Norway Part 2 - Huskies!!!!

This morning after putting many layers on, we went to find our huskies. So these are Alaskan Huskies not Siberian Huskies which means they are basically any breed that doesn't freeze to death in the arctic and can pull a sled. There seemed to be a lot of Border Collie and German Shepard types. 

This is the sled. There is only a small flap of reindeer skin to sit on.  Not the most comfortable or warm way to travel

 

These dogs are seriously strong and keen to run. It takes all your body weight directed onto the brake to keep the sled still as they jump forward trying to run. There are two types of brake the hard and soft brake, fairly self explanatory. You need to keep one foot on either brake at all times or they would go too fast and run over the team in front. The hard brake is better to stop or slow down going down hill. And when travelling up hill, the dogs will actually look back at you to tell you to help out but most of the time they just dig in and pull. 

It's a fantastic way to travel. The dogs seriously love it. They got so frustrated whenever we had to stop and would start barking and yapping.  One of our team kept grabbing mouthfuls of snow as he ran. It is daunting to think how fast they would travel if we didn't have the brake on all the time. The sled didn't seem to hinder them at all. There didn't seem to be any way to really steer them. In theory the driver lent to help steer the sled but I'm not sure if it really helped. Any of the sharper corners were fairly deep in the snow and the dogs and sled just followed the path.  I suspect the group leader at the front was able to steer his team and control their speed better.

 This is the dogs having a bit of a break while we swapped drivers. 

 The scenery was also so stunning.  It was along the bottom of a valley with mountains either side so I don't think we got any sun in the bottom. It was very cold being the passenger on the sled. You aren't moving or keeping active just sitting down quite close the the snow in the wind. I was ok for a while but then I started getting very cold and had to get up and do star jumps every time we stopped. My fingers were so incredibly cold. I know I have complained that I thought my fingers would fall off from the cold before but I was seriously concerned this day. At one of the stops the guide gave me another down coat to put on. However, this involved taking off my top layer and putting a cold layer on underneath which made me much colder until it warmed up.

 ME!!

After the run some of the dogs were a bit tired.

 These creamy ones were the puppies of the team and were always the keenest to run and play 

 This black dog was in the middle and was unimpressed with the attention and the antics of the puppies behind him. 

 Everyone perked up for a snack or what appeared to be reindeer fat that you can buy in bulk and leave in the coldroom... 

 

Most of the dogs had their own little hut that they could go into when it was cold but they were also fairly happy to chill outside. 

 Some were in these coops that they shared with a few other dogs. 

 

 After lunch of delicious fish stew we went for a walk in the hills behind the camp.

 We happened to see the other group on their Husky safari which was cool to see. 

 

 "Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference"

Robert Frost

Then after defrosting by the fire we caught the bus back to Tromso and saw some signs for moose but no mooses.

 All along the road there were these icicles that were formed by melted snow that had frozen again.

 Norway has some truly incredible scenery. At this time of year sunrise takes half a day and sunset takes the next half of the day so it's always beautiful. The road travels along this fjord and parts of it are frozen and covered in ice while others are still free but dusted with snow.

 Thermometers in Norway have a different scale to a thermometer you would buy in Australia. They range from -30 to 50 degrees.

 This is what I meant about Tromso looking like Sydney. Big arched bridge heading towards white pointy building.

I had just over an hour until my next tour so the lovely German people I met took me for an amazing hot chocolate then to a waffle buffet which was a bit of fun. Then I wandered to the next meeting point to go Reindeer Sledding!! 

Norway - Northern Lights, Huskies, Reindeer and PONIES!!!

NORWAY!!
Wednesday 01/03/2017

YAY!! I decided to go to Norway on a whim to see the northern lights and found a few exciting things I wanted to do there. As Norway is a long skinny country with the capital (Oslo) being at the south, I had to fly to Tromso which is apparently known as the Paris of the north. It is a city roughly the size of Rockhampton with the majority of the population on the island and suburbs like Gracemere surrounding it.




While in Tromso I hope to:
-See the Northern Lights
-Go Mushing with Huskies
-Ride on a Reindeer Sleigh
-Ride an Icelandic Horse
-Not freeze to death


For convenience, I booked three different overnight adventures that included the activities I wanted and transport, meals and accommodation. For a single traveller I thought this was a more economical option as Tromso is quite expensive and hotels were almost $200 a night anyway... Needless to say, this was a very expensive part of the trip but I have no regrets!!

Wednesday 01/03/17
I arrived at Zurich Airport around 7.30 and tried to find the most efficient way to spend my leftover Swiss Francs. I had around $90 worth. Since I was in Switzerland, and my cheap watch had died, I decided to buy a Swiss watch that will last me til the end of time. Unfortunately, most famous Swiss watches (Rolex etc) are incredibly expensive ($5000+) so I settled for a Swatch which was only CHF125 or roughly $150. And its beautiful!



I left Zurich at 9.30am on Wednesday and arrived in Oslo to connect to Tromso. This was all easy enough. Until I got to Oslo and found that I had to collect my checked luggage and re-check it for the next flight all within the hour before the next flight left. And there were numerous warnings that the baggage handling in Oslo is notoriously slow.  Fortunately they were having a good day and I managed to get it all done and find my gate with 5min til boarding.

I arrived in Tromso around 3.40pm and arranged to leave my larger suitcase at the airport and collect it before my flight on Saturday. Then I had to catch a bus to the city centre to meet my first tour.

 The temperature in Tromso was sitting around 0. There is snow EVERYWHERE! It is absolutely just part of life. People don't go for a walk to the shops, they ski or have crazy looking scooter frames.

 I decided Tromso is a bit like Sydney. There are a lot of tourists. There is a bit harbour where cruise ships dock. And they have an arched bridge that has a pointy looking thing (a church in this case) at the end.

 In the bus on the way to the first night's accommodation, we kept going through these tunnels that were so cute with the snow covered rocks.

The first activity I had arranged was a Northern Lights Chase. There is never any guarantee that you will see the lights. You could be there for a week and not see them. There might be no solar activity that particular day, or there might be significant activity but too much cloud cover to actually see what is happening. The plan was- get in a mini bus and drive to where we could see the lights. So we did. Our first stop was only 15min down the road where we waited for a while. It was quite cold. Around -3 degrees. And windy. The tour group provided insulated coveralls, snow boots and gloves. It was ok but the gloves could have been warmer.
The guide had a dog so I volunteered to dog-sit while he set up peoples cameras.
It was a bit overcast so the visibility was not great. So we waited. And at first, I wasn't sure if it was light from houses or a car driving in the distance reflecting off the clouds but it definitely had a green tinge. And it moved.
Apparently this was it. The northern lights (depending on conditions and location) look like a green light being shone on a smoke plume that is being tossed in the wind. They didn't move quickly (at this time) and it was difficult to determine if they were moving at all until you looked back and they were in a different location. At times they were off to the left over the mountain and at other times they were directly above us, sometimes both. Sometimes it was like a streak straight across the sky and at others, it spiralled like a vortex. They were predominately green. Not a strong emerald green but more of a mossy colour.

I did not have a proper camera, only my trusty iPhone that has travelled well so far. It was struggling with the cold and I had to keep it in my sleeve to keep it warm and ready for action.

These are some of my better shots that still required a bit of editing to appreciate the colour.

And these are the images the guide took on a real camera. It is important to have a long exposure time to allow enough light into the lens and a tripod so the camera doesn't wobble during the shot.

 

Just some sneaky advertising for the company here...

After about half an hour, it got too cloudy at this location so we tried a second location further down the road. The guide got out, had a look and said it was still quite overcast and even colder and offered for us to return to camp where it was warm and wait to see if it cleared up. We eagerly assented. 

This is my furry charge for the evening.

We waited in the large lavvu or Sami tent where there was a warm fire in the middle and tea. When the rest of the tours arrived, we all had reindeer stew for dinner.  It is quite nice! Very thick and hearty. It really sticks to your stomach. Then they brought around a traditional Norwegian dessert which looked like wraps with butter, sugar, cinnamon and 'Norwegian cheese' in the middle. This cheese is very strange. It is brown and tastes very caramely. I loved it! Who doesn't love butter and sugar! 

 This is the outside of the tent where the snow is right up to the windows.

A few more attempts of demonstrating the lights. 

I was sleeping in a wood cabin that was with out power but had a nice fireplace in the living room. It was quite pleasant and fortunately I didn't have to go to the toilet during the night as this was in a separate building almost 100m away. Unfortunately the 90 huskies just outside my window wake up early and start barking and howling in the morning. 

 

 The snow was quite deep around the different tents

After breakfast of toast, eggs and salad we prepared to go Mushing!!!