This morning a celebration was held on deck to celebrate being in the Arctic circle (We’re in the circle for 4 days) & King Neptune visited. People who were silly enough to allow themselves to be baptised by having iced water put down the inside of their shirts were rewarded with a free shot of something Norwegian & alcoholic. We stayed well away.

This afternoon we went on an excursion into the countryside from the lovely city of Tromso to a place where you can go sledding with a team of huskies if you visit in the winter. The dogs are very friendly & love people & the puppies are georgeous. We could hold a pup – they were one month old. The woman who owns the place, Tove Sorensen, has raced in the famous Alaskan race, itidarod, in 2006. She has written her story; apparently it is an inspirational story. One of the other Aussies has read it.

We’ve now found 8 Aussies but I don’t think there’s anymore. The majority of people are Norwegian or German. Hardly any Americans, a few English but mainly, Norwegian & German. They don’t seem very friendly. You ask if you can share their table at breakfast or lunch & they’ll nod but it’s really hard work to get a conversation going. Of course, it would help if we could speak their language.

Over 250 huskies are kept, they are trained & in winter they take people on rides. It seems a very popular tourist attraction & I think a lot of locals go there too.

I’ve taken so many photos. It is so beautiful wherever you look. There’s a lot of snow in the mountains here & I think it looks so pretty. I love it!