Friday 4th March

0c - -5c

wind chill: -5 to -9

A 4x4 collected us at 10pm last night to start our search for the Northern Lights. There were 2 other people in the car 1 of which had already seen the lights on a number of occassions. It was a nice clear night although extremely windy. We drove north of the city for about 20 minutes and we stopped just so the driver could point out the start of the lights. It was really just a haze of light. We drove on for a further 30 minutes up a steep hill and stopped again. This time the lights were a bit more distinct although still hazy. There were what looked like fingers of hazy light in one direction and a straight line of hazy light in the other direction which started to curve but nothing came of it. Apparently when it curves the lights are most likely to "dance" The driver offered us a hot chocolate and a local pastry both of which were gladly accepted. Not much happeneing with the lights so we drove on for a bit more. The driver took us along a dirt road that was a bit out of the way and we stopped again for another look. The haze was quite distinctive and it's what the locals call a lazy hazy because it doesn't move around much. We stood around waiting for the lights to dance but they didn't and by this time it was around midnight so the driver said it was time to head back. It was pretty disappointing although it had been good to see the start of something happening. On the way back Mum spotted a good haze of light so we stopped to look but nothing came of it so we went on our way again. Not long after that one of the other people spotted another haze and said it was gonna dance so once again we stopped and this time we were rewarded with a small dance. Even though it happened quickly and the lights were not really green it was still amazing to see the phenomena of it. It left me wanting more. The driver said the best time to see the lights was between midnight an 2am and l'm thinking then why did you pick us up at 10pm!

Tonight is supposed to be clear again so we are going to go out again this time with a different company and hopefully they'll stay out a bit later.

This morning we had someone give us a tour of the town which Mum thought was good but l thought it was a waste of money. The town has 17,000 people so is smallish and there really wasn't that much to see.

Taking it easy for the rest of the day.