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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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I just wanted to be the first ever to post on this board while in mid air on a flight! Best of all, it's free on board WiFi!
Heading home after an amazing week in the arctic circle. We chased the northern lights to Finland one night just to try too see them.
As you have all seen, the site is in good hands with Megaman!!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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It annoys me that you beat me at that one 
I hope you had a good trip. Did you see the northern lights?
[Updated on: Sat, 11 February 2012 14:50] |
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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Well, you are probably the only person who could have beaten me to it!
We had an amazing trip. Unashamedly we did all the tourist things. We booked a reindeer safari, snowmobiling and sled dogs with http://www.lyngsfjord.com/ and saw the lights on the reindeer safari. And we went twice with Kjetil Skogli http://www.kskogli.no/aurora/?page_id=9 to chase cloud free skies. We succeeded with one of them.
We had temperatures ranging from +4C to -30C. in Tromsø itself the temperature fell close to its record of -18C for a while, but we left in rain and +4 yesterday morning.
Driving at 80kph in a large old coach on sheet ice is an adventure. Obviously the driver is used to this, but we were... not!
You live in an amazingly beautiful country.
[Updated on: Sat, 11 February 2012 22:34]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I have only been up there a couple of times, and only during summer, once being attacked by blood-thirsty clouds of mosquitoes. Fortunately, there is no malaria at those latitudes. Your brilliant description of your trip makes me want to go up there some time during winter, as long as temperatures don't drop below -30C.
Driving on sheet ice is perfectly safe, provided that good winter tyres, with or without spikes, are used, and the temperature is low. At lower temperatures hard and spiky ice crystals give a better grip. What IS scary is when salt has been used to melt the ice, and that brine freezes at -20C, giving you a hard surface about as slippery as wet ice.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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I think I prefer it without mosquitos. I understand the ice, but we are used in the UK to ice at 0C or thereabouts and thus it is slippery as it can be. Transfer that experience to a country with seriously low temperatures and our experience based instinct takes over.
I recommend you make a winter visit as a tourist in your own country and consider booking the same tourist experiences that we did. We loved the full moon and the views in the mountains at night, but that did make our aurora hunt harder with less contrast in the skies. My ideal would be no wind, a clear moonless night and a Hurtigruten passage two or from Nordkapp, though Svalbard would be exceptionally interesting in the right weather.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Hurtigruten is definitely one of my favourites, although it must be almost fifty years since my last voyage with them, one of which was a pre WW2 steam ship.
Did you, by the way, watch (part of) the almost 6 days long live TV programme in June last summer, starting on 16 June, following the Hurtigruten ship "Nordnorge" all the way from Bergen to Kirkenes? It was launched as an experiment by the NRK (our BBC), no one anticipating its enormous success, quite a few expecting it to be like watching paint dry. But the 'slow TV' programme was a huge success, with people all over the world watching it on TV and on the internet.
The entire programme, or bits of it if you like, can still be watched here: http://www.nrk.no/hurtigruten/
I suggest you start at these locations on the map:
- Brønnøysund to the north of Trondheim, (at 52:30h - 2 days 4 hours 30 minutes and 54:02h)
- Between Stamsund and Svolvær in Lofoten, (at 73:06h - 3 days 1 hour 6 minutes)
- Raftsundet and Trollfjorden in Lofoten (with the sudden appearance of Borat at 75:32h - 3 days 3 hours 32 minutes)
- Tromsø, of course, (at 90:39h - 3 days 18 hours 40 minutes)
- Approaching Kjøllefjord in Finnmark (strong winds and rough sea, and a delivery of king crab) (at 117:56h - 4 days 21 hours 56 minutes)
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[Updated on: Sat, 11 February 2012 18:07] |
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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That will take some watching!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I experienced Norwegian mosquitoes in the summer of 1977 when I undertook the overland trip to the North Cape and Kirkenes. They are worse than the Scottish ones know how to be, even biting through denim to suck blood.
Hugs
Nigel
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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And I have watched some. I must save up for that trip.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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