Sun, sea and Senja.
After yesterdays efforts and late night we left the alarm off, so it was getting on for 9am before we were out of bed and having breakfast. Thew weather continued where it had left off yesterday with beautiful warm sunshine. So, there was no way we were leaving such a lovely place without spending some time on the beach.
With he van partially tidied it was just after 10am when we found a spot on the sand that was sheltered from the slight but cooling breeze. Pretty soon I was embroiled building a big moat and sandcastle with the assistance of Callum and Logan, Mum is pretty good at avoiding such activities and settled down to read another few chapters on her Kindle, which is fine by us, this is mans work😂. The castle progressed well and was soon complete and all we needed to do now was wait on the tide come in. It really was a scorcher, I have no idea what temperature it was but it was definitely a "taps aff day". Not long before lunch the idea sprang into my head, and its one I never though of but swimming above the Arctic circle would be quite a cool thing to do so myself and the boys got into our swim shorts and gradually tried to pluck up the courage, lunchtime was approaching so it was now or never, I wandered into the water and took a deep breath and was in, to me it was pretty damn cold but I am sure to my friends at home who swim in the sea and open waters it would have been ok, once your in its ok and I managed to stay in for just under 20 minutes. Logan came in with me and made it just about to above trunk level and Callum fared a little better being just about up to his shoulders, they were clinging on for grim death however and just wanted out, lol. It took me a while to warm up afterwards but it had been fun.
I'll need to be thinking about cutting my hair soon, that's another thing I wanted to do inside the Arctic circle and its really reaching desperation stages, its half way down my back now. Will tackle that the next time we are in a campsite, for those who have never seen me with hair, here is how I look just now😳
Eventually it was decided that we should make tracks, The ferry off Senja to Kvaløya runs every 2 hours in the afternoon so we left in time to go to the shops for vital supplies (beer) and get over on the 4pm ferry, this would give us time to get a bit nearer to Tromso. We were very sad to leave Senja, we have only just scratched the surface and its a place I certainly hope to return to in the future.
We were at the little village of Both-hamn in good time and we had a wee wander around while waiting on the ferry come in. Theres an old harpoon here pointing over the harbour and it really is a horrible piece of kit. The wings on it fold in so when it enters the whale it penetrates well in but then barbs on it open the wings preventing it being pulled out, what a barbaric piece of equipment to hunt an with. Fortunately not so many countries hunt whales nowadays but Norway and Iceland do still have commercial quota's for hunting Minke whales sadly and hopefully the explosive harpoons used ensure a swift death for a defenceless animal.
Depending on what we decide to do after Tromsø it is possible that this may be the last little ferry, we have been calling them Gulpers because of the way the ferry door opens like a big mouth. This one was a very new boat, not very big but state of the art. 45 minutes after boarding and 904NOK lighter we were on Kvaløya, it looked very much like parts of northern Scotland again, and roads are just about in the same condition also. So, its quite a slow drive but that ok as the scenery is very nice. We are parked up on a mountain pass about 20km from Tromsø and will most likely spend a day or 2 there before moving on.
With he van partially tidied it was just after 10am when we found a spot on the sand that was sheltered from the slight but cooling breeze. Pretty soon I was embroiled building a big moat and sandcastle with the assistance of Callum and Logan, Mum is pretty good at avoiding such activities and settled down to read another few chapters on her Kindle, which is fine by us, this is mans work😂. The castle progressed well and was soon complete and all we needed to do now was wait on the tide come in. It really was a scorcher, I have no idea what temperature it was but it was definitely a "taps aff day". Not long before lunch the idea sprang into my head, and its one I never though of but swimming above the Arctic circle would be quite a cool thing to do so myself and the boys got into our swim shorts and gradually tried to pluck up the courage, lunchtime was approaching so it was now or never, I wandered into the water and took a deep breath and was in, to me it was pretty damn cold but I am sure to my friends at home who swim in the sea and open waters it would have been ok, once your in its ok and I managed to stay in for just under 20 minutes. Logan came in with me and made it just about to above trunk level and Callum fared a little better being just about up to his shoulders, they were clinging on for grim death however and just wanted out, lol. It took me a while to warm up afterwards but it had been fun.
I'll need to be thinking about cutting my hair soon, that's another thing I wanted to do inside the Arctic circle and its really reaching desperation stages, its half way down my back now. Will tackle that the next time we are in a campsite, for those who have never seen me with hair, here is how I look just now😳
Eventually it was decided that we should make tracks, The ferry off Senja to Kvaløya runs every 2 hours in the afternoon so we left in time to go to the shops for vital supplies (beer) and get over on the 4pm ferry, this would give us time to get a bit nearer to Tromso. We were very sad to leave Senja, we have only just scratched the surface and its a place I certainly hope to return to in the future.
We were at the little village of Both-hamn in good time and we had a wee wander around while waiting on the ferry come in. Theres an old harpoon here pointing over the harbour and it really is a horrible piece of kit. The wings on it fold in so when it enters the whale it penetrates well in but then barbs on it open the wings preventing it being pulled out, what a barbaric piece of equipment to hunt an with. Fortunately not so many countries hunt whales nowadays but Norway and Iceland do still have commercial quota's for hunting Minke whales sadly and hopefully the explosive harpoons used ensure a swift death for a defenceless animal.
Depending on what we decide to do after Tromsø it is possible that this may be the last little ferry, we have been calling them Gulpers because of the way the ferry door opens like a big mouth. This one was a very new boat, not very big but state of the art. 45 minutes after boarding and 904NOK lighter we were on Kvaløya, it looked very much like parts of northern Scotland again, and roads are just about in the same condition also. So, its quite a slow drive but that ok as the scenery is very nice. We are parked up on a mountain pass about 20km from Tromsø and will most likely spend a day or 2 there before moving on.
loving the hair style buddy I may copy it, the Japanese have recently started whale hunting again I don't approve but I am much more concerned with the masses deer sheep and cattle killing biodiversity on land the sea is fairing much better! that's a mighty fine castle and moat and you done well with your sea swim mate, if you have a minuit checkout wim hof the ice man on the net cold therapy that swim will boost your immune system
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