Day 7 - Dog sledding in Tromsø

Carolin Weinkopf shares her diary from Tromsø:

Off to Tromsø

It’s Thursday morning, and after a really short night in Ålesund, we, as new born newspaper, radio and TV celebrities (we got interviewed), get up at the peek of dawn and gather all our luggage to go to the airport. The taxi driver probably had too much aquavit the night before – he just won’t show up at our hotel.

A bit nervous we take three small taxis and get checked in at Ålesund airport just on time to catch our flight to Tromsø via Oslo. Right after take-off, cheerful chatting dies down and all of our exhausted adventurers fall in a coma, catching up on some sleep before we land in Norway’s capital. Right after sunrise, we arrive in Oslo and hang out at the gate until our flight to Tromsø.

We get treated like the Royals, the flight attendants at Norwegian spoil us with free coffee and tea to wake us up for the breathtaking landscapes to be overseen crossing the country from the south to the north. Above beautiful fjords and mountains, we approach Tromsø.

Dogsledding on white plains

While the transport destroyed one of our suitcases, everyone and everything else arrives safe and whole. After a short ride to the Tromsø Villmarkssenter, we jump from the bus into snowsuits and boots and get fed with reindeer soup and stew, before we finally climb into dogsleds.

Amazed by countless howling dogs, we are awaiting for the start whistle. After some unforeseen incidents delaying the go, we sled through endless snowy landscapes glimmering in the low afternoon sun, surrounded by a beautiful halo causing magical winter scenery.

Polar legacy and northern beer

A quick stop at the Polar Museum and the ship Polstjerna teaches us about Nansen and Amundsen’s anoraks and food preferences on their polar journeys, experiencing pretty arctic temperatures ourselves. To warm up, we take a tour through Norway’s Mack brewery and try some tasty kinds of beer.

After a beautiful and exhausting day, we climb onto Hurtigruten, have dinner and relax in the upper deck jacuzzi with some cool Mack beers. Thinking there could be no better end to the day, we are surprised by sudden rough sea and a heavy storm, swirling up our clothes and forcing us back inside. We will all sleep like babies.