Tromso, Norway
20 July 2013
After meeting up with J&H for a quick coffee and catch up after 11 years, they leave for their flight and I wander into Oslo for lunch. I forego the smoked heart of elk and settle for something with a little less beat.
Ring the taxi company in Honningsvag as I have been doing most days for the past week. I need a pick up from the airport then a trip to the Nordkapp. They’re most elusive and have previously told me to send an email which they never replied to despite confirming they would by yesterday. There is a bus to the Nordkapp but at unsociable hours and I have another bus to catch at 0510hrs on Monday morning. Today’s taxi conversation goes along the line of…can I please book an airport pick-up…..just ring when you arrive and we will see…..I would also like a taxi to Nordkapp and back – can I book that as well……yes should be OK…..are you sure…..yes, yes, yes, don’t worry…..and with that the call ends. Not exactly the best customer service, so I may well be hitching to the Nordkapp tomorrow….and the last time I hitched was in Ethiopia…..but that’s another story….
2hr flight to Tromso and we descend through the cloud, and descend some more through cloud until we’re suddenly skimming across water 100ft below….I hope there’s a runway somewhere! Cold, wet and miserable – somewhat different to tropical Oslo. Despite the low cloud, it’s now 24hr daylight.
Tromso lies 70degN in the Arctic Circle. I was last here in 1998 when we drove to the North Cape and remember the Great Marks & Spencer Cream Crunch Mystery….every garage we stopped off at up here were selling Marks & Sparks’ Cream Crunch biscuits……most bizarre.
