I traded Polar night for this?

I return to England to find the weather you would expect, grey and drizzling. I enjoyed the cold of the Arctic better than this, because though it is colder, it isn't as depressing. But anyway, rewind a bit...

Last Tuesday I wake up very early to catch a train into London, only to catch a different train back north to Stansted airport. Why? Because the buses don't run that early. Worse, the train cost as much as my return flight to Oslo! Madness. I arrive in Oslo around Noon, checked into the hostel then went for a wander. Unfortunately, it was overcast in Oslo so I couldn't see much scenery, but I did see many cool things. Notably, two Outland (like forbidden planet) stores within a few blocks of each other, chock full of geek stuff. Also, cool architecture and interesting sculpture. I begin my finance-induced diet and reduce to one meal a day.

Wednesday I caught the bus (as ferry doesn't run in winter) to museum island (actually a peninsula and visit the Viking ship museum, Fram museum, Kon-Tiki museum, Maritime museum, and the Norwegian Folk museum. The Viking ship museum had three large burial ships that had been excavated, along with some relics. Very intriguing to see that the Viking carvings are quite similar to Maori designs.
The Fram museum was very interesting, with exhibits on expeditions to both poles. Cool fact, everyone thought Amundsen was going to the North pole when he surprised them by turning south. Also, he arrived with more huskies than when he left. The Fram itself is a ship with a reinforced and rounded hull. Why? As what Nansen did was sail it towards the North until it got embedded in the ice. He then drifted with the Ice across the Northern ocean for a few years! Later (after a refit), it was the Fram that took Amundsen south to conquer Antarctica.
The Kon-Tiki museum told the impressive tale of Thor Heyderhals life and his expeditions aboard balsa and reed rafts. I was definitely inspired by his method of adventure science. The boats (or replicas) are all there in the museum and look cool.
The Maritime museum had all sorts of exhibits on various aspects of boats and maritime issues. Some interesting examples of hull design for instance.
The folk museum had exhibits on various aspects of Norwegian culture, but the more impressive aspect is the hundreds of houses from different times and regions scattered about the grounds.

Thursday I took the opportunity to go to the Akershus castle (which was closed) but I did get to see the Norwegian resistance museum and the armed forces museum. The resistance museum was an interesting insight into a part of world war 2 that many people do not know much about. The armed forces museum had a large variety of different weapons, which I enjoyed immensely.
I then visited the Museum of Natural history, first the zoological institute then the geological one (because dinosaurs). The zoological one started off as expected, stuffed animals from various parts of the world. But then I came across a Dire rat. Then a giant snake. I finally went 'WTF' when I saw what appeared to be a baboon dog from the moon wearing torn sport socks! I have no idea what this section of the museum was about either as all the signs were only in Norwegian! You can see pictures of these weird creatures on my Facebook page. The geological museum had the excellent dinosaur skeletons, including a T-Rex (which I don't think they had in London).
I then took the train up into the hills to try and get a decent view. I was defeated in this because the hills happened to be immersed in clouds. So I returned to the city. I then visited the Museum of cultural history and saw some very cool things from around the world before the sun came out so I raced down to the ferry pier for a boat ride. Once again, the weather disagreed with my plans and it clouded over.
About this time, I decided I should have a break from walking so returned to the hostel for a rest. Later that night I went to a metal bar for a few drinks and good music.

Friday I met up with a friend for breakfast (first real meal in Norway) before I caught my flight (just) North to Tromso. The flight up had some very scenic views when the clouds occasionally cleared. I landed in Tromso at what appeared to be sunset with the moon rising on the opposite horizon, however a quick check of the watch revealed it to be noon. So I promptly checked in to the hotel then went for a wander. Later that night I jumped on a bus tour to try and find the northern lights. Unfortunately, the clouds were out again so I didn't get a brilliant show but I did see a dancing washed-out rainbow in the sky. I was also impressed to see the pole star appearing very nearly overhead.

On Saturday had a very large breakfast (including caviar and tropical fruit!) then I went for a visit at a Husky farm. First we played with the puppies for a bit (one ate my bootlace!) before we learnt about the dogs (not pure huskies, but crosses) and how the sled worked. once again, weather conditions denied me and we couldn't go sledding, but we did take the dogs out for a hike with snowshoes and had hot dogs cooked on a camp-fire  Much fun was had indeed. Later that night I sat on the rooftop balcony of a rock bar and enjoyed the northernmost brewed beer while watching faint aurora above the city.

Sunday I my epic journey back to London, first of with some wandering around Tromso getting lots of photos before waiting at the airport for several hours, then the Oslo bus station for another few hours, finally arriving back in England early Monday morning, I then spent the day doing various things while still wired on caffeine before finally crashing out 38 hours after waking. A new personal best I believe.

So recommendations. Defintely Tromso, that place is just so cool. Oslo is a very neat place. I definitely recommend the Oslo pass, I made up for the cost of the 48 hour one in day one. Anker hostel was a decent place to stay and most of all cheap. The Rica Grand hotel was very nice but for a cheaper option I heard the ABC hotel is good. Arctic adventure tours and Arctic guide service were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable about what they do. The Tromso and Oslo visitor centres were very helpful too.

*photos here and here.*

Counting down.

Two things made my time at Hemel Hempstead school rather pleasant. The first was that most of the students were relatively nice, and particularly better than I had been led to believe about Hemel. Second, was that right from day one I had a finish point in sight, and knowing you are only going to be there for a short time before a long holiday is a good way to find a smile. Overall, it was a good experience, expanding my knowledge by teaching physics. If I had been staying in the country longer I probably would have stayed.

Since finishing at HHS in late October, I have been attempting to sort out my life in preparation of emigrating home. I have four boxes ready to be shipped off to NZ, a lot of my possessions have been sold or given away, I have reclaimed tax for various years (and waiting for money), closed various accounts and payments, and generally just streamlined things.Now it is just a case of enjoying my last few weeks here before I fly out.

How am I going to do that? Well so far I have been into London a few times, variously for touristy things or partying. Went to see Nightwish after a day at the Natural History Museum. Things I learnt there: Dinosaurs are cooler in person, their domestic sheep does not look like a sheep (neither is their Red deer red), prehistoric armadillos are weird, they put a lot of detail into decorating that place. Nightwish were as expected, awesome. On the sporting front, in TKD I have progressed to red tag and won a silver pattern trophy and bronze sparring trophy at the BUTF Open tournament. My final LARP event was damn cold and not much got done but it was enjoyable overall. Legion are better as a larger group though.

Next week I am going to Norway for a week. First to Oslo for a few days then up to Tromso to try and catch the Northern Lights while out dogsledding one evening. Should be fun, albeit expensive. That will be followed a few days later by my leaving shindig then the multistop flight home. Fingers crossed my bank account holds out for the final few weeks.