Day 14: What engineers do when on holiday
40 km and 523 m climbing
Due to an appointment later this week, I decided to stay around Tromso. And to explore some less usual locations in the surroundings.
A random house on my way gives me a reminder to start every day with a good mindset.
Sandnessundbrua
Last night I stayed up late, in the hope to catch a glimpse of the Northern Light. Some cloud less spots gave me hope. However past midnight I went to bed without the green spectacle on my retina.
This morning, when crossing the Sandnessund bridge at the other side of Tromso, I spotted a look-a-like of the Northern Light in Fjord below me. What a color play!
Biotep – Pilot Plant
My first stop of the day is Biotep, the pilot plant facility if Nofima. Nofima is a leading food research institute that conducts research and development for the aquaculture industry, the fishing industry and the food industry.
Two years ago, I was urgently searching for a pilot plant with drying capacity to support a Dutch startup company with their upscaling trials. While scanning the European landscape of pilot facilities, I tracked down Biotep. Back then we aligned and prepared even a real trial. However, I found a quicker option in the Netherlands and therefore had to shelve the plans for a trip to Tromso with my colleagues.
At the start of my cycling adventure I noticed that the pilot plant lay literally on the Atlantic coast route/eurovelo 1 route. Too close not to get off my bike! Therefore I reached out by mail a week ago to ask if I could come over for a coffee and a small visit.
And that way I had today a nice conversation and plant tour with Sverre, operations manager of the pilot facility.
We talked about startups, our interest for processing bio-materials, the loneliness of a solo cycling adventure in the Artic, the enormous variety of biological derived products (with real examples om the table), experiences about differences between Dutch and Belgian people, capabilities of the pilot plant, career paths and the football career of his kids. His oldest son even lives already since the start of the covid lockdown in the UK as he plays in the youth team of Manchester United. A proud dad and professional!
I have the feeling i will return here one day to run some decent trials.
Some information about the facilities
Rodtind hike
I found an informative blog from a local who listed the best hikes in the surroundings of Tromso. Her favorite one was near the Biotep facility. An easy choice to go for this one.
https://nerdnomads.com/hikes-in-tromso#3_rodtind_470_m
I left my bike at the ski station as indicated. However i was searching for ski lifts which I couldn’t find. A result of a personal bias, i noticed. Here in Norway, people train intensive for cross country skiing. And as always, they have excellent infrastructure to do so. A dedicated streetmap with multiple levels of hills and bridges. So, no ski lifts for the Norwegian kids, they have to push themselves uphill.
The hike starts with some wooden tracks through the forest and over the mud.
Very soon I reached the clouds. The visibility drops to around 30 m. I walk for an hour steep uphill without any idea about my surroundings. It feels foolish to climb a mountain while you can’t hardly see anything. To keep me going, I imagine the possibility of being lucky and to walk on top of the clouds when I reach the top of the mountain. In my imagination, it already looks great.
When I’m approaching the top, my kids are calling me. They both had a super day at the second day of school and had both some very good news to share about their day at school. And while they are telling their uplifting stories, I reach the top in the mist.
And then, it really happens!
A sudden breeze of wind and the clouds are rolling around my feet downhill and all of a sudden I am on top the clouds. I feel like I am in the middle of a Japanese animation movie from the Ghibli Studio.
The top of some mountains break through the clouds, like sailing ships on the sea. What a spectacular view!
While sitting on a stone to watch the clouds, I notice that the surrounding is full of live. Lemmings are running around and the rocks looks like a proper Jan Fabre artwork, covered with many shiny green beatles.
On my way down I see the clouds dissolve. The landscape starts to magicaly reveal, and the islands in the in Fjord start to pop up above the fog banks on the water.
I am so happy I kept walking uphill against all odds to have a view. The view downhill is a magic spectacle, hardly to catch in a picture.
On my way back to the camp site, I had to stop to have a close look at the construction workers who seems in the process of building a sand castle in the middle of Tromso center. But then I got the full picture. They are making a skate park today.
