Crazy Crazy Northern Lights

Last night I was asked to go on a Northern Light tour. Normal right, I am a Northern Lights hunter isn't it? Well, sure, but I really wasn't feeling so good about it all. you see, there had been pretty strong Northern Lights just two days before and I know far too well that it might very well mean much weaker Northern Lights in the following days. I had checked the Solar Activity  levels and they were just averrage. I checked then the Weather and it looked quite hopeless: rather cloudy virtually everywhere with maybe a little bit less cloud on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

I honestly felt like there was very little chance we would see something tonight. But I had to go right, because it's my job.

The beginning of the tour was awful. We stopped by Bessastaðir (the residence of the president of Iceland) just outside Reykjavik just to have a look at the sky: Not a single star surfaced. Afetr a little while, passing Hafnarfjörður, we encountered heavy rain. I felt the despair of my guests quite well, simply because I felt the exact same. 

                                   The President's residence at Bessastaðir

We continued in the darkness for a little while until we drove south of Keflavik. Then, something I really didn't saw coming happened: The skies openned. And not just a little bit: we actually got most of the sky right above us completely clear. I knew it would probably not be enough because Northern Lights rarely happen higher up in the sky but it was still a nice surprise. We stopped by the Bridge Between Continents (not far from the Blue Lagoon) and I led my guests out in the darkness, away from the parking lot. Then this happened:

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And then this:

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And this:

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I was dumbstruck. The Northern Lights level was way stronger than expected. The sky was way clearer than expected. Everything was going too well. This was a miracle, no less. And this wasn't all, after leaving the Bridge under a sudden burst of hail, we drove towards Grindavik in order to get some warm drinks at the local gas station. We didn't manage to reach the town as, justa  couple hundred meters before the Blue Lagoon, something even stronger happened:

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I was even more than dumbstruck, I was impressed. Everyone ran out of the bus and started screaming. And then, even stronger lights started to show:

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This went on and on for a little while before mostly disaparing. We then stopped by Grindavik, and then drove back towards Reykjavik. We had been one hour and a half longer out than expected but no-one complained about it. That's on nights like these that i feel like I have the best job in the world!

See ya'