As
you know from Part One of my trip to Iceland, the main reason I decided to make
a visit was because I wanted to see the Northern Lights with my own eyes.
When
I was researching Reykjavik, I learned that you could do sight seeing cruises
to try and see the Northern Lights, but that it was harder to see because Reykjavik
was located in the South. The recommendation was to travel as far North as you
could to have a better chance at seeing them.
(side note: I met another group of individuals who went on the cruise
out of Reykjavik and saw the Northern Lights just fine).
So
as part of my trip, I visited a town called Akureyri, which is in Northern
Iceland. I flew over the middle of Iceland, and was able to observe the
interior – which is pretty much all ice.
I
spent two days in Akureyri, and really enjoyed the quiet, small town
atmosphere. There are about 18,000 individuals living in Akureyri. I was able
to walk around town, check out an art exhibit, and eat a great local meal.
I
splurged on a private jeep tour, and I got to see so much of the country, and
experienced a lot of waterfalls, springs, lakes, and a lot of ice and snow.
A
few of the highlights:
2. Mavtan,
which was not as easy to appreciate because of all the snow, but was a lava
field and craters and beautiful lake;
3. Dettifoss,
which required a 24km trip down a snow covered road, getting stuck twice. This
waterfall is apparently the
most powerful in Europe.
We had to hike a significant way (a mile or two) through snowy, rocky terrain to reach Dettifoss. The journey looked a lot like this - a world of complete white.
4. Lunch at an incredible local café, where the cows were chilling inside the restaurant (but in a separate room).
5. And a few other stops at a mud bath, several small places that were unmarked and you would never know about as a tourist. Such as this random hot spring/geyser where I was able to warm my hands (slightly!)
6. And our final stop (I was sooo tired I ended up taking a nap in the Jeep on the way home!) was to check out
the
"old houses", which are wood frame houses in front, with mud and brick construction on the other three sides:
One of the “quirks” I noticed about Akureyri were
the stop lights. The red light was not a
circle, but instead a heart. The town
did it for a holiday, but the towns people loved it so much they asked to keep
it…
And
then for the moment I’ve been waiting for, the moment that inspired my whole
journey. Time to see the Northern Lights.
A
bunch of tourists and I congregated in the hotel lobby, waiting to board the
buses and begin our tour. I chatted with a few who were on Day 2 of attempting
to see the Lights, as on Day 1 it was cloudy and they could not see anything.
This made me nervous, as it was also cloudy that night. But we got lucky! We boarded our tour bus, and drove for about
45 minutes outside of the city of Akuryeri, and the skies cleared.
We
pulled off to the side of the road, got off the bus, and were plunged into
total darkness. Around 11pm, we finally started to see the Aurora Borealis. I
did not see what I expected to see. I expected an explosion of colors, like
the ones you see on time-lapse videos. Instead, I saw a white ribbon, like it
could be smoke or a thin cloud. But I stood there, in freezing temperatures for
over 45 minutes, staring at what someone told me was the Aurora Borealis.
Right
around midnight, this thin, ribbon-like whisp of white started to shimmer a
bit, and I could start to see brief glimpses of a light green glow. Back
on the bus, I was looking at pictures from professional cameras and I was
stunned at how beautiful it was- the green glow, the mountains in the
background and to our right. I learned then that your naked eye can’t see the
lights, but cameras are able to capture the colors.
 |
| Me, watching the Northern Lights. This was the only photo I was able to take that turned out well enough. My camera was not sophisticated enough to capture it! |
I
was so excited and frozen after what I had seen.... I have to confess, I wasn’t
as “awe-inspired” as I thought I would be, as my expectations were different than
what actually happened. But once I realized what was happening, I was able to
see great beauty, and pay more attention. It's amazing, you wonder how
easy it is for people to not see the beauty in something because they are
looking too hard or have different expectations...
Bottom
line, I accomplished what I came here for... I saw the northern lights! And now I need to invest in a professional
camera and take lessons in how to use it...
Stay
Tuned for Part 3!
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