Our night with Aurora - Tromso, Norway

It was our second night in Tromso (Norway) and we had planned to see the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis). We took a break from Aurora chasing on our first night as we had just spent the previous 2 nights in Abisko, Sweden in the freezing cold doing the same. So when we arrived in Tromso we headed straight for a friend of a friend’s gallery exhibition opening night instead. It was a refreshing break to spend some time with people who were just going about their daily lives in Tromso that didn’t have anything to do with travel. In fact, they were more into the art scene and with the International Filmfest on that week, they thought we were in town for that. While we would’ve loved to experience that side of Tromso, we had other plans.

With Jet of Small Projects, Tromso exhibition opening night

The forecast for the next 2 nights was for a strong Lights display so we thought we had a pretty good chance of seeing it again. I was already happy with what we saw in Abisko (Sweden) so didn’t feel as much pressure to see it. We did however, get a few tips from our new friends from the night before about where we could best see the lights from and two places were suggested – Sommaroy and Tromvik.

We scouted the route to Sommaroy during the limited daylight hours so we could see what the landscape looked like and choose a place to return to late that night. The drive was scenic and Sommaroy was picturesque and freezing. However, having done the drive during the day, we decided it was too far to return to that night so we ended up on the road to Tromvik instead - it was a shorter distance but unexplored in daylight.

On the way to Sommaroy, Norway

Sommaroy, Norway

Sommaroy, Norway

We left our accommodation at 8pm and made our way towards Tromvik which was about an hour’s drive out of Tromso. Even before we had left the city lights we could see it in the sky. We had seen it a few times now so knew what we were looking for. Hubby found a dark spot to pull over by the side of the road and took out his camera and tripod to take a few ‘test shots’ to confirm. Sometimes moving clouds or the glow over mountains from city lights can look like the Northern Lights so the best way to confirm is by taking a picture of it to see if it turns green in the photo. It was…and it was getting stronger! I got out of the car and watched. Cat got her camera and tripod out and joined Hubby taking photos. Bee and Mig folded the back seat of the car, laid out their pillows, blankets, and snack food and watched from the warmth of the car.

The photographers
Cat in the foreground and Hubby in black clothes on a dark road in the background. Safety first (not).

Less than an hour later Hubby declares  “Let’s go! Let’s move to another spot!” OK, pack up the tripods, fix the seats, pack up the pillows, blankets and food and pile everyone back into the car. Before we could even find an ideal spot, the Lights were getting crazier and brighter in the sky over the mountains on both sides of the road and up above. Hubby pulled over to the next spot he saw and hurriedly got his gear out of the car, quickly followed by Cat and her gear. “But there are trees blocking the view. This isn’t really a good spot,” I said to no one in particular. I got out of the car and couldn’t find them. “Where’d they go??” I wondered. Across the road up on a snowy embankment I could barely make out 2 figures in the dark. “Hubby? Cat?” I called out across the road. I decided to join them climbing up the gentle hill to get a clear view over the trees. Luckily the snow had partially frozen and was not as soft so I wasn’t sinking too deep into it making my way to Cat who was safely perched on a small rock. The skies were starting to go crazy with the Lights getting brighter and moving faster. “Holy cow! Oh my god! Are you getting all that??!” I excitedly asked Cat and Hubby – their cameras facing in opposite directions trying to capture the action in every direction. “Bee!” I yelled to the car across the road. “Look up!” “Holy shit! Wooohoooo!!!!”. At this stage I was practically jumping up and down on our rock, swirling around with head tilted up to the sky in amazement (I’m surprised I didn’t get dizzy and fall off the rock). 

The Lights were all over, beaming from the mountains behind us, from across the lake in front of us, directly above us. Cat and I were looking up when the most amazing swirl of lights just happened right above us “Holy shit!!! Did you see that?? Oh my god!”. My vocabulary was as colourful as the sky above. It was exhilarating. Hubby and Cat just kept shooting photos. When the Light activity started dying down we decided to pack up and move to a different location, still on the road to Tromvik, for a different view.

Photo credit: John Matias

Photo credit: John Matias

Photo credit: John Matias

Photo credit: John Matias

Photo credit: Kat Matias

 Photo credit: Kat Matias

Back in the car Bee turns quiet. “I don’t feel so good. My tummy hurts,” she says. We continue driving. “She’s going to throw up Mom!” Mig announces. “Do you have a bag with you??” I asked slightly concerned but still looking at the sky. “Oooowww. My tummy hurts,” Bee whines again. “If you’re going to throw up please do it outside the car or I’m going to throw up,” Cat requests unsympathetically. Bee starts throwing up. “Yuck!!! Lalalalala,” Cat starts yelling out loud to cover the noise of Bee’s heaving. “Bee’s throwing up. Hmmm… it smells like chicken!” Mig announces. “Shut up or I’m going to throw up. Lalalalalala,” Cat continues. I open the window to get some fresh air into the car. “Here, have some wipes. Oh wow! That’s so pretty!” I say still looking up to the sky while handing some wipes to the back seat. “Dad, can you please pull over,” Bee requests. “Hmmm… I see lettuce,” says Mig. “Mig!!!” Cat and I shout in unison. Meanwhile, Hubby stays focused on his driving through all the chaos in the back seat as the road in front of us is dark, winding, icy and on a cliff’s edge. “Dad, can you please pull over,” Bee requests again between heaving. “Bee, there’s nowhere to stop. Here, drink some water,” I offer her a bottle. Finally, we reach a clearing on the side of the road and Hubby pulls over, gets the ‘vomit bag’ from Bee and throws it over the cliffs edge. “You what??” I exclaimed when he told me what he did with the bag. “What did you want me to do with it??” he asked defensively. “I dunno. Tip out the contents on the side and keep the bag to throw in a bin later?” “Ewww! Gross!” was the collective reply. Bee gets out of the car and cleans herself up and immediately feels better. Hubby and Cat get out their tripods and start shooting photos again. We continued to watch the Lights in awe.

We packed up and continued down the road to Tromvik, the Lights continuing to glow so bright they were visible above the beam of our headlights. We had passed several cars parked by the side of the road in parking bays so a parked car was not an unusual sight. This time however, we were approaching a car that was parked on the side with a man just standing on the road – in our path. “Look at this bloody idiot in the middle of the road!” I exclaimed. Hubby slows down and to my surprise rolls down my passenger side window as he comes to a complete stop. “Hi,” I say suddenly face-to-face with this ‘bloody idiot’. Hubby leans over me to look at the guy. “Uh, I’m wondering if you can help us. We got stuck in the snow,” the man says a bit tentatively and with a slight accent. “Oh sure. Let me just pull over further up,” Hubby says in ‘hero’ mode. Meanwhile my Filipino brain kicks in. “What if this is one of those traps? Is he really stuck? Maybe he’s just pretending and we’ll get held up,” I think half out loud. Hubby, Cat, and Bee all get out of the car despite my insistence for the girls to stay in the car. I insisted (ordered) Mig to stay in the car and stayed in with him. A dark, winding, snow covered road was no place for anyone, let alone an 8-year old. After several arguments we finally both went down to see what was going on. The car was truly bogged in the snow and the man was frantically trying to kick the snow out from under it while a lady travel partner stepped on the accelerator and the wheels spun in the air. Cat was crouched down helping him dig it out with her arm half under the front bumper and tire of the car. My ‘mother mode’ kicked in. This looked like an accident waiting to happen with 2 kids bent over near the front tires of a car that was desperately trying to free itself from being stuck in the snow. I could just see everyone being mowed down if the car managed to gain some traction in Drive mode. “Is that in reverse?? Please make sure it’s in reverse. Kids! Move away from there please!” My instructions were futile. Meanwhile Mig was playing in the snow somewhere between a dark road on one side and a cliff on another. Ayayayay!

Hubby drove off to find some guys we had passed on the road to get more muscle power to try and push the car out of the snow. He returned with another car full of travellers and together everyone tried to push the car out of the snow. Nothing. More digging. The front wheels just kept spinning. The car was wedged up under some hardened snow. Meanwhile other tourist-filled vans slowed down to see what was happening. One stopped, others drove on. Pretty soon there were about 10 or 12 people on the side of a dark road trying to free this car out of the snow. I stood back and held the torch for those who were digging while trying to make sure none of my kids were putting themselves at risk trying to free this car! The whole thing was just making me too uncomfortable to be effective. Dark road, bogged car, spinning wheels, everyone clueless…

A van pulls up and a guy leans out. “What’s the problem?” he casually asks with his arm half out the window. Most of us ignore him given the number of ‘rubber necks’ that had passed without so much of an offer to help. “Stuck in the snow,” someone replies. He hesitates as if deciding whether to help or keep driving. He moves his van where it’s safe to park and gets down, then reaches for a shovel in the back. He approaches the stuck car and starts shovelling under the front tires. He looked like he knew exactly what he was doing and had the tools to do it. I provided light for his efforts. “Well, I guess I don’t have to tell you anything anymore. Stay on the roads,” he says in general. “Is this a rental car?” he asks. “I believe so,” I reply having gathered that much information from the stuck couple so far and trying to defend myself from his accusatory tone. “Who IS this guy?” I wondered. I notice a patch on the arm of his jacket. “Aurora Chasers” it read. I quietly mention it to Hubby. Oh thank god! A local! Someone who knows what they’re doing! “Normally we would just tow you out but we’re not allowed to do that anymore. If we damage the car, the rental car company will send us the bill”. “Oh. That’s a shame.  How do you get a car out from the snow then?” I asked still wondering who he was. I figured he must’ve been a guide on his way back from a tour. “Like this. By digging,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Did you see the Lights at least?” he asks. “Yes, it was amazing. They’re still up there,” I reply politely. Then in the middle of everything that was going on Hubby says to me “There’s a baby in the back of the car. Can you get the baby?” “What??! What baby??” I go to the back to see a lady pulling a baby out of a capsule in the back seat. “Oh my god! Is he your baby?” I ask shocked that we had been there for more than half an hour by now and no one knew there was a baby in the back seat. “Yes,” she replied. I offered to take them to our car to keep the baby warm - it was minus 14 degrees outside -  but she politely declined.

More digging. More pushing. I was a bit more relaxed now that I knew there was someone (Mr. Aurora Chaser) in control of the situation and there were more capable adults on the scene. One guy suggested that everyone try to lift the front of the car whilst someone puts it on reverse. OK. Ten people get a grip on the front of the Toyota Corolla. “Ready? One, two three,” someone calls out. “Hmmmmppphh” was all we heard followed by scattered laughter at the failed efforts. The car didn’t budge. “I think I just farted,” Hubby jokes. More laughter.

The baby was getting restless and Mum was trying to settle him. I offered our car again in case she changed her mind. This time she agreed so I took them back to our car, cranked up the heat while she fed him and we got to know a bit more about each other away from the commotion of a car bogged in the snow.

A few minutes later Cat and Bee came back into the car and announced their success. After what would have been an hour and a half, the car was finally free! The baby was sufficiently fed and now all smiles. A lot of oohing and aahing at this cute smiling baby from the back seat. After exchanging introductions now that everyone was more relaxed we said our goodbyes and went our way. Everyone else that had stopped to help free the car had already disappeared into the night as quickly as they appeared. Unfortunately, there was no pub in sight for a celebration.

What a night! The adrenalin in the car was pumping and because we were only 5 minutes away, we continued on to Tromvik before turning back to make our way home. On our way out of Tromvik we came across Lizzie, Richard, and baby Noah again – the travelling couple in the stuck car. After a bit of roadside chit-chat about our year away (I had mentioned it to Lizzie while we were keeping Noah warm in our car), Richard and Hubby exchanged email addresses for a Holland connection and delayed pub celebration if we ever found ourselves in their part of the world.

After more Aurora watching we were exhausted and decided to call it a night at about 1am.