Hunting the Northern Lights: Rovaniemi, Tromso and Iceland

[ADLhighflyer]

Having just returned from my first overseas trip in a while, I really enjoy readying other peoples trip reports about their own travels so felt that this one would be worth writing about to share with everyone!

After an interesting few years, the travel bug was itching to go again and it was time to work out where to go. 5 Years ago, I went on an awesome trip that covered Iceland, Norway and Germany (link to trip report below) and figured that this would be the perfect excuse to head back to Northern Europe again - with a view to hopefully seeing the Northern Lights and the magical scenery of Northern Europe once again.

So the plan was decided and became the following:

09-13Nov: UK Family Visit
13-17Nov: Rovaniemi, Finland
17-21Nov: Tromso, Norway
21-30Nov: Iceland

Please sit back, relax and enjoy the journey!

NB: Previous Trip Report from Iceland, Norway and Germany in Nov/Dec 2017 here

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE PLANNED ITINERARY

08NOV QF604 MEL-BNE / QF51 BNE-SIN /AY132 SIN-HEL

09NOV AY1361 HEL-MAN

13NOV AY1362 MAN-HEL / AY535 HEL-RVN

17NOV AY534 RVN-HEL / AY945 HEL-TOS

21NOV SK4403 TOS-OSL / SK4787 OSL-KEF

30NOV AY992 KEF-HEL

01DEC AY99 HEL-HKG

02DEC CX105 HKG-MEL

 

[NoName]

Locked in to read this one. Very timely as we are visiting Rovaniemi over Xmas.

EDIT: also going through your previous report as Munich is on our itinerary as well.

 

[SYD]

That gcmap made my eyes go cross eye!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

That gcmap made my eyes go cross eye!

I feel like I've been to HEL and back a few times

 

[SYD]

I feel like I've been to HEL and back a few times

Not to mention that you SIN‘d then went straight to HEL…

 

[ADLhighflyer]

LET THE TRIP COMMENCE!

08NOV QF604 MEL-BNE 0720 0830 (VH-VYH)

The day has finally arrived! With the early start, I stayed at the Mantra Tullamarine overnight to avoid a very early wakeup call, and also the opportunity to have a nice dinner with my sister. Was at the airport early-ish to avoid any possible problems and even had the check-in agent laugh when out popped 4 boarding passes (thankfully I had booked J Class for the main travel to/from Europe) and the usual baggage receipt.

Flight departed 10mins early, with breakfast being Frittata, Sausages and Silverbeet. After a ‘few’ cups of coffee, arrived in BNE 10mins early. More time for the QF INT J Lounge – or so I thought…

08NOV QF51 BNE-SIN 1105 1705 (VH-EBR)

Caught the terminal transfer bus from Domestic to International, and saw the huge lines snaking their way through the main check-in area of the airport (later found to be cause by delays at security). What did this mean for me? Well, It meant I finally made it to the lounge with only enough time for a coffee before boarding was called! Oh well – next time!

Boarded the A330 and pushed back about 20mins late due to the delays in the airport.

Meals were served soon after and chose the Salad of White Cut Chicken for entrée



And for Main Course, chose the Humpty Doo Barramundi



Both meals were very nice. Finished off with a Vanilla Crème Caramel.

Later in the flight prior to arrival in SIN, a caramelised Onion Quiche was served. I somehow managed to get some extra ice-cream as well!

Landed in SIN roughly ontime – not that it mattered with a 5+ hour layover!


08NOV AY132 SIN-HEL 2230 0610 (OH-LWD)

After a long, but enjoyable time in the QF J Lounge, it was time to head on the 13hr40min hop to Helsinki on Finnair’s A350

This particular aircraft had the new Air Lounge’s installed so was looking forward to trying it out. Whilst boarding was ontime, we were held up departing for around an hour due to ATC. Pushed back around an hour late (by which time I had been awake almost 24hrs with the early start!).

Dinner was served not long after takeoff, with my chosen meal being the Butter Chicken with yellow pilaf and beans (No pic sorry). Very tasty – but my priority was sleep!

Didn’t get a really good picture of the Air Lounge, however I quite enjoyed the seat to sit in whilst watching a movie etc, but need more time to see how it was for sleeping given I didn’t sleep too well on the flight (not the seats problem – I sometimes just can’t sleep inflight).

After what seemed like eternity, the cabin lights were switched on which could only mean one thing – more food!

Breakfast was an Onion and Chorizo Frittata with Potatoes, cold cuts and yogurt



Landed approx. 40mins late, so by the time I made it into the lounge I had approx. 30mins before the next flight commenced boarding given it was at a bus gate.

09NOV AY1361 HEL-MAN 0810 0915 (OH-LKP)

After nearly 33hrs of travelling, the end was in sight – only a 3hr trip to go, this time aboard an E190.

Slight change though from a big business class seat with all the trimmings, to the Euro-Business style product. At least its not a night time flight! Flight was uneventful, with a typical breakfast served and landed on schedule in Manchester. My 36hours of travelling at an end – now off to go and visit family for a few days!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

13NOV AY1362 MAN-HEL 1015 1505 (OH-LKH) / AY535 HEL-RVN 1620 1745 (OH-LZE)

After a great few days catching up with family who I haven’t seen in 5 years, it was back to the airport for the trip to Rovaniemi.

Arrived at the airport early to have breakfast and admire the view outside!



Was nice to see some different aircraft for the change than what I’m use too!


These two sectors were booked into Economy, with AY1362 being on a E190 again. Flight took off and landed ontime. Wasn’t hungry to eat anything haven just eaten in the terminal.

Landed on schedule in Helsinki, and quickly made my way through Immigration onto the Schengen side of the airport. Had enough time to quickly grab a bite to eat at one of the kiosks and then board my flight to Rovaniemi. Helsinki is an awesome airport to transit through, and can achieve connections in 45mins!

Boarded the A321 and settled in, only to have the Captain advise that due to technical issues we’d all need to de-board. Oh well – the joys of travel!



My engineering delayed A321!


After approximately an hour of waiting in the terminal, it was time to re-board! Woohoo!

Flight departed uneventfully, and arrival in Rovaniemi was around 60mins late at 1845L. Interestingly, due to low visibility you couldn’t tell where the ground was until the aircraft was literally on top of the runway – no chance to see Northern Lights tonight!

Caught a Taxi from the airport into town, and had a quick look around before grabbing a pizza for dinner.



My adventurers were about to step up a gear the following morning!

 

[Denali]

Got my comfy seat ready and .....

 

[ADLhighflyer]

ROVANIEMI

For my first day in Rovaniemi, I’d booked a day trip out to Korouoma Frozen Waterfall. This included a good 6km hike with lunch provided

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Following the day trip, it was time to head out searching for the Northern Lights on my first tour. All that was seen was low cloud, the moon and the smoke of the fireplace. Maybe tomorrow!

Northern Lights Scorecard: 0/1

**NB Scorecard taken on nights where I was able to go hunting for the lights and wasn't planning an early night!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

For Day 2, I headed out to Ranua Zoo. A few of the animals were seen, however quite a few like the Polar Bears were away from public view due to the winter months.



The tour of Ranua Zoo finished early afternoon, so once back in town I wandered around to see what central Rovaniemi is like.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Having had a few hours of downtime, it was time to head back out and hunt the Northern Lights! For this tour, I picked a different company in the hope it might pay off given the conditions were good for light spotting. We drove to 2 spots with no luck, and then the guide drove to a 3rd spot that had us hike about 1km up onto the side of a hill, but had a good view northwards with no cloud cover expected.



I was stoked to see these on my 2nd full day in Rovaniemi, with the mood on the tour being amazing. Finally made it back to the hotel around 0130L, but it was so worth it!

Northern Lights Scorecard: 1/2

(Edited: Finally got pictures to load correctly!)

 

[FenderQF]

Nice work! Heading to Rovaniemi in March so following along closely.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

For my last full day in Rovaniemi, I had planned (and booked) to go snowmobiling. However one important ingredients was missing: snow.

With the tour being cancelled by the operator, it was time to quickly find new ideas to spend the day. Finally settled on some Shore Fishing (as lake wasn’t frozen enough for proper ice fishing) and Quad Biking





Once back into town, it was getting very cold!



After last nights success and with the cloud cover completely overcast across Rovaniemi, I stayed in for the night and caught up on some long lost sleep.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

My Last morning in Rovaniemi was spent having a look around Santa’s Village (and even meeting Santa as well!) and saw the famous line of the Arctic Circle! At this point, it was mighty cold so headed off for a nice coffee.


Then it was back to the hotel to pick up the bags and off to the airport for my flights to Tromso


Another overcast day in Rovaniemi

 

[ADLhighflyer]

TROMSO

17NOV AY534 RVN HEL 1400 1520 (A321) / AY945 HEL TOS 1605 1725 (Operated by Wideroe – Dash 8)

Arriving at the Airport, it was great to find out that the inbound flight was ontime given my 45minute connection in Helsinki.

The flight to Helsinki departed ontime, and was able to enjoy Finnair’s signature Blueberry juice (complimentary) enroute.



As luck would have it, the aircraft parked at the furthest bussing gate you could think of and took its plane load of passengers to the opposite end of the airport I needed to be at! So after finally arriving in the terminal, rushed up the other end of the terminal to see my flight already halfway through boarding (also a bussing operation).

Flight departed ontime, and it was a long 2hr 20min on a Dash 8 not knowing if my bags had made the tight connection. Upon arrival, I was most impressed to see that they had! At was then to find the bus that took us back to the main terminal to then catch the Flybussen into town!

After finding my hotel, had a quick walk around the centre of town before having an early night given a few busy days ahead of me.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

For Day 1, I had booked a tour of the local Fjord’s around Tromso. I’ll let the pictures do the talking – the scenery was simply amazing and could’ve stayed out there all day.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

 

[ADLhighflyer]

The tour took a fair chunk of the day, returning back to Tromso around 5pm. I had booked a Northern Lights tour with the same company that night, and given I was only 1 of 3 on it (the other 2 were also on the Fjord Tour), we agreed amend the start time and to meet back at 6:30pm to hunt for the lights.

Upon being picked up and changed into the warm weather suits, we were told that the plan was to head around an hour inland to go to a great viewing spot and so we set off – for about 30mins! Halfway into the drive, our guide told us that the lights had appeared, so found a nice spot to pull over and admire the view.

Over the next 5 hours, what I saw was one of the most magical displays of mother nature that I will ever see. The camera just went click continuously.