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After a few dramas being locked out of our house in the artic, we finally met Andrei who let us into the warm white restored house on the hill overlooking Tromso. After standing out in the snow for 30 minutes, we needed some defrosting. The bathroom with heated floor tiles helped us achieve this. I hate to think what their energy bill is. Looking at our photos, I can understand people thinking we a little crazy for visiting a part of the world that experiences below zero temps! However, the trip to northern norway was all about the aurora adventure. Therefore, on 12 march we were not going to cram in a bunch of sightseeing and tire ourselves. After peering outside the kitchen window at the snow, our enthusiasm for any sightseeing quickly evaporated. We did need food though so we quickly layered up and headed to the centre of town amongst the floating snowflakes. We found a supermaket and purchased the essentials. In a pricy place such as norway you soon learn to love cornflakes for breakfast. We were not going to pay $50 for a continental breaky (however later in the day we did end up buying two beers for $30!)
After our little trek around the town, we decided an afternoon nap was in order if we were going to last the amazing aurora tour that was scheduled to finish in the early hours of the following morning.
After our nap we made our way to the tourist office for the 6.30pm pickup. We were becoming a little anxious as they ended up being ten minutes late which is uncommon in scandi. John and i didnt hold much hope in seeing the lights due to the cloudy skies. Our concerns were quickly put to rest when our guide, Marcus informed us that if necessary, we will drive to Finland. Several hours later that is exactly where we arrived. We were located on top of a hill and Marcus said it was mild outside - mild for a norwegian! The stinging on my face as I jumped off the bus was like needles driving into my face. However, it was -5 where usually it is allegedly -15. John quickly set up the tripod along with the other tourists. Now the waiting game began. Whilst i was jumping down on the spot and pacing to get warm, Marcus pointed out the start of the northern lights show. He had earlier shown us a video on how they are formed, and outside he elaborated on where they would appear and the height. It was certainly a magical experience and something we will never forget. As one faded, another would appear behind you or a streak would appear straight above you. At first, they appeared a dull yellow but as time moved on, they were higher and appeared blueish and greenish. The different colours signify how high they are appearing in the sky, red being the highest auroras. We didnt get to see any red but nevertheless, we were excited to see what we saw. We stayed at this location for about half an hour. The driver started a campfire and laid some thick material on the snow so we could sit down and enjoy our fish stew. I devoured the stew very quickly in an effort to increase my body temperature. We were also given hand warmers to place inside our gloves and a very warm hot chocolate. In the meantime, Johm was capturing some first class photos. You could say he was the expert photographer and i was the supervisor "john over there!!". On our return to tromso we nearly ran over a couple of reindeer. We were previously told you can see reindeer all over scandinavia, yet these were the first two we had come across - raindeer stew does not count!
We saw a few more lights on our way back but due to my frostbitten feet (felt like it), i admired the remaining show through the bus window. We disembarked the bus in tromso around 3am and walked back up to the house on the hill. Walking back i kept thinking of the hot shower at the other end and also the satisfaction of withnessing the spectacular show which is the northern lights :)
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