We were up early to breakfast and pack the van to be ready to catch the 9.10am ferry towards Narvik on our way to Tromso.
We made the ferry with time to spare (we were one of only two cars on it) and as it was just starting to get light we took the opportunity to pop out on deck and take some photos across the fjord.
Soon we were on our way again. We expected the journey to take about five or six hours overall as the roads wound themselves around the edges of the fjords.
We stopped in a few places to take photos, one where we tried to catch the moon as it sank behind the mountains and we caught a lovely sunset later on.
Most of Norway is shut on a Sunday so it was difficult to find anywhere to eat, other than snacks from petrol stations although we did find a hotel who let us serve ourselves from their breakfast coffee machine. At one toilet stop, the side door of the minibus wouldn't open for some reason, so Alicea had to climb over the seats and bags to get out of the back door (the door started working again as soon as we drove off!) and at another Mark stepped out of the minibus only to disappear from view as he immediately slipped over on the ice.
The rest of the journey was uneventful with Mark and Rob sharing the driving as the rest of us dozed or stared at the sky noticing how the clouds that had been present for all the week so far had disappeared and that we could now see the stars. The outside temperature, at one point dropped to -11C. Fingers crossed for tonight!
We arrived in Tromso and mark took the minibus back to Hertz while the rest of us went up to our rooms. Shortly after we met up to wander into the town looking for somewhere to eat. We popped into a pub that served lots of different beers but although Mark was quite taken with it, the rest of us decided to find somewhere with a bit more of a choice. We then discovered a pub/café on the corner or the main street that had what looked like quite a nice menu. It was called the Meieriet café and storpub and we ordered a range of food from vegetable stir frys thru chicken burgers to veggie burgers.
Around now, Alicea mentioned seeing a notice for a trip out to see the Northern Lights. With the street lights in Tromso, it would be difficult to see them, so this trip took you out of town to where it was darker.
While we waited for the food to be delivered, Caroline went to a hotel across the road to see if she could find any details. She reappeared to tell us that the trip left in 45 minutes and cost about £45. We decided that this would probably be our best chance of seeing the Lights and checked to make sure our food would arrive in time. It did, and it was really tasty too.
We then made our way to where the coach would pick is up. Rob and Steve quickly went back to the hotel to pick up warm clothes and their cameras and then we boarded the coach and were off, keeping our fingers crossed that the Lights would appear.
The journey took about thirty minutes during which we travelled through a tunnel complex that included a couple of junctions with roundabouts!
Eventually we arrived at the wilderness centre outside the town to be greeted by baying huskies (this is where they run the sled rides from - we had tried to book, but they werebly running them as they hadn't had enough snow).
We were then shown into one of the Sammi huts that had a raging fire in it and given coffee. Then we were given warm one piece suits and boots and we went and sat outside to stare at the sky. It was really cold, but the suits kept us warm.
The night was beautiful, the sky was clear, the odd shooting star streaked across the sky and we were all keeping our fingers crossed beneath our thick gloves that the Northern Lights would appear.
Then a dim grey band began to appear across the sky, gradually getting brighter. At first I thought it was some kind of reflection of the lights from the town in the distance. But no, this was the beginning of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights!
The band got brighter and took on a very light greenish hue. Sometimes it appeared as though it was hanging sheets, other times like grey/green clouds. I fiddled with my camera to try and get some photos of the phenomenom. Eventually, I got some really nice ones. The Lights went on for about an hour, occasionally changing shape and getting brighter and dimmer throughout.
Eventually it was time to return, so we handed back the warm clothes, all of us delighted that everything that we had planned for the holiday - the whales, snorkelling and the Northern Lights had all been successful.
