June 1 - Kirkenes to Tromso

We awoke to a very different day. It was still alittle cool, 90, but broken cloud with sunshine, and the winds were gentle.

After revisiting some of the local overlooks, and photographing the odd reindeer, we made our way to the airport which is just a few kilometres east of Kirkenes along Highway E6. We boarded our 70 minutes flight to Tromso alittle after noon, and headed southwards under almost clear skies. As we neared Tromso, we flew over the Lyng Alps with peaks ranging from 1300 to 1833 m above sea level. The weather over Tromso was cloudless! What a sight!

We visited Hertz at the Tromso airport, and picked up our rental car for the next 3 weeks, a Skoda Roomster 5D (diesel); something new for us. With a quick check of the city map, we headed across Tromso island and crossed the bridge to the east side of the fjord without major mishap. From here, we went up Fjellheisen, the local cable car, which overlooks the city and area from an elevation of 420 m. The skies were clear and sunny, and the winds cool, but gentle. Wow, what a sight! There were half a dozen para-gliders soaring by above the edges of the cliff.

We found the Amalie Hotel in downtown Tromso with no problem, and checked in late afternoon. After a short walk around the downtown area, we had a light dinner at the hotel, then went searching for some ice cream. With the bright sun in the early evening, it felt like we should be doing more, but one has to remember that bright sunshine doesn`t necessarily mean `daytime`, i.e., it could mean bedtime. So, we headed back to the hotel to catch up on our trip notes. We haven`t had consistent access to the internet since leaving Oslo, so we upload our notes when we can.

Its now 2300, and it is still bright outside, but to bed.