Aurora

I haven’t really had chance to properly sort last night’s photos but this is a taste of the show we were treated to.

We went out with a guide, Finn, who was not a Finn but was Dutch. He was slightly bonkers, and tried initially to take us on an hour long snow-shoe hike uphill in temperatures of minus 20 and colder., where we would spend four of five hours sitting around a campfire - I was not keen, especially with my knee! He insisted we try but it was very tough going. So instead he took us to somewhere he gave the impression would be crowded and a bit touristy - it was in fact a lake in the middle of nowhere with a couple of other people who all left before the lights got going, and a perfectly good campfire to toast our sausages on.

The moon was full so not ideal conditions, and I discovered that you cannot wear glasses in those temperatures as they fog up, so I spent the whole evening trying to focus my camera when I couldn’t see a thing.

Anyway, it was awesome. I have seen the lights before but never with a decent camera in my hand (or on my tripod). The snow was above our knees so it was at times challenging, but we stayed out until about 2am, arriving back at the hotel with bursting bladders!!!!

As we drove home the Lights were all around us, it was magical. We could even see the last shards of green from our cabin. I would have stayed up all night if I could have.

I will process all the raw images, and will have another to Blip tomorrow from after midnight - for now we are sitting in the airport awaiting our flight home. I will be having my thermals surgically removed tomorrow. Finland has treated us to quite a trip!