Wednesday 01/03/2017
YAY!! I decided to go to Norway on a whim to see the northern lights and found a few exciting things I wanted to do there. As Norway is a long skinny country with the capital (Oslo) being at the south, I had to fly to Tromso which is apparently known as the Paris of the north. It is a city roughly the size of Rockhampton with the majority of the population on the island and suburbs like Gracemere surrounding it. 
While in Tromso I hope to:-See the Northern Lights
-Go Mushing with Huskies
-Ride on a Reindeer Sleigh
-Ride an Icelandic Horse
-Not freeze to death
For convenience, I booked three different overnight adventures that included the activities I wanted and transport, meals and accommodation. For a single traveller I thought this was a more economical option as Tromso is quite expensive and hotels were almost $200 a night anyway... Needless to say, this was a very expensive part of the trip but I have no regrets!!Wednesday 01/03/17
I arrived at Zurich Airport around 7.30 and tried to find the most efficient way to spend my leftover Swiss Francs. I had around $90 worth. Since I was in Switzerland, and my cheap watch had died, I decided to buy a Swiss watch that will last me til the end of time. Unfortunately, most famous Swiss watches (Rolex etc) are incredibly expensive ($5000+) so I settled for a Swatch which was only CHF125 or roughly $150. And its beautiful!
I left Zurich at 9.30am on Wednesday and arrived in Oslo to connect to Tromso. This was all easy enough. Until I got to Oslo and found that I had to collect my checked luggage and re-check it for the next flight all within the hour before the next flight left. And there were numerous warnings that the baggage handling in Oslo is notoriously slow. Fortunately they were having a good day and I managed to get it all done and find my gate with 5min til boarding.
I arrived in Tromso around 3.40pm and arranged to leave my larger suitcase at the airport and collect it before my flight on Saturday. Then I had to catch a bus to the city centre to meet my first tour.
In the bus on the way to the first night's accommodation, we kept going through these tunnels that were so cute with the snow covered rocks.
The first activity I had arranged was a Northern Lights Chase. There is never any guarantee that you will see the lights. You could be there for a week and not see them. There might be no solar activity that particular day, or there might be significant activity but too much cloud cover to actually see what is happening. The plan was- get in a mini bus and drive to where we could see the lights. So we did. Our first stop was only 15min down the road where we waited for a while. It was quite cold. Around -3 degrees. And windy. The tour group provided insulated coveralls, snow boots and gloves. It was ok but the gloves could have been warmer.
The guide had a dog so I volunteered to dog-sit while he set up peoples cameras.
It was a bit overcast so the visibility was not great. So we waited. And at first, I wasn't sure if it was light from houses or a car driving in the distance reflecting off the clouds but it definitely had a green tinge. And it moved.
Apparently this was it. The northern lights (depending on conditions and location) look like a green light being shone on a smoke plume that is being tossed in the wind. They didn't move quickly (at this time) and it was difficult to determine if they were moving at all until you looked back and they were in a different location. At times they were off to the left over the mountain and at other times they were directly above us, sometimes both. Sometimes it was like a streak straight across the sky and at others, it spiralled like a vortex. They were predominately green. Not a strong emerald green but more of a mossy colour.
I did not have a proper camera, only my trusty iPhone that has travelled well so far. It was struggling with the cold and I had to keep it in my sleeve to keep it warm and ready for action.
These are some of my better shots that still required a bit of editing to appreciate the colour.
And these are the images the guide took on a real camera. It is important to have a long exposure time to allow enough light into the lens and a tripod so the camera doesn't wobble during the shot.
Just some sneaky advertising for the company here...
After about half an hour, it got too cloudy at this location so we tried a second location further down the road. The guide got out, had a look and said it was still quite overcast and even colder and offered for us to return to camp where it was warm and wait to see if it cleared up. We eagerly assented.
This is my furry charge for the evening.
We waited in the large lavvu or Sami tent where there was a warm fire in the middle and tea. When the rest of the tours arrived, we all had reindeer stew for dinner. It is quite nice! Very thick and hearty. It really sticks to your stomach. Then they brought around a traditional Norwegian dessert which looked like wraps with butter, sugar, cinnamon and 'Norwegian cheese' in the middle. This cheese is very strange. It is brown and tastes very caramely. I loved it! Who doesn't love butter and sugar!
This is the outside of the tent where the snow is right up to the windows.
A few more attempts of demonstrating the lights.
I was sleeping in a wood cabin that was with out power but had a nice fireplace in the living room. It was quite pleasant and fortunately I didn't have to go to the toilet during the night as this was in a separate building almost 100m away. Unfortunately the 90 huskies just outside my window wake up early and start barking and howling in the morning.
After breakfast of toast, eggs and salad we prepared to go Mushing!!!
