Dear Gangsters, some of you have asked for me to write my Northern Lights saga. This is part one, part two will follow later in the week (don’t say I didn’t warn you)
Please, please don’t feel obliged to read it. It’s longer than I thought it would be. If you can’t sleep tonight it will be a good story to send you to sleep quickly ?
In search of the Northern Lights - part one!
The sale of my car, when I retired, coincided with the arrival through the letterbox of a brochure advertising a short holiday in Norway to look for Northern Lights.
As DH is a keen photographer and has always wanted to see the aurora borealis, we decided to spend some of the money from the sale of the car on a 4 day trip to Narvik in Norway.
The travel company was one we have used before so we were feeling quite confident and excited when we caught the charter flight from Gatwick.
Our flight landed in a small military airfield about an hour away from Narvik.
When we got off the plane we were led down a path into a small building and told to wait here for our luggage to be unloaded. There were 70 of us on the flight and we all crowded into a small room where there were a handful of chairs in the middle. I had spotted a door marked toilet in the corner of the room so I nipped in there quickly. This turned out to be a very smart move on my part as the 70 of us remained in this room with one toilet for over an hour!
The delay in our luggage arriving was due to two factors. Our flight landed on a Sunday lunchtime and all the porters (2) were at lunch. When they returned from lunch they found someone had parked a car in front of the loading bay and we had to wait for them to locate the driver and get the car moved. Not quite how things are handled at Heathrow.
Having finally been reunited with our luggage we were led out through the smallest but most superbly stocked duty free we have ever been through. Outside, we were allocated to one of two waiting coaches, depending on which hotel we were booked into.
An hour or so later the coach arrived at our hotel. The hotel was quite new and in a very modern Scandinavian style.
Our room was lovely but missing two vital pieces of furniture. A wardrobe and chest of drawers. We came to the conclusion that a wooden framework hanging from one wall was to serve as both and somehow we arranged our clothes on it in a suitably stylish manner (Thank goodness we only came for four days)
As I mentioned, the hotel was new and had never been invaded by a coach party before, let alone one from the UK. The hotel had obviously decided that 35 guests arriving in the restaurant at the same time was not a good idea so we were escorted to an adjacent room where our buffet evening meal was to be served. Unfortunately, no one had told the chef.
Food, such that it was, arrived some time later and after a hasty meal, we went off on our fist trip. A nighttime 4 hour coach trip to in search of the Northern Lights.
I should point out at this time that most people on the trip were young athletic people in their 30s and 40s, apart from a couple of old codgers who were quite out of place. Yes us.
Our tour guide was a vivacious young thing doing her first winter holiday for the company and was an instant hit with all the young people, especially the men. She was bright and bubbly and full of fun.
Before we set out on our 4 hour coach trip, I asked her if there were toilets where we were going or on the coach. She informed me that as the coach toilets would be frozen and unusable, it would probably be an idea if I used the toilet in the hotel before we went ( oblivious to the needs of an older bladder obviously). I was quite pleased about two hours later when one of the young things asked if there was a toilet onboard as she needed to go!
Our first stop for night sky watching was the beach. I have never stood on a beach before that was feet deep in snow and watched the waves coming in but it was an interesting experience. The moon was out but it was very cloudy.
Stop two, was a field in the middle of nowhere. We got out from the coach and wandered around a bit in the dark but on a cloudy night there was nothing to see in the sky.
Stop three, we could see a brilliant display of lights. Not the the Aurora Borealis but the lights of the local supermarket in whose car park we had stopped. Still nothing in the sky so back to the hotel for some sleep before our next excursion.
Day two we set off on The Polar Express train to an outdoor activity centre in northern Sweden. The train journey was wonderful and the views along the snow covered fjord were a real treat. Our destination was an outdoor activity centre where we were going on a dog sleigh ride. DH and I weren’t particularly keen but as the centre was in the middle of nowhere and there as nothing else to do we decided to have a go.
Firstly, we were taken into a large wooden lodge and provided with huge padded suits which we had to put on and we were all given heavy snow boots to wear. We plodded outside and told we would be taken in a 4x4s to where the huskies were waiting. When it came to getting in the vehicle I found I could not lift my leg enough to get my heavily booted foot up far enough to get it into the car. DH kindly stepped up to the mark and with a strategic push with both hands on my rear end, he managed to heave me up and into the car.
The dogs were wonderful. We were shown what they eat and where they lived and how they trained. In groups of 4 we were allocated a sledge and given instructions on how to sit and which way to lean during the ride so we worked with the dogs and didn’t fall off. We had a wonderful experience travelling at great speed over a frozen lake and through the woods passing herds of reindeer on the way. We both felt it was the highlight of our trip.
Back to the hotel for our evening meal we were again presented with the buffet. On the table was a large serving dish full of what we were told was meat stew. By the time we came to be served the first dish was empty and after a bit of hesitation a new one brought out for us. The chap at the front of the queue spent some time fishing in the liquid with a large spoon and then informed the waiter that there was no meat in the stew. This produced hurried conversations with other staff and eventually a small container of meat was produced and tipped into the stew. I think it equalled out at about two squares of meat each. As you can imagine, the food was not a highlight of our trip.
On the same evening we were due a special treat. The local cable car service had been opened to take us to the top of Narvik mountain for a better view of the Northern Lights. We were driven by coach to the cable car station and then taken up to the top of the mountain in gondolas. We were told the path on the right led to a viewing platform and on the left were steps down to a cafe.
With DH keen to take photos, we set off to the viewing platform with one other photographer. The viewing platform was about two feet deep in snow we struggled hard to fight our way in and just as hard to get out and back to the cafe. Another cloudy night so no lights. Being somewhat cold and tired I asked our young tour guide what time the coach was taking us back to the hotel. She laughed and said oh the coach isn’t taking us back it was just to bring us here. You can toboggan down the mountain and then make you own way back to the hotel on foot. Toboggan, down the mountain!!
We decided to take the cable car back down. We arrived at the bottom with no idea how to get to the hotel. Fortunately another guide from a different trip gave us directions and off we went. It was almost pitch black, the roads and streets covered in snow and ice and we slithered our way down the hill towards the main road hanging onto each other as best we could. We came to a road covered in ice and half way across DH slipped and fell and because I was holding onto him I fell on top of him. So there we were in the middle of a road in the dark in a strange country and DH says I think I’ve broken my elbow.
Fortunately two locals were passing and kindly stopped and helped us back on our feet. Fortunately, DHs elbow was not broken just very badly bruised where he (and I) had landed on it. We eventually managed to find our way back to the hotel for a stiff drink before bed.
Day three we set of for the world’s most northern animal park called Polar Park. It was an enormous site, 270 acres in the middle of nowhere about an hour from the hotel. The animal enclosures were huge fenced off areas where the animals roamed free. Having been dropped off by the coach, we set off on foot to explore this winter wonderland.
The first enclose we came to was the lynx enclosure. Beautiful creatures which we were fortunate enough to see close up and got some good photos. We continued on foot up and down hills to the next stop to visit the wolves. Wonderful shaggy haired creatures running in and out of the trees. Some came close enough for photos. We then set off heading for the bears. The bear enclosure was some distance away up a steep incline not really doable for a couple of OAPs with asthma but we eventually caught up with the rest of the group. The bears were very interesting but by now we were frozen. DH was shivering quite a lot and I was worried about him. I decided we would be better off missing the visit to the artic foxes and heading back to a cafe by the entrance. We informed the rest of the group and set off only to find in this totally white landscape that we were completely lost and didn’t know which path to follow. DH was shivering badly by now and I was beginning to panic that we would be lost alone in this place and we wouldn’t make it back. Luckily we spotted a couple of men putting in new fencing. One of them spoke English well enough to understand our predicament and to guide us back us to the cafe. Once inside we were presented with a bowl of reindeer stew and bread and a cup of coffee. Best meal we had and blissfully warm, then back to the hotel for another gourmet dinner before packing.
The following morning we set off home older and wiser but without any Northern lights photos.
and loving thoughts. Wish there was more.....
. Nothing wrong with a bit of hedonism (as long as it's legal) ?
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