Both we and our luggage arrived in Tromso last night, which was a small miracle given airline industrial action meant our flight to Oslo left over an hour late and we missed our connecting flight as our luggage was still on the previous plane.

Flew up north with literally a whole plane full of professional photographers and scientists who all seemed to know each other- so we knew we were in for something special and we weren’t disappointed.

Tromso itself is a quaint little town, almost 300 years old but mostly post WW2 as the Germans raised it to the ground to leave nothing for the Russians.

This tiny town is set on an enormous port, skirted by snow capped alps. Eight months of year in total darkness, 2 (now) in 24 hour light and 2 in transition.

The town jumps all night and has more pubs per capita than anywhere in Norway. We opted for one that wasn’t showing soccer (aka was less wild) for a dinner of seafood tapas for me (halibut, king prawns, scampi, cheeses & eggs that had clearly come from a very small birds bottom), and reindeer sausages for David (who seems to be eating his way through Santa’s sleigh).

Assembled most of bike before bed. A broken spoke or two that we will need to sort today (befriended local bike mechanic online before coming) but otherwise seems to be OK – but will feel more confident once we have a ride. We start our tour on Monday.