25 Oct – Enlightened Experiences

From Norway

Now comes the time to describe the in-describable. This has always been a most curious phenomenon that has triggered more questions for me than I’ve found answers… the Northern Lights, a.k.a Aurora Borealis. Thank you to those whom sent glowing thoughts our way.

During the after dinner laps around the ship, Jamie and I observed the night sky activity. It was around 8:30pm. As the laps progressed, we noticed a couple light stripes across the sky, similar to the milky way. With each lap the stripes intensified to the point of being light gray streaks with a curvature of a rainbow. This spurred a conversation of “how intense do the Northern Lights have to be in order for these weathered captains to announce them?” The question was answered not five minutes later with the loud speaker reporting “there are some Northern Lights building ahead of us”. Sure enough the crowd of a dozen other people joined us on the deck to observe the “building”. The streaks had split and were turning a very slight greenish hue on either side of the boat. The streaks formed blobs (slower than the eye could notice) and parts of the blobs would turn a brighter green before diluting. After 15 or 20 minutes the lights dimmed, the temperature was nipping at the under layers, so we returned inside.

Around 9:30pm we bundled back up and returned outside. The rumor on the ship was that the previous nights’ performances were great from 9:30-10:30pm. Jamie and I had the lap deck to ourselves. It was the best light show of my life.

These streaks were moving so quickly across the sky. We were on one side of the boat and watching the green streaks shoot towards us, and disappear over the boat. I ran around to the other side of the boat where we watched them dance over us and drizzle down across the darkness. These lights truly do dance. There are small light bundles that drop like fingers playing a piano and it’s impossible to tell where exactly they will land next. They know they’re route, as they seem to follow a general direction across the sky, however the smaller paths form swirls and swoops.

The speeds of the light streaks vary. In the beginning they were sluggish and the eye was able to notice the light intensity changes, however unable to see any movement. For this private showing, I was literally running back and forth, head bobbing as if observing a tennis ball during an Olympic match. All the meanwhile I was screaming “OH MY GOSH” around every corner of the ship. I do not remember myself ever, EVER behaving this way. It was ridiculous and Jamie was keeping up the pace behind me. After ten minutes of this track practice, it settled down and I wanted to figure out how to capture it on film. Just taking a no-flash picture was not working. Jamie helped adjust the ISO setting and shutter speed so by the time the lights were warmed back up, my Powershot was ready. Despite the adjustments, the photos still are not as brilliant nor lively as the live show.

The cruise crowd was drizzling back out the doors for more show. The remaining lights were intense in color, but not as quick as our private performance. They did show up on film, so I’ve uploaded one of the pictures. The internet is quite slow, so additional pictures will have to wait until later. There is certainly an eerie aspect to the lights. The kids that grow up in Northern Norway grow up with the old wives’ tale that if they wave a white cloth at the lights, the lights will dive down to pick them up and take them away. Our luncheon comrades confirmed this tale and said they would do a wave out the front door and then shut the door quickly. This kept them occupied for hours.

Today we disembarked in the northernmost town in the world… Hammerfest. It is further north than Russia, Alaska and the Canadian islands. It was fairly cold with a dusting of snow on the ground. There was a great hike up the hill behind town so we conquered that bit. There were dozens upon dozens of snow fences that escorted us up this hill. They must be there to prevent a snow drift cornice from forming and dropping onto the town below. Completely unintentionally, I’ve been to the world’s southern-most city (Ushuaia) and northern-most town. The cultures may have a lot in common geographically and statistically, however have quite different towns and businesses. There was a brand new oil facility (largest technological project in Northern Norway) just on an island outside of town. Its natural gas well and dredging is completely under the sea hundreds of kilometers out. There are no barges nor platforms visible.

The terrain has changed from the low-lying barren rock, to snow capped rocky peaks that penetrate the sea with a vengeance. This land is only for hearty inhabitants that can brave the harsh conditions. We’ve met a few of the brave souls today. They take this ferry to travel to the hospital in Tromso, as well as visit family on the weekends. It’s a great experience and quite different from the normal cruise. This afternoon between deck laps and port visits, we painted through an art class. There is an art teacher on board and provided all the tools (water color tube paints and postcards). It’s a fantastic activity to do with these huge windows and scenery. We really enjoyed it. That might be atypical from the regular cruise. It’s such a small group that we can recognize everyone, let alone know some of their life stories.

Many of the fellow passengers are from England. Another point to this not being a typical cruise, as I type this, I’m wearing a sweater, long johns, and socks, sprawled out on a leather booth/couch, with Jamie lying at my side and there are two other people (one in a down puffy jacket) in the entire 200-person capacity lounge. What a life for a week!