Ben Edwards, crew whole expedition
So, we’ve been in Tromsø two days now and we’re all set to leave tomorrow. Mum met us as we came into port and my sister Bea and her boyfriend Joe were there as well. We arrived in Tromsø and nine in the morning yesterday and I spent the rest of the day sleeping. We had booked hotel rooms because Mum, Bea and Joe, were already there. I had’t realised how tired I was until we reached port. At that point I no longer needed to be alert all the time so the fatigue came crashing down.
Today I was allowed to sleep in again. I had hoped to get up early so that I could get on with things. With hindsight, I really needed that sleep. During the day the oven was removed and the microwave was installed. Expectations are that this will make things a lot easier. After lunch Dad showed Mum and me how to transfer camera footage to the laptops. After that Mum and I went into town to buy some things that we needed for the boat. While the surrounding area of Tromsø is beautiful, encircling mountains, some of which still have snow on, what I really love about this city is its tunnels. There is an entire A-road and motorway system beneath the city, we went through it to get to the shopping centre. Also, the Norwegian people are lovely. All those that we’ve had any interaction with have been friendly, helpful and accepting.
While we were in town I got a small polar bear wearing a scarf to cable tie to the front of the boat. On returning to the boat Mum, Dad, Bea, Joe and I went for dinner in the hotel so that we could see each other before we leave. A bit later everyone else went and had dinner in a nearby pizza restaurant. For some reason the Norwegians do really good pizza.
Back on the boat I did an interview for ITN and then we all started packing things away. A Norwegian reporter turned up during this and we talked to him for a while. He was good, very enthusiastic. After that Dad and I went up to the hotel so that he could look at the interview footage and I could write this. I’ll write again during the next bit of sailing time. Bye.