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Archive for ‘March, 2025’

Northern Lights Tour Day 08

Day 08, Feb 04, 2025, Karasjok to Nordcapp

Today is an early day. Breakfast at 6, on the bus at 7. It is only -12C to start the day, a Heat Wave compared to yesterday! There are 2-3 inches of fresh snow on the ground. The snowstorm last night warmed up the air. I remember this from my youth, it is always warmer in a snowstorm because the snow insulates. We drive away as planned. It is snowing. The snowflakes are pretty in the headlights. There is a brief shot of the rising sun but then it’s back to snowing. The road we need ahead is closed, it was closed yesterday also. We won’t know until 10ish if we can get through. Maybe by supervised caravan.

We slept well last night. Dinner was good. The Aussies are a friendly lot. Our bus is a 47 seater and we have only 25 people so we can sit wherever we want. We have been near the front of the bus for 2 days. Today we sit mid bus with close access to the side door. The front door malfunctioned 2 days ago so the side door is the only way in or out.

It’s a different world up here. It is cold and barren. But it is also mountainous and beautiful! We see the occasional house or cabin and wonder who lives there. We have earned 2 diplomas so far. One for floating behind an ice breaker and one for crossing the Arctic Circle. When we reach our planned destination of Nordkapp (North Cape) today, we will earn another for reaching the northernmost point in Europe. Then we’ll celebrate with champagne and caviar! We hope we can get there.

We have now crossed both Arctic and Antarctic Circles and stood on the Equator. What other lines are there to cross? Oh yes, the Prime Meridian! But we have been there too! Lines, lines, everywhere a line, ones to cross and others to stand on. You can see our location (blue dot) on the map and our destination is Nordkapp (North Cape) at the top of the map.

One hour and ten minutes into the drive and a snowplow blocks the road. The road is closed. We turn around. We are at the 17th parallel, equal to the top of Alaska. We drive a short mile or so back to a place to rest and wait. We spend 3-4 hours in a Circle K parking lot waiting to get road clearance. It never comes. But the Circle K has tables to sit 30ish people so we spend money and buy hot chocolate and snacks. Gas station hot dogs are cherished by some in the group. I have to admit they look increasingly tempting as the time passes. I get an ice cream smoothie. Yeah, I get it. But it’s good. Must be the cold air getting to me. Maybe I’m delirious, but it’s good.

Viktor drives us back across into Finland to the Alko. We see many moose. Several moose and even a red fox are spotted. Everybody in the bus are looking out their windows in hopes to be the next one to call out, “Moose! On the right!”

A bottle of brandy to spike my hot chocolate seems to be in order. Elee gets a bottle of Cloudberry Liquor to share with everyone. “Cloudberries” are a pale sweet berry that grows in this area and are absolutely delicious! We go back to last nights hotel in Karasjok and get new rooms. This time we have to carry our bags down a flight of stairs. But the hotel is comfortable.

I go up and sit in the lounge area and wait to see who shows up. Perhaps I’ll check out the sauna on the 3rd floor. I do go up and check out the sauna but decide against using it. Saunas have never held any attraction for me. It sure is hot and dry though!

Dinner is served at 6:00 PM and starts with Reindeer Soup. Then Salmon. Dessert is pudding with berries. All is good!

It is still snowing. But the storm clears before midnight and someone texts on WhatsApp in the group that the Northern Lights are spotted! We get our first sighting of the Aurora Borealis shortly after midnight. I jump up and pull on several layers of clothing, grab my camera and tripod, and head outside! A few photos are taken to figure out the correct exposure to use. By then the Auroras have dissipated. I do get one decent shot though!

Back to bed it is with the suggestion that the Auroras might peak around 5 AM. So at 5 AM, I’m back up and dressing. Outside the skies are clear and calm. No Auroras. Back to bed it is!

Northern Lights Tour Day 07

Day 07, Feb 03, 2025, NL Village to Karasjok, Norway

We wake up at 6:30 AM and walk across the Village to get breakfast in the hotel. We board the bus at 8:30 AM. This will be our longest driving day so far, we will drive 5+ hours today and end up in Norway.

After an hour in the bus, we stop at the Sodankyla Old Church. It is -36C, or -33F. Yes, you read that right! Walking around outdoors, we pull up our Neck Gators and pull our hats down over our ears! We have icicles forming on our eyelashes! The old church and adjoining graveyard make interesting sights for our cameras, which surprisingly work!

Driving on for several hours we come to the SIIDA Sami Village. The museum is interesting showing the ancient Sami culture. There is an interesting kilometer long trail to hike that shows the animal traps used and buildings the culture used. It is still -36C and I start out without my Gator pulled up. By the time I pull it up, I have icicles in my beard! The clever yet primitive animal traps are intriguing to see. There is even a courthouse and jail where errant residents were punished!

Moving on, we stop at a set of stores for sundries. It is interesting that in this part of the world, grocery stores cannot sell alcoholic beverages higher than 8% ABV (Alcohol By Volume). For reference, wine is normally 12-14% so wine is watered down here. There are separate stores for the good stuff and these are harder to find. But Mikael and Viktor find the “Alko” stores where the good stuff is found and a bottle of wine is purchased for the room.

The bus drives on through the night and the dusky view is eerie. We come to a sign announcing Norway and the bus pulls over. We all get out and Mikael pours shots of good Russian Vodka. We all drink to Norway!

Shortly ahead we make the actual crossing into Norway and arrive at our hotel, Scandic Karasjohka, for the night. It is snowing fairly heavily. We have 1.5 hours till dinner and settle into our room.

Temperature today stays around -30C to-36C. It feels good to be inside and get out of all the layers of clothing. Dinner comes with the Tour today and we are glad not to have to walk into town in this temperature! After dinner, we settle down for the night.

Northern Lights Tour Day 06

Day 06, Feb 02, 2025, Rovaniemi to NL Village

Leaving Rovaniemi, Viktor drives the bus further north. At 11:00 AM, the sun is barely above the horizon. It won’t go very high in the sky today. The scenery driving along the roads today through the snow covered trees is beautiful. But it is cold, very cold! Brrrrrr!

We stop at an old church to please our cameras. They shiver with us but they function which is a bit surprising!

We arrive at a dogsled camp around 2 PM and gear up (again) in snowmobile suits. It has warmed up to only minus 25C! It’s a heat wave! We are given a briefing as to how to drive a dogsled (and how to ride in one!). Each couple is assigned to a dog team. First, Elee drives and I ride. Elee falls off immediately! Not a good start! But the Guides get her back up and she gets the hang of it quickly. I refrain from even chuckling as I know my time is coming and who knows how well I’ll do! Half way through, we switch and I drive back. This next set of photos was taken by Mikael, our Guide!

Driving a dogsled team is quite the exhilarating experience! There is no steering controls on a dogsled. The dogs want to run and they want to run where ever they wish! Luckily for us, they decide to follow the other sled teams, for the most part! There is a rubber pad between the rails that you can step on to slow the dogs down. There is also a hard brake bar that you can step on to finally stop them! The first time I lift a leg to put my foot on the brake pad, I fear I will suffer the same fate as Elee! But I manage to hold on and slow the team down. On uphill runs, it is sometimes necessary to push off with a foot to give the dogs to impetus they need to run.

Once the dogs return us to camp, my fingers and especially my thumbs, are numb to the bone! We all huddle inside the Guides hut around a fire where I manage to painfully warm them up! Then it is off to our lodge, Northern Lights Village. Tonight we eat Moose for dinner and sleep in a glass roof cabin.

The cabin is fun for the most part. It is very warm inside and it turns out that even the floors are heated! The bed is positioned directly under the glass roof. There is a digital fireplace at the foot of the bed for ambiance. We fall asleep looking up at a partly cloudy sky, some stars and tall pine trees! In the middle of the night the sky has cleared and I get some fun photos. It is very comfortable to sit on the heated floor with the camera on a tripod! But alas, the Northern Lights do not come out. A shooting star does show in one photo though!

Northern Lights Tour Day 05

Day 05, Feb 01, 2025, Rovaniemi, Finland

It is not an early day and we get to sleep in a little. Viktor drives us to Santa’s Village. This is, supposedly, the official home of Santa Claus! It is very commercialized. But it is fun walking around and seeing reindeer and other attractions. We first go into a gift shop and are told to walk a circular hallway and get into a queue. We follow instructions and Mikael is there lining us up for a photo with Santa! We then get in line for a private photo with the jolly old elf by ourselves! Then we venture back outside to see the rest of the village. It is here we find the Arctic Circle and officially cross it! When we get cold we just go inside any given restaurant (and there are many) and have some hot cocoa.

Back on the bus, our next stop is Kemi Jarvi (Kemi Lake) where we have hot drinks and walk around the town. There are churches here that glisten in the sunrise light. Any time the sun is out in February, it is either sunrise or sunset. The sun never gets very high off the horizon!

Then it’s time to get back on the bus. We go back to the hotel and have about an hour to relax. Then Mikael takes us down the hill to the river. We go into a store and suit up in one piece insulated suits. Once we’re all dressed, we have a short briefing and climb onto snowmobiles (2 per machine) for the next couple hours. Elee drives first but has never driven one before! But it’s not difficult and we find ourselves enjoying a snowmobile ride. It is a fun afternoon and it brings back memories.

I used to ride and race these machines back 50 or so years ago! This afternoon’s ride is a bit different though as we are instructed to stay in line and follow one another. No deviating from the path is allowed! We ride for most of an hour where we get off the machines and have hot berry juice and cookies. The juice is very good! Then we switch drivers and Elee rides behind me. I break the rules a little and steer out into fresh untracked snow. It is much more fun and I am not yelled at or corrected. These machines have governors built into the keys. Ours is the ‘Green’ key and has a maximum RPM of 5000, which is low for this type of motor. I eek out 41 KPH and have to settle for that. Back when I raced these machines, that would have been a very slow corner! LOL

The one advanced addition to snowmobiles that I wished I had back in the day is Heated Hand Grips! That kept my hands nice and toasty! We go back to the store and change out of the snowmobile suits into our other clothing. After the ride, we stop at the earlier agreed upon pub and everyone joins us for some drinks. I find some IPA. My stomach is feeling good after 2-3 days of BRAT diet and I take a chance. We have some fun chats among the group as we are feeling like we know each other much better!

It is uphill all the way to the hotel and it’s dinnertime. So we walk to Gustav’s for dinner and have some local fare. Back into the cold and back to the hotel. I sleep well.