Abisko National Park to Narvik to Tromso

---

Thursday 10 August - Abisko to Narvik, Norway. Had another slow start today as our train didn't leave until 2.30pm, and we were quite tired after all our walking yesterday. We walked back to the Turist Station (3km) and saw 2 slideshows - one about the 8 National Parks in the Norbotten region (north part of Sweden), and the other about a year in the life of Sami reindeer herding... both very interesting.

The train was on time and quite full again. The scenery was mountains and birch trees, and snow shelters over the railway line in many places all the way to Narvik. The road runs beside the railway while in Sweden, but takes a different route in Norway. There were a few isolated villages on the way, and when we reached Norway, the steep sides of the fjord leading down to the water below. Plenty of photo ops here. Very rugged mountains with little growth. The train trip was quite slow - 2 hours for a shorter distance than the previous time's 1 hour for longer - as the train wound its way around the edge of the mountain going down to sea level at Narvik. Narvik is quite a small city - the port for the Kiruna iron ore, which is its main industry I think.

There were tapes across the road near the railway station, and police and army around..... we wondered if there had been some incident, but it was for the bike race "Above the Arctic Circle", which was due to finish day 1 that afternoon. The town was buzzing and spectators were everywhere along the route. It's a 4 day race and we may see them again in Tromso. We may even see them from the bus we are getting tomorrow. Our accommodation is above a pub and the people are celebrating all night, with loud music and loud talking.... not much sleep for us, I think.



Friday 11th August... Narvik to Tromso. My prediction turned out to be true and the party did go on, even loud talking at 5am so not a very restful night. We did sleep in a bit as not much to see in Narvik (not interested in War Museum) and checkout was 12 noon. We found a shopping centre next to the bus station and had a baked potato with bacon, corn, chicken and salad for lunch/dinner. The bus to Tromso started off quite empty but we picked up people along the way. It was quite a slow drive - 4.5 hours to do 230 kms, but the road was quite windy in places, as we followed the fjords. It was beautiful however, and with no wind, Lee got some mirror-like photos. Just a little snow here and there, that hadn't melted last spring. Villages all along the way - a few cows and sheep, some paddocks cut for hay, but not much cropping up here. We followed the E6, then turned off onto the E8 - mostly only 1 lane in each direction with very few passing lanes, so no chance to overtake slow vehicles. There were plenty of caravans and campervans on the road, and we passed large car yards of them for sale or hire. Our hotel is so convenient - 2 blocks from the bus stop and the same from the Hurtigruten ferry we will be on tomorrow night At 10pm we walked across the bridge linking the mainland to the island that the centre of Tromso is on, to the Arctic Cathedral, where they have Midsummer evening concerts, from 11pm for 45 mins. It's a fairly new church built in 1965, in an A frame shape, coloured white, so easy to see. There was a soprano, a flautist (who also sang) and a pianist/organist. They played and sang Norwegian and Swedish folk songs, traditional Sami yoik and "Solvieg's Song" from Peer Gynt suite. Their encore was "Amazing Grace". A lovely performance. As we were leaving, the Hurtigruten ferry was arriving in port, and we saw 2 busloads of people from the ferry, heading to the cathedral for their concert - a repeat of what we had just heard.

Tomorrow we will visit a museum or 2, go up the mountain on the cablecar and hopefully get a good view of the city and fjord, then wait for the ferry Nordkapp to arrive at 11.45pm. We will be on the ferry until next Wed 16th, and there may not be much internet connection, so you may not hear from me for a few days..

---