June 4 - Tromso to Harstad

We were up in good time for breakfast at 0700, then checked out of the Amalie Hotel. It was a comfortable place to stay right in the centre of Tromso and near the water front.

Our first quick stop was to the clinic at the university. Sherrill had a tumble at Nord Kapp last Thursday, scraping and bruising her left side. When she woke yesterday, her ribs felt more painful, and then again today. After seeing a doctor, he confirmed that she injured a rib, and that it would take time to mend itself. Sherrill is fine, but it is uncomfortable for her to laugh or cough … she is still comfortable eating ice cream though!

We were headed out of Tromso by 0940, and arrived in Harstad by mid-afternoon, just in time to catch the information centre before they closed (still not on summer hours until mid-June).

The roads south along E8, E6 and 83 were excellent. As we headed out of Tromso, we left behind vistas of snow-capped mountains with calm, blue fjord waters with abstract reflections. The fjord views were soon replaced with more spectacular mountains (1200 - 1500 m) with green valley bottoms. In the bottom of the valleys, most of the small birch trees are in full leaf. With backlighting, the lime green of the new spring leaves was pretty. As we gained elevation, we eventually reached the tree-line where the even smaller birch trees were only beginning to bud. Above this level, there was still lots of snow.

We found another great lunch spot. This time we sat at a quiet roadside picnic area alongside a pretty river lined with newly leafed birch trees, and of course, snow-capped mountains beyond. All through this area, we saw many military vehicles that were obviously involved in manoeuvres.

The view looking downward and seaward along Grafengen Fjord was particularly beautiful, from the snow-capped mountains to the farm lands around the shorelines to the sparkling blue waters of the fjord. The vista coming down the hill towards Evenskjer and Steinsland was also great.

Finding things to take pictures of is not the challenge, but finding safe places to stop is. The roads typically have no shoulders, and road-side pull-offs at the right point are few. Sherrill often drops John off along the road so that he can scramble around trying to find a location for a good shot. Meanwhile, Sherrill drives ahead to find safe place to turn around. John then tries to dive back into the car as Sherrill comes flying back. We’re sure that you can visualize this somewhat comical routine. We wonder what the Norwegians think!

Before settling in to a Harstad Hotel for the night, we stopped at Trondenes Kirke. It is a stone structure that dates from around 1250 when it replaced the original wood structure that was build one hundred years earlier.

When we left Tromso this morning it was cloudy but as we headed south, we drove back into clear sunny skies and shirt sleeve temperatures. We are lucky indeed!