Heavenly Huskies

Tromso was at one time known as The Paris of the North and was the starting point for many an Arctic Expedition. Again I was up on deck in the early hours to watch our approach. Despite the early hour the sun shone brilliantly and there was not a sound to be heard as we glided slowly through the smooth waters. What a way to start the day.

The excursion started on rather a sour note due to a most objectionable woman who took exception to the fact that I was apparently sitting in the place on the coach where she normally sat. The fact that we all take different excursions on different days and that there are no reserved seats on any of the coaches did not seem to matter to her. However, I was certainly not going to let such a pathetic person spoil my day.

I will skip the early part of the tour which meant very little to me and concentrate on The Wilderness Centre which I had been looking forward to visiting for weeks. It was here that I was to get to see the Husky dogs belonging to Tove Sorensen and Tore Albrigtsen who compete in the Finnmark Race. Over 200 dogs were in the compound each chained up to its own little kennel. They were as eager to greet us as we were to greet them. I was in amongst them in an instant. Mouths with very sharp teeth wrapped themselves around my wrists but only in the friendliest manner. Huge paws rested on my chest and fluffy faces rubbed against my neck. I knelt down and was almost licked to death ! With those that were a little calmer I wrapped my arms around them and cuddled and cuddled. Many of them had eyes that were ice blue, others had eyes of different colours. All were absolutely adorable. As I made my way around I noticed that some of the dogs had dug themselves holes next to their kennels and were curled comfortably up in these. But what was that little hut over in the corner? Oh dear, it was the puppy enclosure !!!! Enough said. After an absolutely wonderful hour it was back onto the coach where I found that tears were streaming down my face. It had brought back all the memories of Lucky. I stank to high heaven with the musky smell of dog but I really didn’t care – this was the highlight of my trip.