Day 40: Welcome to Tromsø!

We made it! Today marks the end of our biking portion of the trip. We’re currently in a nice king bed in the Radisson Blu in Tromsø, and very much enjoying it.

We woke up around 8AM this morning and were very efficient trying to get out of camp. Unfortunately, we needed to burn the rest of our fuel so we could safely dispose of the canister, and that took around 1.5 hours, so we had to sit and wait at the campsite for that time. Luckily it wasn’t too cold nor too buggy!

We got on the road shortly after 10, and made good time to Tromsø. We made it to town by around noon (23 miles) and first went to the post office to pick up our luggage that we didn’t take on the bikes. For the avid reader, this is the package we shipped from Bodø at the start of the trip. Thankfully it was there! And we got it no problem.

With our luggage in hand, we went to the bike shop that we rented our bikes from and returned all the gear. Thankfully that went smoothly as well! (It should‘ve! We paid a fortune for those bikes!!) We had an extra canister of gas from the trip that we have to a couple that was just starting their trip starting from Tromsø. The wife was very excited when we offered the free canister. She told us that she had just bought one from the store, but was going to return that one for the one we gave her. It also helped us, as we didn’t need to dispose of a full canister of gas!

From the bike shop we walked half a block over to our hotel, where they let us check in early! By 1pm, Darragh was in the shower and I was sorting clothing. Let’s just say a decent amount of laundry needs to be done. We looked at doing it at the hotel, but just washing a single shirt is $35. Pass. We’ll do it at the first campsite in Iceland.

After we were all showered and looking like normal humans again, we went out for lunch and ran into the younger Swiss couple that we’ve seen a couple times now on this trip. They told us they were taking another rest day in Tromsø. When we asked what campsite they were stating at (we first met them in a campsite in Stokmarknes) they said, oh no, tonight we’re in a hotel. Based on their phrasing (somewhat emphasizing the word “rest” in the same way I said it) I’m going to claim credit for giving them the idea of rest days, and I think they love it!

After lunch we did some shopping around town. I tapped out after 45 minutes, I’ve had enough :). Darragh continued shopping for another few hire hours and found some clothes she was happy with!

We had dinner out in town at a place called Bardus Bistro, then had a drink at the bar next door, and then called it a night. We went back to watch “Master and Commander” (such a classic) but _someone_ started drifting off about halfway through, and someone else has seen the film tons of times before, so it just became bedtime.

Tomorrow we’ll sleep in, and then enjoy the city! With more photos as well. Then it’s off to Iceland! I just confirmed the rental car, and that we can take it on the backroads of Iceland, so I’m excited for that!

The sun is set for 2.5 hours tonight, so it may finally get dark as well!!