Tromso day 3: Disappointment, lots of walking and fabulous snowmobiling

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After just a few hours sleep Claire's alarm woke us before the alarm I'd set for the correct time. Quite why she has these random alarms going off at stupid o clock on aSunday morning nobody knows, especially Claire. The suggested 20 minute walk into town actually takes about 45 minutes so we had to leave in plenty of time to get to a fancy hotel to meet our tour at 8:45am.



We got there in time...and then the trouble started. Our paperwork clearly stated the tour was for today....but the computer also said we were booked in for yesterday. And today's tour was full. Are you here tomorrow we were asked, no. Are you peed off after not much sleep and now being told we've screwed up your booking, he didn't ask. Yes we would have replied.



There is one space left on a trip at 12:30 but I can phone and try and squeeze both of you in he says. We explain that we have had little sleep and would prefer to go now but he phones up and asks if they can fit us in at 12:30. He then tells us they will call him back and then he will phone me.



So we're still not guaranteed a trip. This trip was our Christmas present to each other and cost about £175 each. We also paid extra on our travel insurance JUST to include snowmobiling. This isn't good enough. Typical luck for us. But not good enough. We look at some alternative trips leaving at 10am, argue some more and with guy who finally calls his people back, rather than wait for him to call them, after which he will call me.



So then we're in...or on, the trip. We have over 3 hours to kill. We're tired, worn out and somewhat annoyed. But it's only a 38 minute walk to a beach with amazing scenery, so off we set. After a coffee of course. Not much is open today so we get takeaway from the 7 Eleven.



The walk improves as we go on and the last bit is on a coastal path that has some incredible views of snowy mountains across the sea. The sun lit up the mountains, low lying clouds hung aroung to add atmos and everything was most convivial. We reached the aforementioned beach, took even more photos and then headed to the bus stop.



A bus was just leaving as we were about 100 yards away and when we got to the bus stop the next bus was in an hour. That may not have got us back to town in time so...we had to walk.....and we were both pretty knackered by this time.



In the face of adversity though we again remained positive. If the tour company hadn't ballsed up and if we hadn't missed the bus, Claire wouldn't have seen her first cat here and I wouldn't have caught two new Pokemon. And of course we wouldn't have seen those exceptional views. Our dual ability to remain positive while airlines (Qatar Airways mainly) and tour companies try to beat us down has kept us going on a number of occasions now.



We eventually trudged back into town and headed back to the 7 Eleven for some food as we needed to build our energy levels back up. This time there was no problem booking in for our snowmobile safari and we were soon on board a bus bound for the ferry port.



Some things to talk about.


Underground roundabouts. The network of road tunnels here also include at least two roundabouts with huge stone pillars. Not something I remember coming across before but pretty impressive.



<li class="x_li1" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color:񮾑">Wooden houses. All the houses are made of wood. Wouldn't brick houses be warmer?



Banana skins. In a land of ice and snow where it's already slippery why are there so many banana skins dropped on the pavement? As if conditions aren't precarious enough!! Maybe the people here are bored of being able to get around on snow and ice that they need a bit of a challenge?



Deodorant costs beteen £5 and £6 here yet nobody I've noticed has BO....weird....




The bus took about 50 minutes and was very warm but when we got out at the other end we were told it was minus 17. We boarded the ferry for a 20 minute ride across to Svensby which is just like Tenby in nothing except they end in the same letters. I fancied going outside on the boat but this wasn't allowed apparently because it is Winter. The scenery was spectacular so it was a shame not to be able to see it properly or photograph it. I had an ice lolly to make up for the disappoitment.



On the other side some people took a minibus while the rest of us walked up to where the snowmobiles hang out. We were squeezed into big all-in-one padded suits and had to don helmets and goggles before being shown how to operate a snowmobile. An American lady annoyed me as everyone was asked where they were from.....England, Algeria, Germany, Jordan and then....New York....do you see the difference you arrogant pillock?? Wouldn't it have been great if the Norwegian guy had asked where that was. I mean how low down the scale of American places do you go before you have to admit you're only from America? And then is the city or the state?



I'm over it now though. The snowmobiles have heated handles even for the people hanging on at the back. This keeps the palm side of your hand toasty while the outside freezes in the cold wind; quite a strange sensation.



A snowmobile is initially a lot harder than it looks and lots of excessive leaning is needed to go round corners from both driver and passenger. Every track in the snow sends you slightly one way or the other and you really have to pull yourself straight all the time. But by god it's fun!



I initially terrified Claire who sat behind me when I had chance to go fast, ( h. C f but she was laughing by the end as she was thrown around on the undulating course. I wouldn't say she went quite as fast as me when it was her turn but she did really well. There were a few stops which were too long and, to be honest, not enough riding inbetween. I reckon the total riding time was less than an hour but, when you did have chance, it was great fun.



One stop off was in a wooden hut where a roaring fire warmed us and we were given sandwiches and hot chocolate. The sandwiches were really nice but there was no veggie option which was bad for Claire but great for me. The original listing said we would be getting hot soup.



We overheard Mrs New York saying she couldn't see the aurora (for that's what those of us what have seen it call it) last night as it was only visible through a long exposure on a camera.....did she even go out of the room? I would call her a peckerhead but her kids were polite and she did apologise for Trump, so I won't. (Surely the latter is compulsory for all Americans now?)



After derobing we walked back to the ferry, ferried across to the bus and then had to walk back to our airbnb. With this walk I have nearly doubled my calorie goal on my Apple Watch and walked over 17 miles today. After three hours sleep. I'm quite shattered and quite tired. Claire says I can get up early tomorrow as well to photograph the sunrise so thank goodness that isn't too early here. We left the blinds open and saw a few whisps of green but were too tired to go out and look!




Postscript-didn't get up early, too knackered. Norway was amazing, Scandinavian Airways were excellent, the prices were out of this world. Surely someone lets their luggage disappear every day when they do automatic check-in....without the label on....surely??

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