Tromsø and beyond

The Troms County in northern Norway is a place of beauty. A rugged coastline is facing the Norwegian Sea while being one of the least polluted areas of Europe.

The area was first settled in the Stone Age. The Sami people were doing their thing until the arrival of the Norse vikings. And now little me has arrived!

Driving across Håkøya.

I steer the dented rental out of Tromsø across the island of Håkøya, in search of a special site. The dreaded German battleship Tirpitz was finally sunk at this location in November 1944 by Royal Air Force.

Today small lakes have been formed from the large craters made by “Tallboy” bombs that missed their targets. The demolition platform is still there in the water, as well as a Memorial Plack made with Tirpitz hull remains.

A Tallboy crater at Håkøya.

The view is beautiful anywhere I look, but the bay at Ersfjordbotn is something special. I look across Ersfjorden and it feels like a postcard from a tourist agency. The lunch picnic on the wooden pier gets a soundtrack by local band Bel Canto on phone speakers.

Ersfjordbotn.

The roads are getting smaller and I drive across a narrow bridge with only room for one car at a time, before arriving at Sommarøy. By sheer miracle there is a place that serves coffee.

Coffee at Sommarøy.

“There was coffee. Life would go on.”
— William Gibson, Burning Chrome (1982)