Has anyone seen the Northern Lights in another country?
Discussion
My wife, son and I saw them in Iceland in February.
Before going, I'd downloaded an App for the Iphone that indicated the best location and times to see the lights throughout the country. It so happened that the day we landed, the lights were being given a 4 out of 5* rating at 11pm, about 90 minutes drive north of Reykjavic.
We had dinner in Reykjavic, jumped in the Landcruiser we'd hired and drove out into the bundu. We eventually turned off the main road onto a small gravel track and then turned off that onto an ice covered road that wound us up into the hills, where we parked the truck and sat in absolute silence, with the only light being the stars in one of the clearest skies I've seen.
We sat there in the darkness for about 20 minutes, when the sky started brightening up to our West. Over a period of about 5 minutes the glow got brighter and brighter and more ethereal before, all of a sudden, the lights just burst over the horizon and we were treated to 30 / 45 minute display of snaking, dancing greens, silvers and oranges. They then disappeared as if someone had flicked a switch. It was absolutely overwhelming and utterly unforgettable.
We sat there for another 15 / 20 minutes, but there was no re-appearance so we jumped back in the truck and headed back towards Reykjavic, as it was about 0030 and our lad, 10, was getting a little tired. On the way back, my wife and son were on "lights lookout" and they shouted "STOP!!" at the same time, so I pulled the truck off the highway and we watched another awe inspiring display of greens & silvers for about 10 minutes.
Later on in the week, we took a whale watching trip and were lucky enough to see 4 humpback whales just off the coast near Keflavik. The next day, we took a drive to the southern areas and found ourselves in the middle of a shortish snow storm, which was brilliant fun (you could still see the highway markers pretty easily).
All in all, an absolutely unforgettable trip and I'm so grateful to my wife for organising it as my 40th present.
Before going, I'd downloaded an App for the Iphone that indicated the best location and times to see the lights throughout the country. It so happened that the day we landed, the lights were being given a 4 out of 5* rating at 11pm, about 90 minutes drive north of Reykjavic.
We had dinner in Reykjavic, jumped in the Landcruiser we'd hired and drove out into the bundu. We eventually turned off the main road onto a small gravel track and then turned off that onto an ice covered road that wound us up into the hills, where we parked the truck and sat in absolute silence, with the only light being the stars in one of the clearest skies I've seen.
We sat there in the darkness for about 20 minutes, when the sky started brightening up to our West. Over a period of about 5 minutes the glow got brighter and brighter and more ethereal before, all of a sudden, the lights just burst over the horizon and we were treated to 30 / 45 minute display of snaking, dancing greens, silvers and oranges. They then disappeared as if someone had flicked a switch. It was absolutely overwhelming and utterly unforgettable.
We sat there for another 15 / 20 minutes, but there was no re-appearance so we jumped back in the truck and headed back towards Reykjavic, as it was about 0030 and our lad, 10, was getting a little tired. On the way back, my wife and son were on "lights lookout" and they shouted "STOP!!" at the same time, so I pulled the truck off the highway and we watched another awe inspiring display of greens & silvers for about 10 minutes.
Later on in the week, we took a whale watching trip and were lucky enough to see 4 humpback whales just off the coast near Keflavik. The next day, we took a drive to the southern areas and found ourselves in the middle of a shortish snow storm, which was brilliant fun (you could still see the highway markers pretty easily).
All in all, an absolutely unforgettable trip and I'm so grateful to my wife for organising it as my 40th present.
Shaoxter said:
RobM77 said:
What do they actually look like when you see them with your own eyes? Obviously photos can be misleading because of exposure times etc. I've never seen them and would love to.
Fainter than the photos obviously, doesn't light up the night sky or anything. But still spectacular, especially when they move and dance around.Very lucky and not likely to ever see anything like it again. What people must have thought of these displays a thousand years ago, must have properly scared the s
t out of them! 
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