Wednesday 9 October

Lesson number 2 – Even staying at the airport leave yourself more time than you think you need.

We have started to book stays at airports more, as they take a lot of stress out of getting to your flight on time. Ibis Styles is near terminal 3, and we needed to be at terminal 2. We understood the free shuttle train was a short walk, and ran every 4 minutes. Our flight departed at 11:10, bag drop was 90 minutes prior, so we set the alarm for 0700, allowing a quick shower, breakfast downstairs till 0800, check out and transit to T2 at 0830, time for shopping!

Ok, the best laid plans can still go awry. Getting up was tough as the bed was hard, the small Ibis room way to warm and the air conditioning ineffective at the lowest setting resulting in a poor sleep for both of us. Breakfast ran smoothly, in fact we left the building bags in tow earlier than scheduled just after 0800. It was raining to the point we needed jackets.

The walk to the Gare was only a 150 meters and when we got there the doors were shut and people being directed in another direction to the bus shuttle-station. We had a bit of difficulty working that one out, but managed and briskly went through the other Ibis hotel (next door) about 7 minutes walk. We were met with chaos and crowds and had again the challenge of finding out which and where the T2 bus was. When we found it, it was literally so full the doors would not shut and some passengers had to disembark.

Our bags were getting wetter, as our travel umbrellas are only just big enough to cover us. The particular stand for T2 also services other destinations. People were stressing and trying to find out where they should go. We waited about another good 5 minutes and then saw a mass migration in the direction of the train station. It had opened up again. Yay. I questioned whether we were better off waiting for the bus, such was the number of people heading for the train, however we felt it would be more direct than the bus.

Next challenge was finding the right platform for T2, suffice to say, we chose the wrong one at first. Then had to ask for help and Vern had to carry two big fat bags up stairs as the escalator up was broken. Then he had to carry them down again, but a different entry to get to the right platform. On the way down we saw a group of police/military coming up with an empty suitcase, it must have been unattended and closed everything down while they investigated.

Needless to say stress levels were increasing somewhat as all the fat we had in time to get to our bag check was fast disappearing. Fortunately we got a train right away and it was only one stop to T2. When we got out, we saw our check in area T2B was at least a km walk away inside the terminal. Off we strode making use of the moving walkway to assist with speed. We arrived at the counter to be redirected to kiosks for bag tags, that did not work. It was now 0905, and I was hoping our bags would still be accepted.

We headed back to the counter for assistance. The young man seemed to have great difficulty retrieving our tags, but eventually succeeded and we then made our way all the way back to the other end of the terminal to our gate at D67, more than 1km away.

After a delay through customs to have our carry on bags checked and swiped. My goodness – I was feeling in need of another shower by this time. Whilst we were waiting for an our carry on bags to be processed there was a very anxious woman also waiting for her bag, clearly her flight was near departure. She asked the staff to expedite her bag and they simply told her to wait her turn. We were thankful that we had met our deadline for check in bags and proceeded to calm ourselves and entertain a bit of shopping.

Therein a lesson, even if you stay at the airport, do not be complacent as things can still change and you may get caught short.

Our flight was in two parts, first to Copenhagen, with a 2hr layover, then on to Tromso. Our flight was delayed from Paris, so we had an extra hour to relax, and less time in Copenhagen. We had pre-ordered a light snack for the plane as last time we were in Charles de Gaule on transit there were few options. This time at the airport there were fabulous food options. Never mind, our toastie and burger on SAS were very good and cheap. When we stopped in Copenhagen we spent the time by having a big cup of tea and a cardamon bun. Boy do we love them. I must try and make them at home. Or maybe not….

Flying into Tromso we were blessed with peaks through the clouds to see snow covered mountains and blue fringed shore lines. It was quite exciting. As we landed we could see Tromso is surrounded by mountains, much like Queenstown. Next thrill was when we got our hire car keys, instead of a Corolla or similar we got a Lexus SUV. That took a bit of time and round the car park twice to navigate the basic features!

Next blessing when we arrived at the hotel, the smiling reception said that we had a very nice room – I had asked for higher floor if possible. We got the top apartment and cream of the hotel rooms. Wow the view from our opening double balcony windows mesmerised us for the rest of the evening. It was difficult to drag ourselves away to have the complimentary evening meal downstairs.

For parking here in Tromso the most cost effective is underground tunnel parking. Yep, tunnelled into the hill and under shops – apparently it is designed this way to protect the cars from the snow and ice. Mmmm, I am not fond of tunnels and they feel like bunkers.

The weather was a bit drizzly but more like low cloud so there was no hunting this evening despite aurora conditions being very good. The weather for the rest of our time here and in Lofoten also does not look promising, unfortunately. However, the weather changes here like the wind, so I remain hopeful we will be blessed with at least one sighting.