Hunting the Northern Lights: Rovaniemi, Tromso and Iceland

[ADLhighflyer]

Arrived back at the hotel around 2am – feeling extremely thrilled with what I had just seen.

Northern Lights Scorecard: 2/3

 

[SYD]

Very jealous!

 

[ausfox]

Very jealous!

+1 on jealous

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Having woken up on Day 2 in Tromso, went to have breakfast and as I left my room, the door handle snapped off ! Went down to the front desk to explain, and thankfully had the staff member on front reception who was most understanding, and mentioned that this was the 2nd one that had occurred that morning. Upon regaining access to my room (and later that day getting a new room whilst they fixes the old one!), I headed off for todays activities – reindeer feeding and learning about the Sami culture! Unfortunately I had also booked to go reindeer sledding, but due to the lack of snow in Tromso that put a stop to that idea.



It was then back into town to relax for the afternoon, before heading out for another hunt for the lights!

 

[drron]

Fantastic photos and not just the lights.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

It was then back into town to relax for the afternoon, before heading out for another hunt for the lights!

Tonight’s tour was with a different company, with conditions ripe again for some light spotting. Met the rest of the group at 7pm before heading off into the unknown to see what we could find.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Another amazing night was had, and was back at the hotel around 1am or thereabouts.

Northern Lights Scorecard: 3/4

 

[ADLhighflyer]

My last day in Tromso was spent locally for once. I walked from the hotel up and over the main bridge and caught the Fjellheisen (Cable Car) up to the top of the local mountain for a city view



Spent the afternoon treating myself to the local (and hotel recommended) Chinese Restaurant Tangs before heading out for my last night of light hunting in Tromso

 

[ADLhighflyer]

For my last night, conditions were clear and again and ripe for spotting. So once again, I headed out to see what could be found! The night started of slowly (compared to what I had seen before so far!), then got much better after an hour or so!



At this point, the guides decided to see if they could capture the lights in another location for some variety



Arriving back at the hotel around 1am, I had minimal sleep ahead with a 0620 flight ahead of me! It was now time to continue my adventures and head to Iceland!

Northern Lights Scorecard: 4/5

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Very jealous!

+1 on jealous

Glad I can help!

Fantastic photos and not just the lights.

Thanks very much drron. Glad Mrsdrron is ok and that you both are able to continue your travels. Looking forward to the rest of your trip

 

[ADLhighflyer]

ICELAND

21NOV SK4403 TOS OSL 0620 0825 (OY-KAO A320) / SK4787 OSL KEF 1020 1215 (OY-KAS A320)

After some very limited sleep from yet another late return from light spotting, it was onto the airport for 6am flight – to Iceland!

I had booked SAS’s Plus Smart fare (Sort of like Premium Economy) as it was on about $20 more once the cost of the bag was included – with the fare including onboard food and lounge access as well. Not a bad deal! (Definitely check the higher class if flying on SAS, as flying up the front can be cheaper than economy!)

On the flight to Oslo, a basic food box for breakfast was given with tea/coffee as requested, whereas on the main flight to Reykjavik a larger meal (also in a box) was offered, but with non-stop offers for other snacks etc as requested.



Upon arrival in Reykjavik, it was onto the Flybus to be taken to the Central Bus Station to await the connecting service to the hotel (buses aren’t able to operate in some areas of the city for some reason, so have stops assigned instead!). Arriving at the hotel around 2pm, found that my room was ready and so for the next day and a half was able to explore the city for a little bit before my tour of Western and Southern Iceland commenced



For the 2 evenings, I took it easy and tried to catchup on some long lost sleep so no attempts at light spotting as I'd have plenty on time on my tour to do this.

 

[NSun]

Great pics of the Northern Lights but I also enjoyed seeing Tromso and Reykjavik. I've been to Oslo before but no further north than that - desperately want to go further north now.

 

[jastel]

That's what I expected to see in Tromso...what I got was a 3 day blizzard!
Ended up seeing some smudges on the last day.

Saw plenty in Iceland but.
What camera and settings are you using?

 

[Mumanddad]

Wonderful photos and great trip report - thank you for posting. We did a Northern Lights tour from Alta in October and we couldn't really see the lights without looking through a camera. I'm also interested to know what camera you were using.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Glad you all like the pics so far!

I have a Canon 750D, with a low light lens that has an f2.8. The majority of pictures were taken with an ISO of 1600 or 3200, and around 15secs exposure. This changed depending on how quick the lights were (very quick in some instances). Very fast had an exposure of 2-3secs, whereas very slow moving lights meant I changed the exposure out till around 25secs.

All in all, I was happy experimenting with my shots to see what I'd get - I am certainly not a professional photographer!

 

[jastel]

Me neither...put in in NIGHT mode and play with the timer, each display and location varies a bit but I found 10-15 secs a good starting point then go longer/shorter time from there.
Shoot till the batteries die...or you get frostbite...whichever comes first.

Dunno if you are on a group tour thing but dont fall for the tourguide racing into the middle of dinner and saying "Come outside quick the lights are on!!".
The same people that 10 minutes earlier where in the blizzard and knew you couldnt see across the street all tipped over their plates etc in a rush to get outside and see them.
Must amuse the locals forever.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Me neither...put in in NIGHT mode and play with the timer, each display and location varies a bit but I found 10-15 secs a good starting point then go longer/shorter time from there.
Shoot till the batteries die...or you get frostbite...whichever comes first.

Dunno if you are on a group tour thing but dont fall for the tourguide racing into the middle of dinner and saying "Come outside quick the lights are on!!".
The same people that 10 minutes earlier where in the blizzard and knew you couldnt see across the street all tipped over their plates etc in a rush to get outside and see them.
Must amuse the locals forever.

For me, it was usually the batteries that were running low! And always had 2 full at the start of each night!

Hopefully will be able to continue the report in the next day or so for everyone when I get a spare moment

 

[craven morehead]

View attachment 310266

THE PLANNED ITINERARY

08NOV QF604 MEL-BNE / QF51 BNE-SIN /AY132 SIN-HEL

09NOV AY1361 HEL-MAN

13NOV AY1362 MAN-HEL / AY535 HEL-RVN

17NOV AY534 RVN-HEL / AY945 HEL-TOS

21NOV SK4403 TOS-OSL / SK4787 OSL-KEF

30NOV AY992 KEF-HEL

01DEC AY99 HEL-HKG

02DEC CX105 HKG-MEL

Dialing in for this TR

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Day 1 of my Tour of Western and Southern Iceland commenced at 9am with a city tour of Reykjavik (still quite dark at that point!). Stopping at a few areas, we had a quick look around before heading west.



Our first major stop was the Grabrok Crater, where a walk to the summit encounter very tough winds which made it tough to stay upright.




Next stop was Hraunfossar, which are a series of waterfalls pouring from beneath a wide lava field. A short walking distance away was Barnafoss, also known as the Children’s Falls.





We then continued onto Deildartunguhver, which are known as one Europe’s most powerful hot springs.



Arriving at our hotel for the night, the tour settled in for dinner and an evening lecture on the Northern Lights on how they form and of course the best ways to capture them.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Conditions for the night looked ok, but nothing by around 10pm so it was off to bed for the night…. Until the Northern Lights wake-up call came through and woke me up around 11:30pm



A few of us from our group tour found a small clearing not far from the hotel, and stayed outside for around an hour admiring the awesome view!

Northern Lights Scorecard: 5/6