Bathed in the northern lights

the Light shower over the sky like a silent waterfall. Engulfing darkness over us, while the emerald cut at the same time pouring down toward the horizon to all sides.

the Feeling of being overwhelmed by the northern lights, as we were it this autumn evening in northern norway is something quite special.

Right now and the spring there is very good chance to see the spectacular natural phenomenon north of the arctic circle. We were fortunate one evening in mid-september on the island of Senja, south of Tromsø.

held a small day on our trip back to Denmark after having driven all the way up through Sweden and Finland to northern Norway to experience the north Cape.

the drive home went over Tromsø, where we one evening saw a hint of the northern lights, before we continued the trip south to experience the Norwegian archipelago the Lofoten islands. On the way there is Senja island, which the norwegians themselves call the ’Norway in a nutshell’, because it is said to accommodate all of Norway's landscapes.

It is a lot of truth in, we found out. The trip around the island is both varied and spectacular, with bare mountains, snow-capped mountain peaks, forest, agriculture, and beautiful, beautiful beaches. the
Beaches on the Lofoten islands, is deceptively welcoming. If it had not been so piss in the cold you would think we had landed on an island paradise. Photo: Rasmus Flindt Pedersen
After work on the small boarding houses, campsites and in tents flottede we us this evening to stay at the hotel Hamn in Senja the edge of the island all the way out to Bergsfjorden.

the evening meal we had. On a small hilltop we sat with a gas hob and kokkererede pasta in tomato sauce) and enjoyed a completely amazing view and sunset over the fjord.

the trip had we been svineheldige with the weather, and this night was no exception – there was not a cloud in the sky.

Anyway, the expectations were not high, as we at 23 o'clock took warm clothes on and camera in hand to check out the northern lights. We knew that the season had only just begun, and the bit we had already seen in Tromsø, had not exactly been impressive.

It is difficult with the naked eye to see the colors in the northern lights, as the camera can capture, so for the time being connected I the most with a very clear, white sky. Not something that was worth keeping awake for.
Pasta with tomato sauce made on a gas hob felt like a gourmet dinner – not least because of the prospect of Senja. Photo: Rasmus Flindt Pedersen
changed this evening. As soon as we got a little away from the hotel's outdoor lighting and looked up in the darkness, we were greeted by long streaks of light all the way across the sky. Still white, but far more powerful than we had previously seen.

And as we turned a corner completely out of the water, started the waterfall suddenly flowing down all around us. The green glow in the sky was clear, and from one moment to the other it felt as if we were bathed in light.

Long we stood quite still with his neck thrown backwards, and let wrought by dancing merrily across the us. And as it slowly began to pick, and the darkness was allowed to take over, could none of us find an adequate word for what we had just seen.

It was ... unique.

A few days later, while we drove around in the rain on the Lofoten islands, we could read on a blog that the northern lights this starry night, in the which otherwise was the fledgling start of the season – had been ’exceptionally sharp’.

Suddenly felt our experience even more special. And we understood even better that we were unusually lucky.

What are the northern lights

also the aurora borealis and appears in the sky as light waves of varying colors – green, reddish, orange, blue and purple.

when electrically charged particles from the sun hits the earth's magnetic field. About a billion tonnes of glowing gases is thrown out of the solar magnetic field in the violent outbreak, and the particles travel through the universe with eight million kilometers an hour. When the particles hits the earth's north and south pole, released the energy as the northern lights.

to the north, you get, and the more dark and clear weather, the nicer and clearer the northern lights you can experience.

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the north cape plateau, with its great globe is not anything special, but the view is great and enjoyed, we learned, over a glass of bubbles. Photo: Rasmus Flindt Pedersen
roughly 5600 kilometres was completed on a total of 12 days, when we went to the north Cape in our blue Volkswagen Polo. It is too far in too short a time, and optimally had we had one more week, but even though the trip was a little pressure, it was still a memorable one. The main purpose of the trip was to get north of the arctic circle, see the north Cape and hike out to Knivskjellodden.

the Drive up through Sweden and Finland is, according to the gps about 27 hours, but we learned that along the way are easily put extra minutes and hours to. In turn, it is absolutely amazing to watch the landscapes change out of the trip; from the Finnish forests and beautiful lakes of the plains of the tundra to the rough mountains in the northernmost part of Norway.

an early morning – before the coaches fortunately – and could enjoy the view along with a handful of others, before we got the bubbles (apparently it has something to do there) and waffles in the restaurant. The north cape is known as Europe's northernmost point, but it is far from it. Knivskjellodden is Nordkaps older brother, is located about 1600 metres further north than the popular tourist destinations and can be reached only on foot. With a full backpack and a tent, we spent four-five hours on the trek, as for the native-born norwegians is probably reasonably easy, but for us it is pretty tough.

the Terrain was uneven with rocks all over the place, there were many steep climbs, and the last mile out to the tip was carried out on sloping and in some places slippery rocks.
It was blowing half a pelican, since we spent the night in a tent on Lofotoen, we got the trip's first rain and the cold was insistent. Luckily we had (read: the boyfriend) made sure that we did not go down on equipment, and at the same time provided the nature for a stunning backdrop. Photo: Rasmus Flindt Pedersen
While seeds stood on, passed the profits quickly, but the tent was set up, and we made pancakes and enjoyed the total solitude (tosomhed). Since we the day after walked back, while my boyfriend was sick and had to stop every ten minutes to throw up, turned the small profits to outright losses.

Nevertheless – or perhaps therefore – it is today, with a certain amount of pride that we can say ’We were there’; Europe's true northernmost point. And yet not quite. For both the north Cape and Knivskjellodden is actually on an island Magerøya and in the accounts is Svalbard further north. The northernmost point of Europe's mainland is therefore, in fact, Kinnarodden.

But now let it lie.