Day 13: Plan ahead

20 km and 100 m climbing

Getting organized

Today is a rest day as I reached yesterday the milestone of previous week. This time I had to use the day to plan ahead the coming two weeks and to organize some practicalities considering the plans. The first two weeks I had more less prepared before I left. However now I have to study the maps to figure out the points of food supplies, ferry schedules and location of the camp sites. As such I discover a closed road/tunnel on my route, resulting in a detour of an additional 80 km. Luckily I find it out now and not when I took the wrong road.

And it was time to get a hair cut by a local hairdresser. Always an experience. To my surprise, the hairdresser did not speak English. So with sign language and the help of all other people in the barber shop we get the job done without surprises lost in translation. The funny thing, when Norwegian people speak slow and with simple sentences, i actually can understand them. Many similarities with Dutch dialects.

Arctic–Alpine Botanic Garden

To keep the muscles in my legs awake, I made after all practical duties a modest cycling trip through the neighbourhoods of Tromso. To observe local life and housing. As a goal for the trip, I took the Artic-Alpine Botanic Garden.

The Arctic–Alpine Botanic Garden is the world’s northernmost botanic garden. It is run by the Tromsø University Museum. The garden displays Arctic and alpine plants from all over the northern hemisphere. It is freely accessible around the clock.

The evening walk in this garden with view over the Fjord is a very pleasant and intriguing one. A remarkable amount of different species are growing between the rocks which are carefully selected throughout whole Norway to give a good representation of the geological diversity as well.

The few visitors to the garden all are scanning the surface with their telephones to capture the colors and shapes. So, when in Rome act like the Romans…

Big Brother is watching

When being traffic, you can’t miss it. You are being watched. Norway is packed with camera’s and scanners. Capturing your license plate, registering where you went, when and how fast. Including the ferries. And the bill is send automatically to your home adress, even if you live abroad.

Northern Light Planetarium

Tromso is known to be an excellent place to observe the Northern Light or Aurora Borealis. Even with low intensity I seems to be clearly visible at this latitude. Therefore I figured out if there are predictions or tips. And i Learn that actually tonight would be my best chance during my whole cycling trip to observe it. The geomagnetic conditions (indicated with Kp) are good (as of 3 it is good) and the moon cycle is in the darkest phase. When the clouds would dissolve, there is a reasonable chance. Cross fingers for tonight.

Otherwise I have to trigger my imagination with some example pictures from Tromso and Kirkenes.

Below some websites which can help you indicating your chances:

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity/aurora-forecast.html

https://www.norway-lights.com/

Grønnåsen Hoppsenter

While wandering I spot a structure on a hill not so far away which raised my curiosity. And i started searching for a path to approach it.

Hoppbakke, in Dutch it gives a connotation with how the structure looks like. However correctly translated, it means Ski Jump Hill. I follow a sand path through the woods to reach it. It is completely abandoned in this time of the year.

The wooden structure looks shaky. When on top, I experience the madness of this sport. The view may be stunning. However sitting on the shaky beam, high in the sky and looking towards the steep decent, I hardly can imagine how it would feel to stand up all of sudden and let gravity does it thing.

Via a steep rocky path in the woods, i make my way towards the landing area. From here, the view is even more impressive. What i thought was a gliding slope to land turns out to be an almost perpendicular cliff.

I like to try new sports, however the place convinced me that this particular one is a bridge to far.