** WITH THE LAPPS OF THE GODS **
This is the 17 August 2001 Edition of
this page.
CHAPTER ONE
** GETTING TO TROMSO **
In order to get to Tromso first, I needed to get to London for a flight. To get to London
I needed to catch a coach from Malvern Link. Thus, on 4th July 2000, I walked to walk
there first, starting at 6.55a.m.. My coach was due at 7.50 - so that left me plenty of time!
Passing the fire station early in the morning (7.15am), I was 'entertained' by the 'music' of their new
Engine being exercised and 'launched' - all lights and sounds in their 'son-et-lumiere' display
enroute to their next 'gig'!!
A very comfortable coach this! We bypassed Worcester and called at Evesham, having a longer
one at Cheltenham. As the vehicle travelled fast towards London, I made use of their, incorrectly
labelled, 'toilet' - it should have been labelled 'SAUNA'!! The typical small facility in long-distance
coaches.
This travelling comfortable vehicle arrived in London(Victoria) just five minutes late at 12.25hrs.
Victoria suffers from a large distance between the coach and 'Underground' stations. I walked this
route, which grows in complexity all the time. An absence of meaningful signposting is the
problem. The actual signposting is NOT DIRECT - but guides the newcomer (I've been using it
for several decades!) through a shopping complex!! You know my views on shops!
Putting coins in a station ticket machine, I purchased a £1.50 ticket and caught a Circle-Line
train round to Paddington, from where I walked to the Ashley Hotel, arriving there at 13.10hrs..
.. oo O O O oo ..
Having settled myself in for a one-night stay, I then re-thought about the item I'd been planning
for months. "What about visiting and photographing the LONDON EYE this afternoon?" I thought.
The nearest Underground Station to the "Eye" is Westminster, handily on the Circle Line from
Paddington - just £3 in cost! Unfortunately, not many CircleLine trains are running during its
necessary works on 'safety grounds'. I therefore modified my route by the District Line!!!
Once, eventually, at the 'eye', I took my first shots of it from across the Thames from the Westminster
bank. The heat induced me to purchase a 'strawberry' icelolly, nearby, before crossing Westminster Bridge
and viewing the Houses of Parliament from the outside. Looking at its tower, I couldn't help quoting
to myself that passage "Still stands the clock at ten to three .. and is there honey still for tea?"
I left there at five to three!! .. and my tea was a Strawberry IceLolly!!
Thinking of that "quote" whilst on Westminster Bridge, I recall that it would be 'lost' if 'quoted'
to any of the audience on that occasion. Such a 'typically English' thing would have been
meaningless to all these Chinese, Indian, Italian visitors - even those that might have spoken
the language!!
By the time I met some English people, I was far in space & time from the clock on Big Ben's
face and down by the 'London Eye' at the side of the Thames by the County Hall, Westminster.
It was the opposite side from
my initial viewing, down by the McDonald's site (with its 'eats', simulators etc), the 'London
Eye Exhibition', Aquarium etc. etc..
I took many photos of the EYE and marvelled at its construction. I also bought an 'essential
guide' of it for £4.50 - but everything else to see, or ride on, or visit, was designed to 'milk' as much
out of the punters as possible. I was not going to get caught by that!! However, I did fancy a
ride of one lap on the EYE for its views! That must be "a nice little earner!" when one considers
a few calculations that I pondered on at the time. (Mind you, the queues were so ginormous, that
I used my time for photography and calculations!)
When one considers that each visitor on the EYE pays about £18 for one lap, and that takes
30 minutes, one can do a calculation like this - each of the 32 'capsules' accommodates at least
a dozen people (sometimes many more) giving an hourly income of
£18 * 12 * 32* 2 = £13824/hour
Thereafter, I returned to Westminster Station and observed the river-craft, barges, container-
transporters etc. etc.. After a 20minute wait for a Circle Line train, joking with other passengers
on the poor number of Circle trains compared with the District Line - I returned to my room in
the Ashley House Hotel and watched a bit of TV before my journey, round the corner, to
MICKY'S FISH BAR (which I've now been using since the late 1950's!). "It got that name in 1954,"
said the old man who been there since 1963. I remember his arrival. My meal tonight was all included
at just £5. I then returned to my hotel room, contented, and watched some holiday programmes
on BBCTV - including two of my 'haunts' over the years - namely Margaret River in Western
Australia and San Francisco, California. A major presentation this evening concerned the NASCA
Lines - but I'll be seeing those (for real) in June of 2001!
It followed those presentations with a set of the 'comeback-matches' of Martina Navratilova. That
took me up until bedtime at 21.37hrs.
In the early hours of 5th July 2000, I was awakened several times (during the 'night') and I noticed
that it was 'quite hot' each time. (Yes, this really is the ARCTIC folks!!) Nevertheless, I was worried
about oversleeping when I really needed to get up at 6.30 a.m..!
I actually got up at (and dressed by) 6am, thus making sure that I was OK. Going down to breakfast
on my second attempt, at 7.10am for the last meal in the UK before the departure for 'Lapland' - I
finished and was well on my at 7.35am, walking to the Underground Station at Paddington for the
'old' underground route to Heathrow rather than British Rail's extortionate 'Express' route, then at
£12-£14 which was much more than double my chosen way. The LTE (London Transport Executive) fare
was only £3.50 - but it entailed a 'change' at Gloucester Road.
Arriving at Heathrow, I bought 340NKr for £30.22, - then checking in at the Terminal No3 at 8.40am..
I , by chance, noticed a 'very loud', self confident Aussi chatting to a few people - but steered clear
of that group. I later (in Norway) found out that this guy was non-other than Geoffrey Roy - who
introduced himself (saying you must be Roy Peters) whilst waiting for a replacement for our missed
connection in OSLO!!
The baggage retrieval at OSLO was far too long, despite the ground-crew's very prompt appearance
on the scene when the aircraft came to a halt! Because of that delay, over half of our people missed
the 14.20 connection for TROMSO - and we got reassigned, me individually but others by Geoff's
actions which I didn't know about until later, onto the next one at 15.50hrs. There were far too many
of us in this OSLO terminal AND the 15.50 aircraft for the number of seats!!
Eventually, we, or most of us, got seats - as the airline tried to BRIBE people NOT to travel!! Missing
another flight, whatever the bribe, I deemed was totally inappropriate for me. For a totally FULL
aircraft, it climbed remarkably steeply before giving us our on-board refreshments. This was the
KINDERGARTEN SPECIAL!! Children all over the place - and very travelwise youngsters they
were!
A coach labelled ARCTIC EXPERIENCE picked us up and took us to the SAGA HOTEL in Tromso
(nothing to do with the SAGA holiday company for aged travellers) where we had a good meal. Later,
in chats with Geoff Roy, we discussed the next few days plans. I then did a mini-exploration of a small
part of the TROMSO waterfront - and recognised some areas that I had visited in 1993. What was very
noticeable was that, this time, at 22.30hours, it was a lot brighter than 12.00 hours in '93!! (the sun
had set by midday on the earlier trip!)
The following morning (6th July 2000), breakfast was to be at 7.30am and being as cases had to be
packed by 8.30am, for the 'OFF', I packed mine before breakfast. That wasn't too difficult, as being
awake virtually all night (cat-napping!) I got up at 6.15am - for fear over over-sleeping!! I presented
my conundrum to our guide - about last-night's bright-skies (whilst overcast) compared with the midday (1993)
situation. At breakfast, I had to use the 'extension' and sat with Marjorie (the vegetarian of the group) and
we got on very well together. Others from the group, at a nearby table, joined us later - as did Geoff
Roy, who had managed to get in the main breakfast room, even later!
I joined Geoff and our Norwegian driver at their table in the main breakfast room - presenting them both
with my conundrum about sunset being pre-midday in the East of Norway due to a very slanting
country ALL in ONE time-zone!! It baffled Geoff (an Australian), - but the Norwegian driver confirmed
my thesis! After breakfast,our driver and coach picked up our TROMSO guide (expert) who was a
remarkable woman who had missing/deformed limbs dating back to that tragic THALIDOMIDE era. She
expertly guided us, our main guide and driver to various interests in the city, starting with the TROMSO
MUSEUM (Sami and Viking exhibits explained) and then the NORTHERN LIGHTS PLANETARIUM
(where we had both the 'show' and a film!).
To go the Norwegian Lapland continuation
or divert to the Lapland overview.
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Roy's Location.
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