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Month: January 2015

Sørtinden & Reindeer

Sørtinden & Reindeer

We had beautiful clear and calm weather all week, but it was going to change during the weekend. Luckily, it took a while for the clouds to roll in, and I managed to make the most of a beautiful Saturday morning 🙂 I went up Sørtinden on foot, there was very little snow and it was hard and icy so you didn’t need ski’s or snowshoes. Easy!

Beautiful pink sky over Kvaløya on my way to Sørtinden Hello Sun!

It was very windy at times, and on the top I had to shelter behind the cairn to avoid freezing within seconds!

It was very windy at times! Beautiful views from the very windy top

The colour of the sky towards the north was amazing though…

Panorama from the top, with the island Vengsøya on the left

I couldn’t stop taking photos of the sky, and the sunlight on the peaks of Lyngen 🙂

I sheltered behind the cairn and couldn't stop taking photos of the amazing sky Sunlight on the peaks of Lyngen

I took a different route down, and I met two reindeer who I followed for a while…

Hey, two reindeer I followed them around for a while

Until they were joined by the rest of the herd! They were so busy eating they didn’t seem too bothered by my presence.

And there is the rest of the herd! The reindeer were too busy eating to be bother by me

It was beautiful to spend time with them, and the fantastic colours in the sky provided a nice backdrop 🙂

The colour of the sky was so pretty! Bye bye reindeer!

What a nice trip, glad I made the most of a clear morning 🙂

Welcome back, sunshine!

Welcome back, sunshine!

One thing I love about Tromsø is how living here makes you appreciate lots of things you take for granted elsewhere. Like sunshine! When the sun comes back at the end of January it has been absent for two months. Those first rays of sunlight are pure magic, it feels so good to finally see the sun and I imagine I can already feel its warmth (SUMMER! Hmm not for a while, but we’re going in the right direction 😉 ).

Today is the official “soldagen” in Tromsø, the day where the sun reaches the steps to the cathedral in town (or something like that). My work is on top of the island, so we got to see the sun 2 days earlier 😉 but today Signe and I went for a walk to Prestvannet today to soak up all the sunshine we could find 😀

Pink sunlight on the peaks of Kvaløya Tromsdaltinden, Prestvannet, and the sun - this is about as high as the sun got today

The sun seemed huge today! It still doesn’t reach very high, so it “rises” and “sets” several times behind the mountain peaks in the distance.

Signe and the sun Oh we are so glad to see you!

Signe and me and the SUN!

I also wanted to share this photo. The airport in Tromsø bought one of my pictures to decorate a wall in the airport, and it’s HUGE – about 9 meters wide and 3 m high. Last Friday I was invited for lunch at the airport, so I could see my photo – I was so impressed 😀

My photo at the airport :)

A cold & windy Sunday

A cold & windy Sunday

After a busy week at work, including voluntarily showing up on my free Saturday to help dealing with hurricane Nina (in southern Norway), I was happy to sleep in today. Luckily I did wake up in time to see the beautiful twilight in the middle of the day, and I decided to visit one of my favourite places near Tromsø: Håkøya. It was cold, -9C (which is cold for Tromsø!), and in combination with the wind it felt even colder. My camera struggled with the cold, which is kind of strange as it didn’t have any problems during -25 / -30 in Finland. Luckily I managed to take some photos even when none of the buttons were working 😀

The tide coming in at Håkøya Frozen foam on the beach at Håkøya

On my way home, I made one more stop, to take a photo of the lone cabin at Langnes.

The cabin at Langnes

Not long until the sun comes back, oh how I am looking forward to those first rays of sunlight!