Berg is just outside of Tromsø on the mainland.  It is a farming area and every year the community gets together and puts on an event for us city-goers.  The Nissehelg (Elf Weekend) is now a tradition and every year we go out and brave the cold (and darkness) to visit the fjøsnisser (barn elves). [...]

The lighting of the Christmas tree is a social tradition in every city in Norway on the first Sunday of Advent.  Today was extra special for us as we got to share in Lilu’s delight.  Half way through the celebration I found myself alone in the middle of the crowd and realised how strange everything [...]

It takes about six hours to drive to Alta, more if you stop and eat, miss the car-barge or take pics.  On a straight highway it would only take about two hours to drive from Tromsø to Alta, but because Norway is built by fjords and mountains, the road winds in and out, up and [...]

Tonight’s sky was filled with the Northern Lights.  The picture above was taken from our balcony at around 7:30pm.  The view is to the North and as you can see the city lights do not compare with the big green monster in the sky.

This picture was taken about 11pm.  The view is towards Kvaløya.  The [...]

The photo above was taken at midday – the sun never made it over the horizon.  Today was the first day of the long night in Tromsø.  This is the beginning of the dark season, or the dark Winter, where we have no sun for two months.  Technically there are no more sun-days until mid-January [...]

It’s fun to have an airport close by.  This might sound odd as the first thing people think about is the noise, traffic and pollution.  But Tromsø airport is only built for light aircrafts – propeller planes and 747s.  No Jumbos are allowed to land here.  This is normal for the airports in Northern Norway.
Tromsø [...]

It was a race against time.  Sunset was at 1:17pm.  This was our only chance to catch the last sunset of the year.  The last day of sun is Sunday but work, school, travel and a cloudy week was going to get in the way.  It had to be today.  To get the perfect shot [...]

Tromsø University is big on conservation.  Being the highest university in the world, they focus on polar exploration and Arctic life.  The projects led by the university ‘addressed questions within diverse fields of geology, paleontology, ecosystem studies, oceanography, indigenous populations, contaminant transport and biomagnification, and marine mammals and seabirds’.  One of their major studies for [...]

The South shore of Tromsø Island.  The mountains, the rocky sand and the cold water.  I’m jealous of the little red boat shed as it has the best location.  In the distance the Hurtigruta liner is sailing in from Finnsnes.
This is the last of our collection of photographs from this 7th of November sunset on [...]

This cute wooden row boat has become a feature of the landscape.  It is always sitting in the same place.  I know it gets used in the fjord but I have never seen it floating on the water, only sitting on the beach.  Soon the ice will come and freeze itself onto the boat.  It [...]