December 28, 2023

We spent the day outside of Tromsø enjoying the beauty of the mountains and the water. It started with a lovely breakfast at the hotel. Everything from pickled Herring to a lovely hard boiled egg with pesto.

Then with outfit change one we suited up in our winter gear and took off to explore dog sledding. We went with Kvaløya Husky. But first we had outfit change two. Apparently the dogs can mess up your gear so they provided some for us.

Then we got to meet the dogs. They were super nice and clearly ready to run.

After they got all hooked up we went for a ride through the valley and around the mountains.

After that we got some warm drinks and got to meet the puppies…by far the cutest part.

From there it was the next outfit change back into our winter gear and back to the hotel for a food and rest. For dinner the food continued to be amazing. We enjoyed roasted lamb from the far with local root vegetables.

In the evening (after outfit change 4) we took a snow show hike up the mountain behind the farm to a cabin to watch for the northern lights.

The view was amazing. The hike up reminded me that I need to exercise more but we made it. There were 3 other pairs of people with us and everyone had a great time. Our guide Jeremy prepared some lamb ribs and dried leg of lamb. Everything was delicious.

Shortly after arriving, our guide got very excited that there were Northern lights and he commented how it moved like smoke…it was smoke. We all had a good laugh and enjoyed that joke the rest of the trip.

Even with the great weather, clear sky, and lovely time, the fates and solar winds did not align and we did not see any norther lights. Some faint things perhaps and a green glow but nothing proper.

We made our way back to the hotel for rest.

The next morning at breakfast we saw the German couple that had been with us on the Northern Light hike. Apparently they stayed up later and did end up seeing some. So there is proof that they do exist and they can be seen from the hotel. Next time we will stick it out longer.

It was just a great time and very cool experience.