KARFA

Oslo, Tromsų, & the Northern Lights- (MAN-OSL-TOS-OSL-LHR-MAN, BA J, DY Y, SK Y) – January 2014

Yet another trip report from me. If you want to read some of my travelling background then there is some information at the start of this TR which was my first one:

TR - Far East inc. Beijing, HK, KL, Singapore & Hanoi (BA J, CX Y, KA Y&J, MH Y, MI Y)

Planning
I had always wanted to go to Tromsų for years to see the Northern Lights, well before I ever got in to flyertalk. Last year I was thinking of places to go in early 2014 and I remembered that I should go to Norway after all and try to see them. Winter time is the obvious time to go simply because of the long dark nights which maximise your chances.

After looking at a few options in terms of flights I decided to book on BA from MAN to OSL via LHR. I could then have one day in Oslo just to have a look around, and then head up to Tromsų for 3 days/2 nights. As the main focus of the trip was the Northern Lights I spent some time researching which guide would be the best to book with, then what dates would be best (generally around new moon time), what dates the guide was available, and finally work backwards from there in terms of organising the rest of the trip.

For hotels in Norway it seemed the choices were basically Clarion Collections and Radissons. In the end I booked a Clarion hotel in both Oslo and Tromsų.

This would be my first time to Norway, and only the second time to a Scandinavian country, I had been to Stockholm in October 2013 and there is a link to the trip report in my signature.

Main Travel Costs
BA, MAN-LHR-OSL-LHR-MAN (UK Domestic & Club Europe) - £293.75
Hilton Manchester Aiport - £60.60
DY, OSL-TOS (economy) - £76.10
SK, TOS-OSL (economy) - £62.30
Clarion Collection Hotel Bastion, Oslo (2 nights) - NOK 1,220
Clarion Hotel Bryggen, Tromsų (3 nights) - NOK 2,815

Hilton Manchester Airport
As I work near the M62 which is the main East-West motorway in the North of England it made more sense to set off from work and stay over at MAN the night before, rather than going home after work and then driving across in the evening or early morning. I drove across to MAN after work on the Tuesday evening and had booked the Hilton Manchester Airport. I also have friends who live in Stockport on the way across so went to visit them for dinner and catch up. I ended up arriving at my friends’ house at 7.30pm and leaving at 9.30pm. I did briefly think of taking a photo of the food they served to put on the TR but decided not to subject them to the FT scrutiny!

After the short remaining drive to MAN I parked in the T1/3 long stay car park. The plan was to leave the car there with my stuff for Norway, walk to the Hilton with just what I needed overnight, go back to the car in the morning and collect my Norway things, and get the shuttle bus to the terminal.

The Hilton was a 5 minute walk from the car park, although this was made a bit more difficult by the work that seems to be going on around the roads in between. I was checked in quickly and went to my room. Unfortunately I ended up working until 2.30am so didn’t get to sleep until late. I eventually put my head down about 3am and intention was to wake around 4.30am.

MAN T3
Well I did wake up on time when the alarm came on, but then made the tragic mistake of turning the TV off and lying back down. I eventually woke up at 5.40am, much later than planned but at least with time to make my flight. With the adrenaline flowing I had a very quick shower, checked out, and was off by 6.05am for a dash to the car. After swapping bags I waited around 5 minutes for the shuttle bus. Once in the terminal I headed upstairs to check in and ended up having to take my North Face duffle bag to the special bag desk to be dropped off.

I ended up walking down the normal security lane rather than fast track, but normal security wasn’t busy anyway. I walked through to the departures hall at around 6.50am, and since the flight was likely to start boarding in 10 minutes I didn't bother going up to lounge. The MAN-LHR flight was already showing as gate 141 so I just sat near the gate.

British Airways BA1385
MAN(T3)-LHR(T5)
G-EUUS, A320-200
UK Domestic, seat 2A
29 January 2014 - 07:25d, 08:35a (scheduled)
Duration - 1h 10m (scheduled)

Boarding was called at 7am and Exec Club and OW elites were asked to come forward first. Once onboard I settled in to 2A. The flight was full as is normally expected for an early flight o LHR. Pushback happened a little early, and after some taxi-ing around we took-off from runway 05L at 0735. Drinks and food service was quickly underway less than 10 minutes in to the flight and I just had coffee but declined the breakfast panini.

We landed about 15 minutes early but on one of the 09 runways which leads you away from T5 and entails a long taxi back to the terminal once you have exited the runway. Due to the limited number of domestic gates at T5A, despite being early we ended up waiting near the north end of T5A for 10 minutes for our stand to become available.

LHR & Galleries First Lounge
Domestic connections at T5 for T5 onward flights are great since it just involves a boarding pass check, and you don’t have to go through security unlike all other connections at T5.

I picked up some Norwegian currency from the Travelex desk on the walk to the lounge. I hadn’t had any breakfast by this point so was keen to get some food.


Sat in the work area.

I ended up sitting at one of the computers in the work area. A few of this things I had planned for the daytime whilst in Tromsų had been cancelled as I was the only person booked on them, so I spent some time trying to arrange some new things with my “plan B” activities.

The gate was called at 0945 and it was A10. My first though was great, not far to walk and no need to go to T5B or C. However, it was only after 5 minutes that I remembered why A10 sounded familiar it is the bus gate I ended up leaving the lounge to head to A10 at 1000.

British Airways BA749
LHR(T5)-OSL(T3)
G-EUOA, A319-100
Club Europe, seat 2F
29 January 2014 - 10:45d, 13:55a (scheduled)
Duration - 2h 10m (scheduled)

Well after the bus ride we ended up at stand 527 which is one of the stands just south of the south end of T5A. Of course it would be raining, but as I was one of the first off the bus I didn’t have to wait on the stairs.

The Club Europe cabin comprises 6 rows this morning, and there were 18 CE.


View across row 2…


…and legroom.


Definitely raining.

Our departure was delayed by 15 minutes as a few bags had to be unloaded. During the wait a hot towel was offered. Once we set off we had a short taxi to runway 09R and took off at 1120.

Brunch was offered about 20 minutes in to the flight. The choice was a ham & cheese panini or cold cuts. The lady next to me got the panini which came with small bowl of fruit. After seeing it I really didn’t fancy asking for the panini, it just seemed to be an overload of melted cheese on bread, so I got the cold cuts.


Noted the bread plate, and are these new tray covers?

The cold cuts was ok, although not particularly filling, still I think I made right choice.



I ended up watching a few things on my ipad as usual and having a second bottle of champagne.



I certainly enjoyed the view.





We landed at a snowy Oslo.


Once at the gate I was off the plane and through passport control relatively quickly. My bag came out around 10 minutes after getting to the baggage belt. I decided to get the airport train to the centre of OIso, there is a frequent flytoget train service which costs NOK 170 to oslo. It is a short and expensive ride, although not quite as short and expensive as Heathrow Express.


View from the train.

Once at Oslo central station I had a 10 minute slow walk to the hotel.

Oslo
The hotel seemed nice. The staff member checking me in explained that there was complimentary food and drink throughout the day in the lobby, and also a complimentary dinner buffet in the dining room in the evening. I had booked a single room which ended up on the top floor. It was certainly small but ok for just one night.

One negative point was that the hotel wifi didn't quite reach my room. It was fine near the lifts on my floor, but my room was one of the further away. I ended up sitting in their very comfy lobby area with my ipad and next to the log fire. I did try using the computer in the lobby but it seemd to very old (Widows 98 I think) and there was no printer available.

I ended up having dinner at the hotel from the buffet – it was really nice – and retiring for the evening afterwards.


Complimentary dinner.

Thursday 30th
On Thursday I ended up waking up late after a long, very deep, and comfortable sleep. I suspect I was making up for lost sleep on Wednesday night.

My flight to Tromsų was not until 1900 so the plan for today was to have a wander around Oslo for a few hours before heading to the airport. I ended up walking down to the waterfront, up to the Royal Palace, and down Karl Johan’s gate.

















It was quite cold so there was some strategic darting in to shops to occasionally warm back up. I eventually headed back to the hotel to collect my bags. I walked back to the station and bought a ticket for the airport train. I also noticed the check in machines at the airport train part of the station so decided to get my boarding pass as well, the machine also prints the label for your checked in bag.

I do want to want to go back to Oslo at some point for a weekend to explore the city properly, and not during the winter. I didn't really have time or inclination to explore on this trip, Oslo wasn’t really the focus of the trip.

OSL
The bag drop at the airport was automated. Unlike Schipol where they have pods to put your bag in these ones just look like a normal check in desk but without and agent, with a hand held scanner for you to use, and with a screen giving instructions.

The queue for security seemed to very long and snaked all the way around the edge of the bag drop area. It ended up not being too desperate and took me around 30 minutes to get through. Once through I headed to one of the restaurants to have something to eat.

The gate shown was initially gate 22, but then changed to 15 and with a 30 minute delay. Looking at the departure boards it seemed that most flights were delayed to some extent. My impression of OSL was that it was a modern nice looking airport, but seemed overcrowded and almost zoo like.

Norwegian Air Shuttle DY388
OSL-TOS
LN-NOG, B737-800
Economy, seat 8A
30 January 2014 - 19:00d, 203:55a (scheduled)
Duration - 1h 55m (scheduled)


Note the heated stand.

This was my first time on Norwegian so I was interested to see what it was like. Boarding was started at 1930, but there was no boarding system that I could see. Also, announcements were just in Norwegian so I wasn’t sure if they were boarding by seat row numbers. I ended up boarding towards the end after I noticed some other passengers in the queue who were in row 7.


My view.


Legroom.

Boarding seemed to be completed quite quickly within 10 minutes. Although the fight seemed quite full I ended up having three seats to myself (8A, B, and C). We had a delayed pushback due to weather as they were clearing the runway. Once we started taxi-ing we went off to get de-iced before heading to the runway.



We eventually took off at 2020. Apart from a little bit of turbulence 30 minutes in to the flight it was all quite smooth. The cc brought around a drinks and food trolley (all paid for nothing free) but I decided not to take anything.


Spreading out, who needs business class?

I also used the free inflight wifi. When it was working it was quite speedy, but the connection dropped a few times so I needed to reconnect every so often.

So the DY flight was quite pleasant, although I can’t help feeling my judgement is slightly warped by having three seats to stretch out across.

Tromsų
We landed in the dark at Tromsų, and I didn’t see much of the place from my window on the way in. We had an old fashioned walk from the plane down the steps and across to the building which I enjoyed. It was certainly colder here than Olso, the kind that just starts to make you cough a bit, certainly refreshing though.

My bag came out within 15 minutes and I had already looked to get the airport bus to the centre of Tromsų (flybussen, NOK 100 rtn). I had looked at the bus timetable beforehand and thought that I had a long wait for 35 minutes until the next at 2305. However, on walking out of the terminal building there was one there waiting so I put my large duffle bag in the bag hold and I jumped on.

I got off the bus outside the Radisson and walked around to my hotel Clarion Hotel Bryggen which was nearby. Once checked in I headed to my room. Overall the room was nice and a good size.




Close up on ceiling artwork above bed. What is it supposed to be?


Arrrrgghhhhh! Wet room!

Two major issues with the room to my mind. First is that the window is one which didn’t open. As noted in a previous TR, I dislike hotels where they hermetically seal you in. I like to open the window sometimes for some fresh air. Second issue was the bathroom which as you can see from the photos is a wet room. Who came up with the idea of a wet room? They are just stupid. When you have your shower the water goes everywhere and you end up flooding most of the bathroom. They provided a mop thing for you to try and push the water back to the plug hole under the shower – seriously de-flooding my bathroom is not something I expect to do in a hotel. Then you are just left with a wet floor which means going to the toilet after involves getting yoru feet wet. Rant over

I unpacked my stuff and got things ready for the next day, then went to sleep.

Friday 31st
I was up fairly early the next morning and headed for breakfast. Today I would be going snow shoeing so I packed my back and headed to the Radisson which was the pick-up point. I had originally booked to go on a longish mountain walk but that one of the things that got cancelled as mentioned earlier. I ended up booking instead with Tromsų Villmarkssenter on their snow shoeing activity. This wouldn’t be as long or challenging as the originally booked activity, but would at least get me outside. I have a reasonable amount of winter experience in the mountains in the UK both in the Lake District and Scotland, but had never tried snow shoes.

The bus arrived to pick every one up at 0945. There were about 25 people on the bus and we set off driving for around 30 minutes before getting to the activity centre. It turned out most people on the bus were there for dog sledding, and there were only 4 people including myself who were there to do snow shoeing.





The other 3 were together and we decided to head out as a group. We were given some supplies and a route was suggested to us, so off we went. The walk ended up being about 40 minutes to the top of a hill. We had some tea and nibbles at the top, and a good chat. Eventually we headed back down and got back for 1230.






Me.


The other 3 in the group.










Some of the dog sledding.



I have to say the scenery was stunning. I wish we could have stayed out longer and had time to do a lengthier walk. It was cold, but we had very little wind chill.

Once back we had a communal lunch which included some reindeer stew.




We eventually got dropped off at the Radisson at 2.30pm and I went back to the hotel. I decided to go out to the nearby waterfront and take some photos.







Whilst I was out one of the guys that I had met earlier from the snow shoeing texted me to aske if I would like to join them for dinner. They were going to Emma’s which is a well-regarded restaurant in Tromsų. I said yes so packed up my gear and met them in the hotel lobby – they were actually staying at the same hotel as me. Emma’s was really nice and the food was good. I ended up having the dried cod which was very tasty. I had a good time with the other three, although I had to leave a little early just before 7pm as the pick-up time for the Northern Lights trip I booked was at 7pm at the Radisson.

I met the guide outside the hotel along with the other 6 people who were on this evenings’ Northern Lights trip. I had done lots of research in late 2013 and eventually settled on Kjetil Skolgi who seemed to be very highly regarded on tripadvisor. I also decided to book two consecutive nights going out in the hope that if the conditions were not great for one night they might be better on the other. Like most things in Norway this wasn’t cheap at NOK 3,601 (about £360) in total for both nights.

Once in the people carrier we set off for a 90 minute drive north. We did manage to see a little activity early on, but the conditions were not great as it was quite cloudy. We mostly hung around waiting for any more activity, and did see a little more right at the end of the night. It was certainly cold, and difficult to keep warm as we were fairly inactive and just standing around most of the time.


One of the better photos I took.


Huddled around the car for tea.

So first night wasn’t great, and as you can see my photography technique left a lot to me desired. I am used to night time photography usually of cityscapes, but the Northern Lights was something different. Obviously conditions were tougher than I was used to in the cold. However, I don’t think I quite got to grips with the kind of settings I needed to be using on the first night. I had with me my Canon 5Dmk3, Canon 50mm 1.4 prime lens, and Manfrotto tripod.

As it turned out the poor display on the first night wasn’t wasted. It helped as I got a bit of experience of taking photos of the Northern Lights, so by the second night I could put this to use and have a much improved technique.
It ended up being a long night and I eventually got back to the hotel for 2am. After spending some time getting things ready for the next day I managed to get to sleep for 3am.

Saturday 1st
Up early again. Today I had originally have a Fjord photography trip booked, but this was another thing that had been cancelled earlier in the week as I was the only one booked. Instead after some looking around I had decided to book a fishing trip. I had never been fishing before in my life, and it wouldn’t normally be something I would do, but I thought I would try it out. I booked it with Havfiske Cruise at a cost of NOK 1300.



The boat was due to set off at 10am and the mooring was very close to the hotel.


Our fishing boat for the next few hours.

In total there were 9 of us, with me being the only solo person. The skipper introduced himself and set out the plan was. Basically we would set off for 15 minutes and then stop. We could then fish for a bit and depending on how many we were catching we would move to another location and try again. The cook also introduced himself and explained that he would be preparing and cooking the fish we caught, and serving them to us for lunch later on. With the introductions doe we set off in to the Norwegian Sea.











I was shown what to do but I didn’t have any luck whatsoever. Others had more luck and some were catching several fish. After 20 minutes we took the lines in and moved to another spot to try again – still nothing for me though. We repeated this until around 12.30pm before settling back inside for lunch. Fortunately we were not restricted to just eating what we had individually caught otherwise I might have starved


Lunch - very fresh fish and very tasty. I had three helpings ^

We got back to the mooring at just after 1pm.







I decided to head over the bridge to go to the cable car up Mount Storsteinen (Fjellheisen). The plan would be to get up there for not much later than 2pm and be in position for some sunset photos. I could have walked across the bridge but decided to get the bus (no.26) which stops near the cable car station. The bus came after 15 minutes and we were over the bridge and there in 10 minutes. Fortunately just as I walked in there was a cable car ready to go so I was quickly up at the top. Cost is NOK 130 for a return ride in the cable car.



There is an outdoor viewing gallery at the top station, or you can leave the station and walk along outside to find a spot. I decided to move away from summit cafe and watched a really great sunset, and took some photos of Tromsų just after sunset.







I eventually got the cable car down at 4.30pm. As there wasn’t a bus due for a while I walked to the Arctic Cathedral and got another bus back over the bridge from there.

Once back at the hotel I had about an hour and a half before I needed to go for my Northern Lights evening so got things ready for that, and also started to arrange stuff for my departure on Sunday as I would have to leave early.

So for the second night running I collected together my camera gear, packed my many layers in bag, and set off to the Radisson. We had a small group of 7. The weather looked clearer than the previous night so that was promising, but would there be a display on tonight?

The guide drove around 1 hour north west of Tromsų to a spot he often uses. It was not the same spot as the previous night. We got out of the car and had a short walk to the shore line. What can I say, the display was utterly spectacular and got better during the evening. We had a display more or less all night whilst we were there, and it was only dying off at the point we left. There were several peaks of activity during the evening, and at one point it formed right above our heads and was moving so fast and was so bright that it appeared to be almost dancing. It was breath-taking.

I started to take some photos earlier on with my Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens, but the guide very generously offered to let me borrow his Canon 24mm f/1.4L lens, which if you know anything about lenses you will know that it is a very good lens. It is also very expensive so I took good care.

Having learnt a lot from the previous night my technique this evening was much improved so I could at least do some kind of justice to the display we were seeing. Settings were ISO 800, f1.6, and shutter speed was 8 seconds and lower. When it was really bright I was down at 1-2 seconds, or even less than a second. By the way the big problem for my bank balance is that I now want a Canon 24mm f/1.4L lens for when I next go back.

I am usually fairly discriminating on the photos I put in to my trip reports, and I try not to put too many in. However, I am going to make an exception in this case and I hope you agree it is worth it this time.















































We were spoilt. The guide ended up making a camp fire around 11pm and we had some tea and snacks. We saw a bit more afterwards as well, but it was starting to die down a little. We packed up and left around 12.30am, and I was back at my hotel for 1.15am.

After rearranging some stuff and set many alarms I went to bed and just hoped I would wake up in time to get the flight back to OSL in a few hours.

Sunday 2nd
I woke up on time fortunately and left the hotel at 8am. I walked over to the Radisson with all my bags ready to get the airport bus, and I ended up arriving at Tromsų airport at 0840.


Tromsų airport

At that time there was no one on the SAS check in desks, but someone appeared within a few minutes and proceeded to switch on the self-check in machines. I proceeded to check myself in and print and attach the baggage tag to my hold bag.

Security is upstairs so I headed up and found a very short queue so was quickly through. By that time gate number 21 was already showing for the flight, so I sat near the gate. The plane was already at the gate but cold and dark so clearly a night stopper. Whilst I waited I used the free airport wifi.

SAS SK4411
TOS-OSL
LN-TUD, B737-700
Economy, seat 7F
2 February 2014 - 10:15d, 12:10a (scheduled)
Duration - 1h 55m (scheduled)

The boarding process started around 30 minutes before departure. The process itself seemed to be just a free-for-all with no priority boarding for Star Alliance elites or attempt to board by row number. The screen above the gate just changed to “boarding” and folks just moved forward to the self-scan gate. Once I sat down though I realised I had made a terrible mistake – I hadn’t realised that row 7 on the 737-700 has a missing window. I had a view but only if I leaned forward.


Our plane.

The cabin seemed quite well maintained and still had the older style tickly padded seats rather than the thin seats so many short haul carriers have swapped to. I was surprised at how generous the seat pitch was, it seemed comparable to BA Club Europe, if not netter

Boarding finished about 1005, and there was a lady sat in 7D but no one in 7E. The lady in 7D talked to me a little, but I must admit I was not in any real mood to be chatty. I was tired and coming down with a cold.


Legroom.

We pushed back 5 minutes early and had a very short taxi to runway 19.


Lining up on runway.

Once airborne the trolley service began. There was a menu in the seat pocket and most drinks and all food had to be paid for, but coffee, tea and water were free so I just got a coffee.





The flight itself was uneventful, but we did have some nice views in between the cloud cover of the winter landscape. By the time we landed and I got off the plane I really was not feeling well. The cold was getting worse, although fortunately in the last few years I have taken to constantly having a handkerchief with me so at least I had something to blow my nose with. I went off to the baggage belt and collected.

OSL & Lounge
As my BA flight back to the UK was on a separate ticket to my SAS flight I had been paranoid in leaving lots of time in between to insure against any delays coming in. However, as it turned out I had been too paranoid to the extent I could have quite comfortably got the earlier BA flight back. I ended up having to wait 2.5 hours until I could check in and drop my bag. Fortunately there is free wifi at OSL so I managed to amuse myself during that time.

I was advised where the lounge was when I checked in, and I headed off to security which fortunately was much quicker than I had experience on Thursday. I bought some chocolates for my work colleagues, and I headed up to the lounge which was quite pleasant. I just got a soft drink and had some nibbles.


Lounge view

I left the lounge just after 3.30pm and the gate for the flight (50) came up on the screen shortly after. I went through passport control to gate 50 to find the BA inbound just arriving.


Our plane at the gate.

British Airways BA767
OSL(T3)-LHR(T5)
G-EUPP, A319-100
Club Europe, seat 2F
2 February 2014 - 16:55d, 18:20a (scheduled)
Duration - 2h 25m (scheduled)

Boarding was called at 4.35. There was a separate fast track lane but it didn’t seem to be particularly enforced. Club Europe was pretty full and went up to row 5. Most CE passengers seemed to be on already when I boarded.

Once pushback happened and we started taxi-ing and he after the safety briefing I started to nod off. I stirred briefly as we were getting de-iced and then work just as the engines spooled up to take off at 5.15pm. I thought I heard an announcement to the effect that the flight crew were son and dad but I may have dreamt this.

Once airborne hot towels were offered. Later the cc came around with food and drink. We were offered afternoon tea, so three small sandwiches and scone, and coffee and walnut cake. WHislt it was perfectly edible, it was not filing.


Afternoon tea.

I finished them off and the tray cleared, with another bottle of champagne offered. I noticed the passenger in 2D seemed to be eating something with a spoon, and realised he was finishing off the rest of the jam in the pot by just eating it. Does anyone else do this?


Approach over central London.

We approached LHR over central London and landed on runway 27L. Whislt we landed on time we ended up having to wait for our stand. Then when we got to the stand we had to wait until the parking guide was turned on – just delays which are annoying. We finally arrived at gate A19 which is at the south end of T5A.

I got off about 1835 so had loads of time until the flight to MAN. Strangely though I noticed one of the oneworld connections people stood with a board at the end of the airbridge with the MAN flight number on. I asked why she was there since there was loads of time, but she didn't seem to have an explanation and just advised going through flight connections – but I already knew that.

LHR & Galleries First Lounge
Flight connections and north security was fairly quiet so I was through quickly and in the lounge by 1900. I had something to eat and an glass of champagne, and the MAN flight eventually posted as gate A5 at 1915. I headed off around 1925.


Pork belly in the GF lounge, I am addicted to this stuff!

British Airways BA1376
LHR(T5)-MAN(T3)
G-EUYC, A320-200
UK Domestic, seat 1A
2 February 2014 - 20:05d, 21:05a (scheduled)
Duration - 1h 00m (scheduled)

We eventually boarded 1950. Push back was on time, and we had a long taxi down to runway 27R and took off at 2030. It was a short flight and we arrived on time. I collected my bag and headed to the car for the hour long drive home.

Conclusion
I really did have a great few days in Tromsų. It was a tiring weekend though as I was out late, and had things on during the daytime. I think that the lack of sleep may have contributed to the colde which I got, but frankly I don’t care. As I write this I am over my cold, but my memories of the trip haven’t faded so I have lost the worst but kept the best.

I usually conclude my reports with some kind of comment on the travel part, some new seat I sat in or airline I flew with. But in this trip the travel really did play second fiddle to the Northern Lights. It was almost story like how it built to the great display on the second night, as if I was made to wait until I was vaguely ready to appreciate it for the spectacle it was.

Sadly these days with the amount you can see on the tv or the internet, the places we travel to rarely amaze us or take our breath away. I went to Hong Kong and of course went to the top of Victoria Peak for the classic view across the island and to Kowloon. It was a great view, but sadly I had seen it before in pictures and videos that I had looked at online when researching the trip. It didn’t take my breath away, but that was my failing and not the view’s.

Even as I write this conclusion two months after going to Norway the memory of the Northern Lights on that second night remains very vivid, in fact it seems to become more vivid with time and not less. I had seen photos of the Northern Lights before and did have some idea of what to expect, but unlike my Victoria Peak view I had not spoilt the experience beforehand. The Northern Lights were amazing, and my breath was taken away - and not simply because it was cold. The way they kept appearing in different areas in the sky, and there was almost something going on everywhere all the time, is an experience I won’t forget for the rest of my life. I am so glad I went and that I had that experience. It was about what travel is really about, and it is right that the seats and the boarding procedure and the length of the security lines falls away in to irrelevance when compared to this. I would have gladly queued ten times as long at OSL, or had a 25 inch seat pitch to have seen what I have seen. I wish all my trips were like this, I wish every time that the experience of the places I go to or the sights I see would be so overwhelming as this one was. I really want to go back again, and I am sure I shall, perhaps even as soon as next year. I have a feeling that next time I won’t have as good a display though, and that this was something I shan’t better for many years.

I really hope you enjoyed this trip report and get a sense of how amazing the Northern Lights were. Sometimes when I or others write that I wish you were there at the time it is said out of politeness, but for this trip I really wish you had been there stood on that shore watching those green lights form and dance above your head – I wish my photos would have really done that justice, but then if they had it would have spoilt it for you if you ever did decide to go and see them and I would have deprived you of your breath taking moment.

mwsea

Stunning photos. Norway to see the Northern Lights is on my short-list of destinations.

rts123

Great photos and trip report, thanks for putting it together. I've now added Tromso to the list of places I want to go.

As for the photo above the bed, it looks like a sea anemone, like these: http://tinyurl.com/mn5f6ps

huojimmy

Really really good report! I hope I will have enough miles to go to North Europe!

billinghamn

Wowser - what a trip and great photos. You got some really impressive photos of the lights. Cracking...

sfoactuary

Absolutely stunning pictures, great trip report!

FTcadence

The pictures are indeed stunning. I can't even tell you how envious I am right now because I've wanted to make this trip myself for a few years now. Thank you for sharing your report and the pictures with us!

michlflyer

Amazing pictures: particularly those from Tromso area/Northern Lights.

Many thanks for sharing.

I am also going to Kyoto at the end of March and am hoping it won-t be too early for some spring colours there.

BearX220

Great fun to read. Thanks for your effort. I agree with you that Oslo rocks. I was there for business in December a couple of years ago and had a great time (though found my dollars went even less far than they go in London). Your northern lights photos are amazing, too.

theshaun

Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing!

MatthewLAX

Stunning. Really, there is no better word.

Thanks for the photos and your report.

jpschoubert

Moved up a bit on my bucket list - Thank you for such an amazing report! ^

Aldebaran

Great TR, Thanks for sharing. I'll put on my list of places to visit a winter trip to Norway.
Did you started your trip from LBA as the title suggests or from MAN?

KARFA

Well spotted, I seem, to have left LBA as a starting point from a previous TR and not changed it in certain places! I have changed LBA in the TR to MAN, but I will PM one of the mods to change the title. Thanks, and sorry for teh confusion - I definately started and ended at MAN.

EDIT: thanks again Alderbaran for spotting the error. Should all be fixed now and changed to MAN in title.

DanielW

Awesome TR, KARFA! Magic photo's of the Northern Lights.

The 24L is an great lens. The f1.4 really comes in handy when a slower zoom won't do.

Another good lens for this kind of stuff is the Samyang 14mm f2.8. Manual focus but a quarter of the price of a 24L.