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Arctic Sun - Norway
  • Fiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
  • Fiona and Bas, the Bladerunners

Arctic Sun - Norway

Norway: Tromso to Bergen by Car. Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 16, 2026
    Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners

    Day 1

    June 15 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    No photos today. Trust me, they wouldn’t be a good look. After two days of travel including 5 flights: Port Macquarie to Sydney, Sydney to Singapore, Singapore to Heathrow, Heathrow to Oslo, Oslo to Tromso, Im too tired to care about much.

    In truth, Im starving hungry, dehydrated, super tired and my hotel room is less than satisfactory, plus the staff are god-awful rude.

    Bas is already here in Norway (at a friend’s place between Forde and Flore) and I have 4 nights in Tromso to explore before he arrives.

    Im hoping I’ll feel better after a walk, some food, a glass of wine, a knock-out sleeping pill, and at least 10 hours of sleep. For now I feel 💩

    I’m back…. Im sitting in a wine bar with a fabulous old buttery chardonnay and watching the quiet world of downtown Tromso pass by.

    My first observation is that everyone (apart from the girl in the hotel) is happy… or maybe I was just cranky. Ok, in fairness, I probably pissed her off, but let’s move on. 😇

    These Arctic Norwegians have a spring in their step - it matches the lilt in their syntax. You need to get in the zone for this bit - start practicing saying hurty-gerty, herty-gruten over and over. Now walk… (with a bounce) while you say it. It makes you smile, right?

    And everyone makes eye contact, these guys are not just passing by, they are in the moment and connecting with the world as it approaches them. No phones (so far), but no kids either, so that observation could be fleeting.

    Tomorrow I’m heading for the gondola, the one that goes up the mountain out my window.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
    1112

    Up the Mountain - Day 2

    June 16 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    It was a tour-guide no-show for the city walking tour at 10am, so I headed out to find the bus that would take me to the mountain gondola.

    Found it (note the pics of Tromso from high above).

    Then I walked to the Cathedral and over the bridge back to town just as jetlag started to set in.

    After a quick rest, I headed downtown for a glass of wine.... or two.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners

    Geology, Gardens & Sore Feet

    June 17 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I walked for 40 mins to the University Museum. It was about 8 degrees today, so it seemed like an appropriate amount of exercise, except that my shoes turned out to be a size too small and were killing my feet. I realised this was a problem on the plane, but kept telling myself my feet would settle and the shoes would stretch. Wrong!

    Thankfully, Tromso has a great shoe shop in the middle of town and when I told them I needed something comfortable, waterproof and with a tread good enough to walk the mountain but still look OK to go out, they knew exactly which pair would do the job (a pair of Merrells). You always know they are going to be good (and expensive) when the brand is written down the side. The new shoes are a lifesaver and I'm back out and on foot exploring Tromso as best I can.

    I also went to the Botanical Gardens, which were interesting given this is the Arctic, so I wasn't expecting much.... (photos uploaded).

    The jet lag is subsiding and the need for an afternoon nap isn't as critical. It usually takes 3-5 days to get into a new time-zone, so I'm on track!

    While I was at the Museum I found a nice upright Yamaha piano in the conference room, I asked if I could play for a while and then got asked if I could please keep playing for a convention that was about to start at the university. Nice, but I'm on holiday, and have places to go and things to see and it really was only a practice session. To be honest, I didn't feel confident enough as my hand was hurting and I'm out of practice with my performance pieces. I'm in the writing phase, not the playing phase.

    I'm hoping I can stay up late enough to attend a midnight concert in the local cathedral.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
    2

    Midnight Sun & Fishing

    June 18 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    I feel like today is going to be a slow day.... I got 6 hours of sleep, and not enough to combat jet-lag. I'm not feeling like getting out of bed, even though the sun is shining.

    Tonight I have booked a three-hour boat cruise through the waterways to open ocean to watch the sun reach its lowest point before it swings back around and rises again in the other direction. Turns out it's also a fishing trip - I had no idea. It's 24 hours of sunlight here in the Arctic and the lighting is quite otherworldly as Midnight approaches.

    Last night I went to a midnight concert in the church (I have to admit, I did fall asleep). The concert featured an opera singer (soprano), a saxophonist, and a piano/organ player. The combination was wonderful and they played a mix of classical and Norwegian traditional music. The acoustics were stunning and more people showed for the concert (which is run nightly) than I had anticipated.

    Bas finally arrived (next day) and we went back up the Mountain. Its amazing how different the photos look with a different sky and lighting (also, some of the pics are Bas's now).    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
    2

    Norway's Most Beautiful Scenery

    June 24 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We were lucky to share the trip with a wonderful, fun group.

    Norway's crown jewel is the Lofoten Islands, famous for dramatic, jagged peaks, arctic beaches, and red fishing cabins. We went for a drive along the coastline to a local fish farm and were treated to lunch at a hatted restaurant. The drive and the food were stunning.

    I'll let the photos do the talking.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners

    Another Day of Beauty

    June 25 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    These couple of days included a boat trip to an Island for dinner, afterwards we visited an art gallery where everyone kept saying the sculptures looked like me. I didn't quite see it, but everyone else seemed to. Then a drive to Saltstraumen.

    Saltstraumen is the world's strongest maelstrom, located just 30 km (a 30-minute drive or bus ride) southeast of Bodø in Northern Norway. Every six hours, tides push roughly 400 million cubic meters of water through a narrow 150-meter-wide strait, creating churning whirlpools up to 10 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep.

    We arrived at the wrong time due to sleeping in (mid-tide) but still great views.

    The exploration of several unusual valleys led to far too many photos being taken and a wonderful video of a giant smooth rock that looked like you could almost slide down it.

    After this we continued our journey to the James Bond road on the Atlantic Road (Atlanterhavsvegen), featured in the 2021 film No Time To Die. The specific span utilized during the iconic Aston Martin chase sequence is the twisting Storseisund Bridge.The 8.2-kilometer stretch of County Road 64 connects the towns of Kristiansund and Molde via a dramatic series of bridges that seem to rise from the sea.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners

    A Mountain Climb (on foot) & Few Laughs

    June 27 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Over these days we saw some wonderful scenery including glaciers and bridges that were feats of engineering. We had a few laughs (watch the videos) and climbed a mountain at 10pm to see a giant rock hole that opened into a Narnia-type scene.

    Since there is no dark in Norway's summer, when we arrived back at the hotel it was midnight, and the sun was still up.    Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
    2

    On the Road, On the Water

    July 1 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We experienced an amazing boat trip on old and historic boats, visited Alex and Anne Karin's home, car collection and fish farm. The two videos show how narrow the roads are - one is a dirt road and the other is a tunnel - one you would not want to meet another car in! We did actually have a full size bus enter the tunnel while I was driving, and it was an 'oh shit' moment.Read more

  • Fiona and Bas, the BladerunnersArctic Sun - NorwayFiona and Bas, the Bladerunners
    2

    Bergen, Then Home

    July 4 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    All 40 cars arrived in Bergen for the gala dinner and then we spent another 4 days to explore the city.

    Experiencing the World cup match between Norway and Brazil was fantastic, the Norwegian patriotism is something else!Read more

    Trip end
    July 7, 2026