Unexpected Northern Lights
We're Sunday the Fourteenth of December. Tonight is my last tour before eloping out of Iceland with my girlfriend for Christmas. The tour we had on the previous day wad been quite a let-down. Thick clouds were covering pretty much the whole sky and even reaching the outermost reaches of the Reykjanes peninsula made no difference. We only saw two stars, for five minutes on this Night.
But Sunday was going to be different wasn't it? Weather was unexpectedly good during the day and, to everyone's´ surprise (especially mine), some Northern Lights could even be seen in late afternoon shortly after sunset. Things therefore looked good. That´s why I was worried.
I was worried that the weather would go bad. I was worried the Northern Lights would die out. I was worried that, despite great conditions, we would not be able to see them (yes I know, I tend to have quite a worrisome job).
In such doubts, the best things to do is to do everything that you can not to lose any time. We boarded our guests as fast as possible and rushed out of the city. We drove North, our idea being to reach the North side of mount Esja where there would be much less light pollution. From there on, we maybe could get to Hvalfjorður or even down south to Þingvellir.
However, as we left the city, things started looking quite grim. Clouds were coming in from the North and No Northern Lights could be seen. I was starting to panic, thinking that the Northern Lights had all but died out. After crossing Esja we entered into Hvalfjorður, heading East and finally found a place with some decent darkness to stop by.
I stepped out of the bus and started looking around for Northern Lights. There were none. Clouds however we got a aplenty. After taking a couple of shots of the Northern part of the sky, I actually got some super weak Northern Lights. Nothing to be too terribly excited about but still a proof that something was kinda going on:
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We decided to drive back, turning Eastwards in order to reach clearer skies. That´s when some of my guests went crazy and intimated us the order to stop the bus. They had spotted Northern Lights! We then stopped and contemplated as the Lights appeared in between cracks of the clouds. we actually managed to saw the Northern Lights in a grand total of three different locations before heading back to town. Here´s the shots I got, I hope you´ll like them. I will probably not have the chance of seeing the Northern Lights until around the thirty so I bide you farewell and wish you all a happy Jul and New year.
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