Spring is slowly making its way to Tromsø, but this weekend we seem to have turned back to winter: snow showers! We were craving some fresh air though, so we decided to go for a walk anyway. We walked along the coast of the mainland, sometimes battered by snow and hail showers, other times enjoying bright sunshine a great walk!

Here you can see that spring is actually here: buds on the trees and oystercatchers. We even saw little lambs! I didn’t get a photo of them though, as they hurried inside the shed when it started snowing.

The sky was changing so quickly and the clouds were really impressive…

We came across many boathouses which are great subjects for photos

Large parts of the beach consisted of big rocks grown over with grass – quite difficult to walk on!

We came across this boat-repair-project (looked quite hopeless to me ), and from here we walked back to the car along the road.

May is a difficult month in Tromsø, at some point there is not enough snow for skiing but too much snow for hiking… beaches are the best destination then, as they are free of snow. It was great to get some fresh air, and we both really enjoyed our walk on the beach

Yesterday evening the water around Tromsø was mirror calm and I (Paul) decided it was time for the first boat trip of the year! I had heard that the sea ice in Ramfjorden had recently broken up and thought it would be interesting to make a trip in the channels between the ice floes.

When I got to Ramfjorden, I found that all the broken-off pieces of ice had been blown out of the fjord so the maze of channels I was hoping for was gone. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful evening in the fjord.

The remaining ice was very thin (5-10 cm), too thin for a person to walk on, but plenty thick enough for sea gulls.

After taking some photos, I met up with a friend who lives by the side of the fjord, who invited me in for coffee. After the sun had gone down it was time to return to Tromsø. On the way back I found that the surface of the fjord had begun to freeze over, and I could hear it cracking under the boat. I was surprised how quickly the thin ice had formed. It was perhaps good that I did not stay longer

Last week we drove to Sommarøy to take pictures of the sunset. Sommarøy is ideal for this, as it’s located on the outer side of Kvaløya with only open ocean to the west We had a really nice evening walking on the beaches…

I had fun taking photos of the sunset with my neutral gradient filters, and Paul flew his kite for a while – there was just about enough wind. Sunset that day was at 21:18, but it rises again less than 6 hours later (at 4 in the morning). Although it doesn’t really get dark anymore, the sky turns this intense orange near the horizon – so beautiful!

We climbed Ørnfløya just after sunset to get photos of Sommarøy from above. There was a large flock of reindeer on the mountain too.

I could have stayed there all night, I was hoping the northern lights might make another appearance, but Paul was going on a skiing trip the next day and he was keen to get some sleep We made it back to Tromsø by midnight, I was tired but very happy