From Fjords to Fiats

RB · 2026-10-12T11:27:08+1100

Tromso-2 night stay

Apartment booked via booking.com but management was eventually handled by an aggregator. Two days before our stay, they sent email claiming the apartment was damaged & offered an alternative that we eventually accepted-right at bridge. Security entry to the new building gave us grief and then while trying to unlock the front door via a code & looking through a window the bed was not the promised king size. We were were eventually able to phone the aggregator and then negotiated a 2 bedroom big modern place about 10 minutes walk up the hill from downtown. As part of the deal the aggregator was to pay for taxi ride to the new place. They manage around 80 apartments apparently & are shysters (reading other recent reviews)- music festival on so we believe they were taking advantage. The first arvo was a bit wasted by the apartment saga. Over a very long time we have never had such dramas and eventually we received a superior spot but only because we had the confidence to push back and negotiate hard. This is the group- Northstay - Premium Nordic Vacation Rentals

2 bedrooms

drron · 2026-10-12T11:43:58+1100

MrsRB seems to be doing well with the new walking. I. can certainly be aware how a simple fall can have a negative effect on the overall experience.
Great Photos.

RB · 2026-10-12T14:03:27+1100

drron said:
MrsRB seems to be doing well with the new walking. I. can certainly be aware how a simple fall can have a negative effect on the overall experience.
Great Photos.

Yes now 13 months down the track & still improving. Two plates & 20 odd screws still in place but the walking gait is almost back. Confidence going down stairs is still improving. Interesting that getting through airport security was never a problem with the new hardware.

RB · 2026-10-12T14:28:17+1100

Around Tromso
Things to Do in Tromsø: Must-Sees & Hidden Gems (2026)

Great weather next morning for walking around. A good look around the waterfront overall & also walked over the bridge. Visited St Thomas Church- free entry so people could pay respects to the dead king Harald. We didn't venture to the cable car. Reading seemed to indicate there was a fair bit of construction happening and currently a lot of unavoidable stairs.
The inner city area was much more compact than what looking at a map indicated so it was relatively easy to cover the area we wanted. We visited the Tromso Cathedral that hosts the midnight concerts that have been held for a couple of decades.
The cIty certainly seemed to be a very liveable place with reasonable recreational areas and a lot of public transport options. The road to the airport gives an insight to where some of the growth is occurring & apartments blocks dominate-there are certainly some wonderful views to be had out that way though.
During our wanderings we saw a few spots where old shoes were left out-apparently an August tradition highlighting family members who had been lost to drugs.

Kongsbakken Upper Secondary School founded in 1833 Kongsbakken Upper Secondary School - Wikipedia

King Olav V statue

Part of the music festival-don't think we were part of the target audience

RB · 2026-10-12T14:38:28+1100

More of Tromso
It turned very cold walking across here when the wind picked up

Zoomed view of the ski jump centre

Sad tradition

Repurposed as a library

Cathedral

Interior of Cathedral

RB · 2026-10-12T15:25:04+1100

Tromso to Honningsvag -Wideroe WF911 Open seating

Ride out to Tromso airport organised through a local taxi app so works very similar to Uber with an agreed fare. About 20 minutes through security, everything out with 2 general security belts working and a 3rd belt was for paid priority. Paying for priority at our departure time 12.35pm on a Sunday on a Dash8-100 was not worthwhile.Nice waiting area, plenty of seats, lot of shops but food was pricey (as expected). Plenty of good views from waiting areas.

This flight only goes on a Sunday and at the gate and before walking across the tarmac the captain gathered us all together and warned of wind shear at Honningsvag & the possibility of not landing. The flight normally continues from Honningsvag to Mehamm and Hammerfest. All went OK but it was a bit bumpy decending and a sharp turn into landing. We eventually took a taxi to apartment (only 1 servicing the town & they didn’t have our booking so we waited).

Arrived

Continuing to Mehamm & Hammerfest

Volando · 2026-10-12T17:10:20+1100

Lovely Tromso photos! My one and only visit coincided with winter solstice. Needless to say it looked very different in the dark!

RB · 2026-10-13T10:51:40+1100

Apartment in Honningsvag. Cosy apartment in the centre with sauna. - Apartments for Rent in Nordkapp, Finnmark, Norway - Airbnb

A very comfortable 2 night stay with a very responsive owner. Our booking for the return cab early in the morning was rechecked & went without a hitch.

Separate toilet & wash basin

Sauna attached through door on right but unused

Very handy room with washing machine, multiple drying lines & a dryer

Exterior view-entry was street level dark door near downpipe- no one else around while we were there

RB · 2026-10-13T11:23:22+1100

Around Honningsvag.

Honningsvåg: Norway's Gateway to the North Cape - Life in Norway
Not a huge amount locally but we used Honningsvag used as a base by us to visit North Cape. North Cape (Norway) - Wikipedia
We did a town walk, visited the local brewery, ate at another bar, Soi 9 Restaurant & Bar where we had some great Thai food. The EPL was on TV there and attracted a local crowd. The local supermarket was well stocked & open long hours while smaller food shops were well patrionised by locals.

I understand these were rainbow trout for sale in the supermarket

Plenty of ships using the harbour facilities

Google tells me The sculpture is Nordavinden (also known as Boreas), created by artist Erling Saatvedt in 1971. Design: The abstract metal sculpture resembles a giant fishhook or the Greek god of the north wind.

Waterfront restaurant on the right

Local brewery was a top spot for a beer- had a good yarn with a Canadian travel agent who was guiding a group around ( told us she was having a much needed break from the group!)

Soi 9 for fish & chips & spicy pasta

Looking up from harbour area

Prince Andrew scores a mention!

RB · 2026-10-13T11:38:23+1100

More of Honningsvag

Another troll statue Context: Trolls are famous mythical creatures in Scandinavian folklore and Norse mythology, often depicted as ancient beings living in the mountains and rocks.

Cod heads on a drying rack

Historic wooden parish church, consecrated in 1885. It is one of the very few buildings in Finnmark that survived the German army's scorched-earth retreat and burning of the region in 1945, serving temporarily as a shelter, kitchen, and bakery for the returning local community.

More flowers for King Harold

Could hear the echo of protective work being done up above the settlement

Bronze statue from 1962. Not sure why the bin had to be so close

Back to Soi 9

Quickstatus · 2026-10-13T12:01:25+1100

Very scandinavian, those separate doonas

RB · 2026-10-13T13:54:09+1100

Our trip to North Cape was good but very fog bound (happens a lot). 13 starters in mini bus. Great driver/guide with multi lingual recorded commentary plus driver inputs. We called at a small Sami roadside shop on the way up-very casual arrangement where we could view some reindeer in a paddock, view a typical Sami tent (some skin bedding inside), old sleds, a couple of yapping pups and lastly a small shop with some wooden souvenirs. There were some so so reviews of the visitor centre at North Cape so didn't bother paying for the entry to the restricted area. At the plateau we snapped photos at the iconic globe monument, peered into the fog and then retreated to the monuments of the “Children of the World”. While there we spoke to a pair of young Polish cyclists who very fit having ridden from home all the way north!-we also encountred them back in Honningsvag so they got back down the fog impacted road.
Mother nature certainly ruled the day.

An excellent driver/guide

It was a very positive start-All taken from the bus

Our Sami stop

Tent interior

We were a fair way away but I think these yappers were likely Lapphund or Lapponian herder pups

RB · 2026-10-13T14:02:08+1100

North Cape continued

My best attempt to capture a crevice!

Back to the monuments

It is a long ride from Poland

Visibility didn't improve on the drive back

drron · 2026-10-13T15:10:54+1100

I was very interested in your time in Longyearbyen. I got to know a woman from there who bred and trained huskies. S was a bear quard on 3 of our Arctic cruises. A very tall lady whom I called the Chick with a gun. Finally found the picture of the last time we met.

RB · 2026-10-13T16:41:18+1100

drron said:
I was very interested in your time in Longyearbyen. I got to know a woman from there who bred and trained huskies. S was a bear quard on 3 of our Arctic cruises. A very tall lady whom I called the Chick with a gun. Finally found the picture of the last time we met.
View attachment 525693

Sorry don't recall seeing her.

At first look I thought it was Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) from Get Smart.
Longyearbyen was a great experience. You would certainly need to be resilient to live there long term. I think Magnus the guide said he goes to the Canary Islands as an escape

RB · 2026-10-13T17:11:33+1100

Honningsvag to Kirkenes WF 0931/WF0930/WF0953 via Hammerfest & Vadso

Early 5am taxi to airport. The 1st flight was eventually cancelled due to fog so a 3 step replacement bus ride was organised for us by Wideroe. Approx 10hrs in bus. Honningsvag-Olderfjord-Varangerbotn-Kirkenes

We encountered our first tunnels of the trip. Great scenery but also plenty of low cloud and noticeably no overtaking lanes. On reflection not a bad day-saw a wide variety of scenery, rugged coastline, big cliffs,tundra vegetation and various stages of autumn kicking in, all from very comfortable buses with only 1 other passenger at times. The buses kept times with the very low speed limits undoubtedly helping. All of the bus drivers helpful and we ended up dropped at the hotel door at Kirkenes.

Honningsvag airport waiting room