Norway
A land of Vikings, spectacular fjords, high prices, and the northern lights. Norway is where I started my Arctic tour and had the first of many ‘wow’ moments when I stepped off a ferry into the fjords of Lofoten. The people and the place were so welcoming that I’d go back in an instant…plus, there’s so many fjords I’m yet to explore!
Tales of Growing Up on Magerøya
As I mentioned in my post about Nordkapp yesterday, I was lucky enough to have one of the happiest and most entertaining tour guides of my entire trip on the bus trip there and back. Renald, who introduced himself to me as “Renald, like Ronald Reagan…how in the world did my parents come up with [&he
North Cape: On Top of Europe…Sort Of
Much is made of the legendary capes that so many explorers had to navigate in the southern hemisphere in their search for new, unexplored lands. Many people would be able to tell you where Cape Horn is, but I’m guessing that less would be able to tell you where Nordkapp (North Cape) — the northernmo
Cruising the Norwegian Coast with Hurtigruten
It may not come as a surprise to many of you that I’d never been on a cruise ship before my trip to Norway. As someone who gets seasick easily, the thought of being on a boat for days on end has never appealed to me; plus, I like active vacations where I see more […]
Snowshoeing in Search of the Northern Lights
The night didn’t look promising. In fact, it looked about as unpromising as two nights before, when I’d called to reschedule my evening snowshoeing trip after arriving in Tromsø in blizzard conditions. Tromsø Villmarkssenter had been very understanding, agreeing that snowshoeing in gale force winds
Snowmobiling into a Whiteout in the Lyngen Alps
A perfect morning dawned over Camp Tamok as I slowly wrestled out of my sleeping bag in the Sami lavvu I’d spent the night in. As we ate breakfast in a warm cabin, huskies from the nearby kennel barked at each other and got themselves excited for another day of sprinting through the Lyngen Alps. [&h
What’s It Like Sleeping in a Tent When It’s -20C?
“Are you sure you want to sleep in the Sami tent tonight? You’re the only one in there and there’s plenty of space in the cabins if you want one,” said Reetta, the Lyngsfjord guide that was taking care of us overnight. Having already been told by some of the people staying in cabins that […]
The Magic of Dogsledding in the Dark
“I wanna go fast! I wanna go fast!” I could almost hear the huskies chanting Ricky Bobby’s favourite line as they bounded across the pristine snow of the Lyngen Alps outside of Tromsø. They had rocketed off as soon as I’d let go of the brake, accelerating as fast as they could as snow appeared [&hel
Photo Essay: Picture Perfect Reine
Reine is one of those places that, like New Zealand’s South Island, appears in popular culture more often than you would realise if you hadn’t been there. I, for one, had seen this stunning place over and over again on sites like Pinterest, so when I realised it was only a few hours’ drive from [&he
Snorkeling…in the Arctic…in WINTER?!
As I sat on the side of the RIB (rigid inflatable boat), looking up at the snow-coated mountains rising out of the sea all around me, I wondered what in the world I had been thinking. Surely I had experienced a moment of temporary madness when I had signed up to snorkel in the Lofoten […]
My First Glimpse of the Northern Lights
My night at Camp Tamok didn’t start out as a very promising one for the northern lights. It had been snowing heavily in Tromsø, where we had boarded a bus for a 1h15m bus ride out into the Lyngen Alps. That snow followed us south and continued to fall all through the night-time dogsledding trip [&he