I’m finding it difficult to have or make the time to stop and blog where I have been, but catching up along the way. I’m in Ireland at the moment, after enjoying 2 weeks in Norway, the last 5 days of which were in hunt of a Northern Nights experience to tick off the bucket list.
I chose to fly to Evenes and then drive down to Reine in the Lofoten Islands seeking the Northern Lights. 2 nights Reine, 2 nights Svolvaer and 1 night at Evenskjer just outside of Evenes to make an early flight easier.
Reine was beautiful. I stayed in a Rorbuer right on the harbour, in a single room cabin, facing west and north. The sunset was beautiful, but evidently sneaking under a lot of clouds. Rain the first night, less rain the second.
Second night had a small break in the clouds, where I could see the stars, but other than a glow around the clouds rim, I did not see the lights directly.
Third night in Svolvaer, and more clouds & rain. Forth day looked more promising with some blue sky during the day.
A local told me there is still too much ambient light in this fishing village of Svolvaer, so i need to “go dark”, ie, drive 40min to a remote location and sit in the dark awaiting a break the clouds & rain, and hope the solar index is high when a cloud break occurs.
Sunset at 8pm, got to Gimsoy at around 9pm after driving around lost for a little. I hear you laughing, but, it was REALLY dark, and even with headlights, I had to use google maps to find a spot I could pull off the road and park safely for a while, then turn off the car (2degC outside) so all the internal lights are gone, and my eyes could then adjust to real darkness.
When it rained, I figured I could check my phone to see how long that rain could be on the rain radar and check the solar index prediction for the coming hour, and run the engine and the heater.
The other great tip I got, if you can’t see the stars, you won’t see the northern lights, so if it’s raining, I could use/create light without missing out on anything.
I set my Samsung S7 into pro mode, iso down and as much advised adjustment as the samsung would allow, and at 2.05am, the radar showed the clouds were about to pass, and the index was at 5.6 which I thought was a good thing ?
I step outside again in now about zero deg, and sure enough, stars started to appear where dark rain clouds were moments before. Then more stars, and more, then some very high wispy white(ish) clouds amoungst the stars.
Then some of those “wispy clouds” disappeared, instantly, and a moment later, re-appeared, then swelled and vanished, then back again and it dawned on me, it was not the bright green expected, but was in fact the Northern Lights, just not that strong perhaps ?
5 minutes later, the rain set in again and the weather radar showed there was a lot behind that cloud front, so it was time to go.
I have no doubt it’s just a timing thing, and right now, where I am in the norwegian artic circle, it’s been pretty cloudy with a fair bit of rain. Weather, who can predict that ?
One last chance tonight at Evenskjer before an early flight to Dublin. Fingers crossed.
So I arrive at my AirBnB and am told they often see the Northern lights, no need to trek into the darkness, so I grab an early sleep knowing I have to leave at 5am to catch an early flight; and at a little after 1am …..
The gallery below was part of a constant show for hours. Bucket list item achieved.
