Oriana - In Search of the Northern Lights 5

Wednesday 19 March – Alta

A magical day. After a sail up the beautiful fjord, we had to wait a fair while for clearance from the Airport control tower so dropped down a photographer and videographer in the Fast Rescue Boat. Soon we were completely enveloped in a thick blizzard and the ship was completely covered in snow. For many of the Indian and Philippino crew it was the first time they had seen snow and they were out with cameras and phones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saga Sapphire was also in port.

After a quick filling lunch we went ashore to catch a tour to the Igloo Hotel. It was amazing how fast the coach drove on the icy and snowy roads. The Ice Hotel was beautiful with ice sculptures and cosy rooms with curtained doorways and ice beds covered with reindeer skins. We each got a drink of vodka and blue Curacao in an ice glass. The hotel was surrounded by forest and skidoos were there for people to ride out into the trees.

 

 

 

 

We just got back in time for the briefing for our late tour to (hopefully) see the Northern Lights. It wasn’t sounding good but of the three sites available, the guide opted for Kautokeino – I never thought I would ever get to the place where Juhls silver jewellery was made! We had dinner in the Conservatory and got dressed – thermal socks, snow boots, two pairs thermal leggings, cotton jogging pants, waterproof over trousers, long-sleeved thermal vest, sleeveless thermal vest, cotton knitted polo neck top, arctic fleece, water and windproof coat, silk liner gloves, mittens, thick thermal hood with neckpiece. We could barely move! Then, armed with camera case and tripod – off we set for the coach. 

 

It was quite a long drive to Kautokeino through a magical landscape straight out of fairy tales like the Snow Queen. As we arrived we could see the spectacle in front of us – the Aurora was out and bright so there was a stampede off the coach as everyone rushed to find a good spot to establish themselves. Thank goodness for my head torch to get set up with as, aside from a row of small candles to light the path, it was pitch black. It was also -28C we were later told, although with the excitement we barely noticed, aside from the time I stupidly touched my tripod with no glove on!  After some photos I went to the Lavvu to warm up with hot chocolate and cinnamon cake and check the camera as the screen soon stopped working. It started working again so I assume it was the cold and stopped panicking about it. However, it meant I had to guess the exposures as I couldn’t check each image as I took it!

 

 

 

I went back out and took some more images and then just stood watching this surreal display. As I packed up the tripod I walked back round to the hut and sat on a reindeer-skin covered bench. Suddenly the lights became strong again so I took a few more photos before boarding the midnight coach. We arrived back at the ship at around 2am and went to bed happy to have seen such a beautiful display.

This is a timelapse sequence of the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VBCEsATtPnk