Northern Lights

And now, finally, on to the purpose of the whole trip - to see the Northern Lights.

We had signed up for two nights of tours with GuideGunner - as he called himself.  The first outing was to be on Sunday, December 29.  We were to meet our group around 6:30 pm at his headquarters.  An hour or two before that we headed out to find something to eat.  Every restaurant here has the same menu - cold salted cod and reindeer so it took a long time to find a restaurant that served something that we would eat.  Somewhere during our search, Tim got an email from GuideGunner saying the weather did not look very promising for seeing the lights.  He would keep us informed.  A later email canceled the tour.  I was pretty happy about this.  There is nothing worse than driving around for hours missing sleep, and not seeing anything.

The next night was more promising - and the tour took place.  We met our guide and the other tour takers at about 6:30.  We had to wait outside as somehow the door had gotten locked until Gunner finally realized something was wrong and came to let about 6 of us in.  We were about 13 people in the van.  Gunner had us change into warmer boots that he provided.  There were also snowsuits in the van if we needed them.  Our guide said a lot of tour groups were heading for Finland.  It seems that if not much is going on in Norway - it is much more likely that it will be better in Finland.  We later heard that they did not see much.  We only drove a couple of hours away from Tromso.  I was surprised to see homes and towns dotting the landscape everywhere.  I really thought we were going to be in a desolate area with no civilization.

Our first stop was off the side of the road.  A few cars drove past ruining some photos.  I didn't notice the details of what was across the road until later as I could not see them in the dark.  The Northern Lights do not look very impressive to the naked eye.  All I saw was a dark sky with wispy grey clouds.  It was only through the camera, when you slowed down the shutter to about 10 seconds and did some other camera magic that the colors emerged.

This first photo is just to show our crew taking photos.

And the not so picturesque foreground.

Next we walked down this steep snow covered hill to the lake.  The snow was pretty deep with a hard layer of crusted snow on top.  So sometimes you would sink down to the top of your boots - and sometimes it would support you.  Mike and I were clearly the oldest on this trip.  I had hurt my right foot before the trip so this was very challenging for me.  Guide Gunner helped me down the hill.  I finally reached the lake - only to have to stand on a beach of large pebbles.  Again very unstable.  Tim was invaluable in keeping me upright.  You can see the size of the rocks in the last few photos.

I was so glad I had the electric vest.  I had it on the lowest setting and it kept me toasty warm.  It was not that cold - around 20-30 degrees.  But when you are just standing around for long periods the cold does get to you. 

As I said I could only see grey clouds in the sky - and sometimes patterns.  So my modus operandi was to just point the camera and shoot.  Carefully watch the monitor on the camera - and then move a little to the right or left depending on what I saw.  None of these photos would have been possible without a tripod and remote control.

 Eventually Guide Gunner and his assistant made a bonfire.  Lisa and Michael were one of the first ones to enjoy it.  They were pretty bored after 30 minutes.  I had done some research on how to photograph the Northern Lights before we left home.  I tried to pass the information on to Michael, but he did not have time to absorb it and ended up opting out of taking photos.  Several others in the group tried to use their cell phones - does not work as you can not adjust the settings the way you need to.

After several hours and hundreds of photos, I joined the group at the bonfire.  We enjoyed hot black current juice and a snack of Lefse.  Lefse is a pastry with cream and sweet goats cheese.  Both were tasty.  After we ate, Guide Gunner noticed the sky changing.  He said the lights were "raining".

In these last few photos, the rocks on the beach are lit by the bonfire.

We headed back to Tromso, arriving there a little after 1:30 am.  Traveling back we went through this amazing tunnel of roads.  There was a round-about with many roads branching off of it.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.  You can google "Tromso underground roundabout" to see images of it.

I was glad the tour hadn't lasted 8 to 10 hours as it sometimes does if you travel far from Tromso.  We got some rest before we headed off to the airport for our morning flight to Paris.  The photo below was taken through a window at the airport.  See the white blob about a third of the way down from the top?  That is the only time we sort of saw the sun in Norway.

                             

We spent New Years Eve in Paris!!!  Wait - not so exciting.  We spent it at the airport hotel.  We did get a nice meal at the hotel.  Two drinks, a starter, 2 mains and 2 deserts for only $91.04.  Not only was it a lot less expensive than in Tromso - it was also delicious!

We arrived home in Albuquerque around 8pm New Years Day.  Ready to start the new year of 2020.