Winter is coming … in Tromsø … Oct 17 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

This week the temperatures have started to fall.

On Wednesday I could spot the first fresh snow on the tops of the higher mountains and on Thursday evening the top of the near mountain Fløya has got a white cover, too.

Last night even in Tromsø snow started to mix in the rain and this morning all mountains beside of the lowest hill were covered with fresh snow.

The sun sets earlier and earlier each day. Today sunset was 16:52. I took the following photo at the nearby bay Telegrafbukta at 17:27, 35 minutes after sunset.

In three weeks sunset will be at 14:11 and after three more weeks the sun won’t rise for seven weeks. Then there is polar night in Tromsø.

Tromsø black and white II – shipwreck on Kvaløya Oct 11 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Hooooot! Hooooot! Hooooot! Oct 9 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Today it was the 5th day I worked for the Norwegian Polar Institute in their office at the Framsenteret in Tromsø. But it was the first day where I was distracted by three loud hoots of a ship. I left my office to walk to a gangway with a view to the seaside. And as I already guessed a Hurtigruten ship was in the process of docking. The Polarlys. I took a photo with my iPhone for this blog.

Normally two Hurtigruten ships should dock in Tromsø each day. A northbound at 14:15 and a southbound at 23:45. A map of today however shows that the Polarlys is the only Hurtigruten ships north from Trondheim at the moment.

Today’s map of Hurtigruten ships in Northern Norway

(Map source: https://global.hurtigruten.com/map/#norway)

This is of course because of – guess what! – Corona.

After work I left the office and could already see the ship because the landing stage is near the office. I went there to take two more photos, then I went home. Weekend!

I would love to continue with my photo series “bevegelse” (motion), that I started on a Hurtigruten journey in winter 2016. However the next northbound departure on a Saturday is not before 31. October and then the days have become quite short. Probably I’ll must have some patience.

To the photo series “bevegelse” >

Luxury laziness Oct 6 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

It’s only a small room in a shared flat I have here in Tromsø, with just a fraction of the space home in Obbola. But there are advantages of tiny rooms, especially when they are under the roof. And in Tromsø.

You can take lazy photos:

For example of the sunset over some mountain range far away:

17:50, kitchen window | 280mm · ƒ/8.0 · 1/40 sec – I laid the camera just onto the horizontally opened window.

Or some hours, when my roommate knocked at the door: Aurora!

21:50, my room’s window | 24mm · ƒ/8.0 · 10 sec – Again I put the camera on top of the window.

Of course the photos are no good, but I consider it as a luxury laziness to take such pictures without leaving the flat or even my room. Anyhow I promise, the next aurora photos will be taken outside.

Tromsø black and white I – mountain ranges Oct 4 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

The first aurora in Tromsø Oct 2 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Not the most impressive aurora, not the greatest shot, but I’m satisfied anyway because I know there is more to come.

My way to work Oct 2 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Today I got the test result: corona negative. So I was allowed to go to work at the Norwegian Polar Institute. It’s a bit more than 2 km to walk and I did walk.

Here are 16 photos, from the street where I live to the entrance of the Framsenteret.

Way to work III – the nearest supermarket

Way to work VII – partly under construction

Way to work VIII – through new housing blocks

Way to work X – more post-something houses

Way to work XI – old wooden houses are still there

Way to work XVI – the entrance of the Framsenteret

As usual: A click will enlarge the photo, then you can navigate by clicking or using the left and right cursor arrows on your keyboard.

A small after-work promenade Oct 1 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Today I had my first work day at the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø. Since I am in quarantine I had to work from home. Not easy when you don’t know what to do yet.

Right after work I took a walk to fight my fatigue. First up the streets, then along some tiny paths through the forest-like park Folkeparken. One of the paths led down to the western shore of Tromsøya, the island which Tromsø is on. Here I started to take pictures.

You see the coloured spots at the right side of the last photo? It’s people taking a picnic. There are not extremely many people around, but more than I expected. They jog, they cycle, they sit round a campfire. They take photos, they act as photo motives. They take care of their children, they walk, they talk. They take a winter bath from the wooden pier, they paddle kayak, they sail. All these people present Tromsø as an awesome place to be. The gorgeous autumn weather is just the icing on the cake.

Oh yes, I miss Annika! Anyhow I think, I’ll like it here.

A cold bath in Tromsø Sep 30 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

Two days after Annika and I bathed at “our” beach Vitskärsudden in Obbola I bathed again today. Alone at the Telegrafbukta in Tromsø – more than 650 km north from home. It’s a beautiful bay hardly 500 meters from my room.

The differences:

While Annika joined me many times bathing at Vitskärsudden I probably have to bath alone in Tromsø
Home: the way is more beautiful. Tromsø: the way is shorter
Tromsø: the water tastes salty. The salinity is at least 10 times higher as home
Tromsø: there is seaweed in the water and sea urchins and probably a lot of other species starting with “sea”. I use bathing shoes
Home: the water level doesn’t change quite often. Tromsø: there are tides here with a tidal range of up to 3 metres.
Tromsø: Probably the water won’t freeze over the whole winter.

Today the water was 8.5 °C, two degrees less than the last time. My plan is to bath there the whole year round. Let’s see if I manage to do it.

Flying to Tromsø Sep 29 2020

This article is part of the series “2020-10: New in Tromsø”.

7:58 – Umeå airport. I’m one of the first passengers for the flight SK2023 to Stockholm Arlanda at 9:50. Outside it is dim and foggy but I’m waiting outside anyway to avoid using my face mask that will accompany me the whole day today.

9:43 – Umeå airport. I’m going to the airplane. Of course with face mask. Soon our airplane departs and lifts us above the thick layer of fog and then the clouds. Welcome sun! After we landed in Stockholm Arlanda i realise that it’s as foggy there as home. I have something looking forward to: Japanese food. Then I’ll pass the security control once more. As already in Umeå my camera bag is examined for explosives, this time very thoroughly.

Next stop: Oslo-Gardermoen airport.

Why I’m taking this long and environmentally unfriendly trip by plane? Because the passenger trains from Sweden to the Norwegian Narvik have been cancelled for months. From there I could have taken a bus to Tromsø. Hopefully the train will be opened soon again.

13:46 – arrival in Oslo. And guess what, it’s foggy again. The airbus A320 was almost empty. Only 25 passengers instead of 180. I (and the stewards) have the last 7 rows for me alone.

In Tromsø I first have to show my passport and my employment contract, then I have to go to the baggage claim to get my luggage. It has to go through the custom. While doing that I somehow leave the arrival area where I planned to make a corona test. Since the info desk is closed I have to continue without any test. Maybe I’ll manage to get one tomorrow in Tromsø. This could shorten my quarantine of ten days.

The most visible ad at the airport: Norrøna outdoor equipment featuring a downhill skier. That slope would be hundred times too steep for me but I start longing for snow.

Next (and final) stop: Tromsø. The checkin is in ten minutes.

16:30 – Somewhere above the airport Oslo Gardermoen. Our airplane has started. It is hardly half full. The fog has vanished and I have a view to the autumnal surroundings of the airport.

This landscape looks cosy, a bit like Tolkien’s Hobbiton. An hour later the landscape looks completely different.

Soon the plane starts to sink giving me the probably fastest sunset I’ve ever seen. Hardly more than five minutes later we have landed on the airport Tromsø Langnes where I get a lift of K., my roommate in Tromsø.

Tomorrow I’ll have a day off. The next day I’ll start working at the Norwegian Polarinstitute. Unfortunately from home because I’m in travel quarantine. That’s not the easiest start, but that cannot be changed.