Finland sits right on the Arctic Circle and is a very popular Christmas destination. Known as the home of Santa, the town is fully decked out as Santa’s Village. However, our girls have never really been keen on the whole Santa aspect of Christmas, we’ve never done the shopping centre photos with Santa because the girls simply never wanted to. So a full on Santa’s village with people in costumes didn’t really feel like the best choice for us.

But once we read about what Tromso in Norway had to offer, we decided that was the better option.

Here’s a brief list of the activities and sights we saw in Tromso which I’ll do more detailed blog posts for:

  • A whale watching, specifically Orcas, through the Arctic Fjords.

  • Reindeer feedings and reindeer sledding with the Sami, the indigenous people of Scandinavia.

  • Having the possibility to view the Northern Lights (Aurora Borelis) from the town of Tromso.

These photos were taken on our first full day in Tromso, where we first got to experience the Polar Night. During the winter months, the sun doesn’t technically rise in Tromso, whihc sits well above the Arctic Circle. Between the hours of 11am to roughly 1:30pm, there is a enough daylight peeking over the horizon to turn the sky a beautiful shade of blue, but everything has a subtle bluish tinge. But 3pm it’s totally as dark as night. It’s really magical for those few hours on a clear day with fresh snow.

We have been getting use to the decreasing daylight hours, in Scotland the daylight was gone by 4:30pm and in Stockholm and Copenhagen it was dark by 3:30 - 4pm. But it was a real experience to have such little daylight Very exciting though. I love being in the snow, surrounded by mountain peaks and clear skies.

The girls were so thrilled to play in snow for the first time. Generally the snow was about shin deep, but in some parts of town were the snow had been pushed to the side of roads and footpaths, it was over 6ft tall. The snow was very fresh, fluffy and dry, perfect for rolling around in.

After our little adventure into the main part of town, where we organised bus passes and some of the activities for the coming days, we came home to our accommodation. The girls were so keen to play in the snow some more so we built a snowman out in the front. While the girls were playing, Braino and I were sitting on the porch, when Braino said ‘wouldn’t it be wild if we just saw the Northern Lights in the sky from here’. And sure enough, 5 minutes later, we saw a faint streak of green across the sky!

Braino had spoken to a neighbour early who said that the conditions have been perfect for seeing the Northern Lights from Tromso. It was so extraordinary to see them so soon during our stay and I love this photo of the girls.. but stay tuned for more Aurora Borealis action!