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We set off for Tromso, right on the northern tip of Scandinavia, in the hope of spotting some Northern Lights and to see in 2008 with some friends from London, most of whom were Aussies.
We landed into freezing temperatures but unfortunately the season was unusual in that it hadn't snowed yet. Once we had met up with the crew in our wood cabins on the outskirts of town, we set off for a cruise into the fjords in search of the Northern Lights.
As it turned out our luck was in and stayed in for the rest of the trip! Within an hour of leaving the dock, we were standing on the bow of the boat seeing our first rays in the night sky. As we went deeper into the fjords and away from artificial lights our show became clearer and brighter. It was totally surreal and we spent the evening just amazed at what we were doing.A hearty stew served up by the hosts on the boat helped stave off the sub zero temperatures as were tried to soke up the spectacle, not knowing if we'd see more...
The following day was New Years Eve and we woke to find it had snowed overnight and everything was a fairytale white. This was Loz's first time in the snow. We had a lazy day checking out the town before settling down to some fine tunes and drinks in the cabins. Later that night we were to see the most spectacular lights in the sky and spent most of the evening outside in the snow dancing around with the sky painted bright and fireworks being set off from the tops of all the surrounding mountains! A brilliant night with everything working perfectly, including a snowball fights on a frozen lake.
Some of the crew had to leave on the 1st and we were left as a foursome of Loz, Rosh, Scott and Guy (2 Perth lads living in London). This left us no option than to go dog sledding. We headed out into the wilderness to do some serious sledding, it was minus 14 degrees when we got off the bus! It was a totally exhillarating experience were we took turns to drive the sled, essentially working the brakes like crazy and sliding through the snow and crossing frozen streams. We shares a warm meal in a teepee and then we headed home. A bit of outdoor iceskating that night was the perfect way to end a great trip.
