Travelling to Senja

It didn't take long to drive out of the city, Tromsø isn't all that big really so once across the bridge you turn right and head southward or, using traditional navigation techniques, toward the sun.

The roads here aren't as quiet as Icelandic roads but they're not busy and once I'd crossed the bridge at Finnesness and started to cross the island of Senja, there was hardly any traffic at all.

Any fears of bad weather and snow were unfounded - the conditions remained sunny and dry and even got better the further I drove. By the time I'd crossed Senja and almost reached my accommodation for the next three nights, the sky was perfectly clear and the late afternoon light simply gorgeous. It was cold of course. In Tromsø I think it was about -2c but as I crossed Senja the car showed -12c. Yep, it was that temperature when I stopped and took the photo with my hire car on show. Strange - it didn't actually feel that cold to be honest.

I took the journey at a steady pace, no rush and kept strictly to the speed limits as I believe speeding fines are high in Norway. Anyway, why rush past all that stunning scenery?

The first two photos here were taken when I stopped at a viewpoint and the second two as I traversed Senja. It seems Norway and Iceland are cast from the same mould as there is a sad lack of stopping places even when a view cries out for one.

As I neared my destination for the day I suddenly realised that having that coffee before I left was probably not such a good idea. The light suddenly became amazing and now I wondered if I had enough time to take advantage of it.Read more