And being greeted by Sigrid from the Tromsø Villmarkssenter (Wilderness Center).


We then made the 30 minute drive over the bridge from Tromsøya Island (where the airport and city of Tromsø was located) to the larger Kvaløya Island.


Sigrid was from Sweden and it was her first winter working at the Villmarkssenter. She would also be joining the five day dog sled expedition.

After arriving at the Villmarkssenter I was warmly welcomed by the owner Tove Sørensen, who would also be on the trip. Tove setup the Villmarkssenter in 1988 initially as a home for dogs and has since competed 19 times in Europe’s longest dog sledding race, the 1,100 kilometre Finnmarksløpet.

I then met her son Torkil (or just Tor) and the leader of our trip, as well as the other three guests; Nigel from the UK, who was semi-retired from the RAF but still worked for them as a civilian instructor, Kelly, a singer from New York, and Sarah, a nurse from Missouri.

We then had a lunch with some Lapskaus, a thick Norwegian stew of meat and potatoes.


One of the resident dogs chilling just behind us.