This morning started like most others. We woke up to see a tiny fishing boat sitting in the middle of the fjord surrounded by seagulls. Then 10 mins later it was back in the little harbour, seagulls following.
I guess this explains why the boats are so small (1 person?) - they don't go very far!
What happened next was not quite so usual. The gulls started making a huge amount of noise and were chasing a large brown bird with white wing tips, some sort of eagle! They chased it all the way down the fjord before flying back to harass the fisherman.
After breakfast Stu opened his birthday cards and his surprise present, a Fit Bit (he'd opened what he thought all his presents before we left because they were too heavy to bring). We then set off towards Trømvik. About halfway there's a deserted village and according to the map it shouldn't be too mountainous and more importantly there would hopefully be a track we could walk along the coast.
The snow melts along the coast first and the coast, although rocky, is relatively flat making walking possible without risk (by knowing what are stepping onto and that it will hold your weight!).
Unfortunately the closer we approached the abandoned village the higher the road went meaning it would be impossible to get down to the coast :-(
So on we drove, past a massive frozen lake, then a smaller one surrounded by a rocky outcrop with a waterfall. This looked perfect for walking so we pulled up on the side the road, tightened our boots and set off.
Upon close inspection the snow was starting to melt with river runoff from the cliffs into the lake. This meant whenever we heard water we had to be extra careful of our stepping as one wrong step could mean we would end ankle high in icy cold water!
After an hour or so of scrambling we got to the cliff edge to see an (inhabited) village, the ocean and of course a beach! Perfect for our lunch stop. There aren't many cafes around, and those that were serving lunch could easily cost £50 so we've had a delicious picnic every day.
After lunch we went for a walk along the beach - some of the sand we stepped on was frozen and gave way sending our boots straight into rock pools :-(
With cold and wet feet we returned to the car, and drove to Trømvik with the air conditioning blowing full force on my feet with the hope they would dry a little.
Trømvik appears to be a more industrial fishing village than Ersfjordbotn, with much larger boats, but then again the open Norwegian Sea is literally just around the corner.
With no more walking spots in sight we set back off to the cabin to get ready for Stu's birthday meal out.
I'd booked a table at one of Tromsø's best Norwegian restaurants which caters for locals and tourists alike.
Their signature dish is stockfish, a Norwegian specialty. It requires the fish to be hung outside, like those we've been seeing everywhere, in the artic wind for several months as a method of drying and preserving (the dried version was what Stu tried yesterday). They then soak the fish for 6 days to rehydrate it and cook it. This results in a not too strong, very tender, slightly smokey tasting, delicious birthday dinner! I on the other hand went for the slightly more conservative, reindeer steak which was equally delicious.
For pudding we had chocolate soup with pickled carrots. A rather odd sounding but equally delicious dessert. The tiny little baby carrots tasted of cinnamon!
Full and happy we returned back to the cabin, through the sleet, for an early night - there's no chance the clouds will clear tonight either :-(
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