Day 12 - Flights And Animals As We Head North

28 Aug

To wrap up yesterday's experiences, we stayed awake until the sky turned darkish. We rugged up and ventured outside on a 50% chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Standing in the car park wasn't the darkest of locations, but we could see faint wisps of light. We moved to the jetty away from the street lights. It wasn't long before a long faint ribbon stretched across the sky. Yippee!!! 

We didn't consider we had much of a chance of seeing the northern lights due to the lack of a properly dark sky and the sun being past it's solar maximum for this 11 year cycle. So this sighting was an unexpected delight.

Some stills from the flights

While I fly Minerva, Charleen looks closer to nature.

Further along at Gratangsbotn

Today’s target distance was around 300km as we continue to press northward. We stopped for a couple of flying sessions for Minerva, had a coffee by a river/fjord and found what was referred to as the most northern zoo, Polar Park. The operators of Ranua Wildlife Park in Finland might have a different view on that claim.

The animals were elusive, particularly the brown bears. We did manage to see moose, lynx, wolves and deer. The wolverine and fox weren't available.

Tonight we are in Bardufoss. Our room has a view to the mountains and they look like there is a fresh dusting of snow on the higher peaks. The view from our room is also good for plane spotting as the airstrip for commercial and military aircraft is not too far away.

Over the rooftops to the snow-dusted mountains

The sky has clouded over which means no aurora spotting tonight. 

Finished the night with a lovely pizza and wine at a restaurant.  Pricey though at 650NOK.
Living is not cheap in Norge.