No Light, no light (Tromsø, Norway)

Well hello, dear reader and yes, today's title is a bit of a giveaway. As Florence sang, there were no lights, no lights. We are not complaining; what we have seen so far has been amazing, not as visible to the naked eye as we expected, but stunning nonetheless. It also afforded me the opportunity of revisiting Florence and the Machine. An excellent song from the 2011 Ceremonials album. Enjoy.

Good morning from Tromsø onboard the Venus.

There was one scheduled excursion for today which incorporated a drive around Tromsø to provide some orientation. Combined with this was a visit to the planetarium at the university and an obligatory church visit. It is referred to as a Cathedral, but it's not really. More on that later.

Tromsø, like most of the communities we have seen so far, is etched onto the side of a mountain that slopes down to a fjord. All very picture perfect and spectacular. The population of 78,000ish is spread across the mainland and an island with the university contributing significantly to the general population as well as the number of guides utilised by the tourist trade. 

A ski jump on the uni campus.

The planetarium was one where the seat lays back so you watch the action unfold on the ceiling. The action, in our case, was a display of the northern lights taken by a Norwegian photographer. It was impressive and, as you know already, provided us with false hope for the night to come.

There was an exhibit inside the planetarium that displayed a timeline of important events around the Aurora Borealis. The timeline, in typical Viking fashion, was tight and we didn't really get to explore much beyond watching the presentation.

Sydney Opera House? If I squint while looking into the sun.

Back on the bus, it was Cathedral time. The church is said to resemble the Sydney Opera House. In the most remote of ways, I would suggest. Although there were similar architect issues. When the church was completed, the window behind the altar was clear glass. Apparently this provided multiple religious moments for the congregation when the sun rose above the mountains and blinded them. Or in summer, fried them. I'm sure if they squinted in the right way they would see a saint. With a message. "Don't forget your sunglasses,'" or "Should have gone to specsavers."

An impressive organ.

Anyway, the solution was to replace the clear glass with a stained glass mosaic window. Impressive as it is, the architect was, as only architects can be, professionally miffed and he vowed never to set foot inside the church again. I did that years ago and I'm not even an architect.

Planned or not, it is spectacular.

However, the best moment in this visit? We walked outside to the back of the church to see what the windows looked like from the other side. As expected, unimpressive. As we were heading back to the front of the church with its view over the fjord, I noticed a bird feeder hanging from one of the trees. Closer inspection revealed a Great Tit. Excitement plus! Yes, dear reader, you know I'm a bird nerd. Sadly I only had the 55mm lens with me so the photo of the fast moving little fellow is not my best work. Still.

Look hard, he's there.

Wandering back to the front of the church, being careful not to slip on the ice, I snapped a shot of the Venus at anchor across the fjord. Then it was back on the bus and back to the ship.

I have a childhood memory of a ditty about the good ship Venus ...

The city centre

Following the morning excursion was lunch of course. Way too much food for my liking, but hey, it has to be done. We either eat a very light lunch or none at all. I would still like to be able to fit into my jeans at the end of the cruise. Time at sea and weather conditions don't always encourage physical activity.

We were docked close to town and the gangway was down - no need for tender transfer, so we opted to go exploring. That's almost the truth. Jayne mentioned 'pandora', the jewellery, not the mythical Greek box. A Google question later and I was armed with the information required - where can I purchase Pandora in Tromsø?

As it turned out it was within sight of the ship. The footpaths in the city centre are heated to ensure an expeditious melting of ice. However not all paths were actually ice free. It was therefore, a slow and steady progression toward the shopping mall.

Norwegian Easter eggs aren't chocolate but are filled with lollies.

The journey to the pandora prize took us past a couple of interesting sculptures. The one further down the page I just don't get. Proving his manhood in the cold? Whatever. The statue of Amundsen the great Norwegian explorer is understandable. Even if he is not. Here is a man who clearly liked the company of men (not that there's anything wrong with that) or he disliked his family. A lot. Preparing for an expedition to be the first person to the North Pole, he discovered, days before setting out, that someone beat him to it. Does he go home? No chance. He is packed and ready to go, so he turns his attention to the South Pole, pops down there and beats poor old Doug Mawson to the finish line. Fun times.

Brave explorer or family hater? You decide.

We walked past a Clarion Hotel into the shopping centre to a store named 'Glitter'. It did not look like it would sell Pandora. And for good reason. It didn't. Excellent work Google and your paid links. Remember when Google was good? You could search for something and not be bombarded with 'sponsored sites' or others that had paid to be top of the search list. I was searching for something completely unrelated this morning and the top 15 hits had nothing to do with my specific search. But I digress.

Clearly it was cold.

Out of the shopping plaza and back toward the city centre. All pavements were defrosted and the walking was easy. The tourist shops all appeared to to stock the same items, at the same price. Collusion? After inspecting a few stores, we decided just to wander around. The main shopping street is a work in progress. There are barricades everywhere as it is being dug up and replaced. We saw a man we assumed had had a fall, on the ground being tended to by people who were with him as the ambulance arrived.

The real Cathedral in Tromsø centre.

Norway appears to be the home of trolls. No, dear reader not the internet ones, the trolls of myth and/or legend. There is even a Troll Museum. No we didn't go in. How long would that hold your interest?

Cute.

Thwarted in our attempts to support the Norwegian economy we returned the ship. Intact. No ice falls.

The Sámi Parliament

Like other indigenous peoples across the globe, the Sámi have withstood attempts to evangelise them, to wipe out their spiritual connection with nature, to obliterate their history by denying them their language and to ignore their sovereignty as the original of the two peoples across the Sámpi Lands. This oppression continued until after WWII when government policy shifted, at least in theory. But real change did not occur until a pivotal moment when a hydro-electric dam proposal threatened to flood a Sámi community. Consequent protests, known as the Alta Conflict, galvanised the movement for real change, culminating in the establishment of the Parliament in 1989. How would that have gone in Australia?

The Cathedral zone at night.

The evening before, our Sámi host at Camp Tamok spoke briefly about the challenges of maintaining the traditional lifestyle and culture in face of both historic and modern threats. In passing he mentioned that now, if he has an issue of concern, he can seek representation in the Sámi Parliament to be heard. What is this radical agenda? A body that can allow the First Nations people to have a say in matters that affect them? What an outrageous idea! Imagine if we'd thought of that in Australia?

In this instance, our host used the example of the ubiquitous wind turbines that occupy so much of the sea and landscape across Scandinavia. He says these generators are having a negative impact on his capacity to graze his reindeer herds unhindered. He has raised this concern with the Sámi Parliament for consideration  and debate by the democratically elected Sámi representatives who meet 4 times a year in  a small village called Karasjok in their official building, a large scale lavvu, established in 2000. Imagine a parliament that acted for the people and not big business? How would that work in Australia?

All this lies within a Norwegian cultural context of everybody has the right to access nature freely - no fees, no prohibited areas. For example, if you have a caravan, you can basically find a nice spot, park yourself there for as long as you like, enjoy the surrounds and then depart whenever you are ready. In the same vein, the school system is predicated around students being outdoors as much as possible, in the course of their studies. Kindergarten kids go on regular mountain hikes as part of their curriculum. Goodness! A curriculum that is not a plaything for politicians. Another lesson we could take back to Australia.

Yes, in a recurring theme for me dear reader I am regularly confounded by Australia's ability to ignore the original inhabitants. You know I'm coming back to this later.

Meanwhile dinner. I'll leave you with two photos.

Lobster tail and tarragon butter.

It wasn't called a pavlova - no cream.

Until next time.