December 2022

December 1st

• Guests / Country: 11 guests from Germany, Italy, Hungary, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / rain.
• Destination / weather: Takvatnet lake / Takelvdalen valley / holes in clouds / part clear.
• Aurora activity: 5/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across, spikes, curls and curtains. Little pink dancing.
• Tour km: 245.
• Tour hrs: 6,5.

An new fight with the clouds and a weather forecast which was totally wrong ... the clear sky they forecasted from the south didn`t really showed up ... but, it was good timing with the opening we got, just at time when the evening best show started ...

December 2nd

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Spain and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Clear.
• Destination / weather: Vågsbotn / Rekvikeidet / clear.
• Aurora activity: 6/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across, spikes, curls and 2 colors eye visible dancing curtains.
• Tour km: 110.
• Tour hrs: 6,5.

December 3rd

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Norway, Belgium, Germany, Singapore, China and UK.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Clear.
• Destination / weather: Nakkevatnet lake / Sjursnes / clear.
• Aurora activity: 6/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across, spikes, curls and 2 eye visible dancing curtains.
• Tour km: 130.
• Tour hrs: 6,5.

December 6th

• Guests / Country: 11 guests from Thailand, Australia, China, Germany, USA and UK.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Clear.
• Destination / weather: Skibotn beach / Signaldalen valley / clear / part clear.
• Aurora activity: 3/10.
• Aurora show: Couple of ribbons across, brighest low in the north. And some spikes.
• Tour km: 265.
• Tour hrs: 7,5.

An lovely evening to my favorite beach east of the Lyngen Alps with beautiful guests ...
On the return I did an extra detour up to our local Toblerone Mountain, where we got a last view of the Northern Lights.

Lovely night with little mixing weather with suddenly incoming clouds, but The Lady was shy ...

December 8th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from China, Germany, France and Hong Kong.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear.
• Destination / weather: Sommarøy / Kattfjordeidet / clear / part clear / cloudy.
• Aurora activity: 6/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across the sky, curls, spikes and curtains. Little dancing.
• Tour km: 110.
• Tour hrs: 6.

Super early ending of the chase since the clouds begins destroy the view already at 10 pm, so we left at 10.30 pm ... but, on the return it was an new activity drop and at the same time we got a huge hole in the clouds so we stopped one more time ...

By returning the city around midnight it cleared up, but then I was done ... the best Aurora show got two of my guests, when it begin to dance pink over the pavement where they was walking back to theirs AirBnb above Tromsø city ... and then I got a nice show over the city from the mainland of Tromsø, after I had dropped off the last guests ...

December 9th

• Guests / Country: 13 guests from Italy, Bulgaria, Singapore and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear.
• Destination / weather: Grøtfjord / clear.
• Aurora activity: 4/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across the sky, but faint. Spikes and curls, and little moving.
• Tour km: 75.
• Tour hrs: 5.
• Space show: A couple of good fireballs from Perseids Meteor shower.

A lovely night on the beach ... 35 km west of Tromsø city on the island Kvaløya ...

Lady Aurora was shy tonight, so we went back to the city very early the 2nd night in row, since our Aurora forecast didn`t showed any great the next hours ...

But, after midnight, around 1-2 am she waked to life again, but then I was back home in my sofa ...

December 10th

• Guests / Country: 12 guests from China, Italy, Honduras and USA.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Clear.
• Destination / weather: Kvalsundet / Skarsfjord / clear.
• Aurora activity: 10/10.
• Aurora show: Intense PINK AURORA Rock`n`Roll ... curls, spikes, dancing curtains, coronas ... All over and far south several times.
• Tour km: 90.
• Tour hrs: 5,5.
• Space show: Many really good shooting stars ... probably from Persinids Meteor shower.

What a crazy beautiful start of the evening ... 40 mins north of the city at our first stop, and we had just been outside the bus in 5 mins, before Lady Aurora turned south and begin with what she can at her best; take an Rock`n`Roll for my guests and me.

December has started quiet, but this night goes into one of my best nights out with my guests after over 1800 chase nights since we begin the Aurora business in 2006.

And tonight I had to bring with me an extra guest ... a girl from Honduras which the guide she should join had left her behind ... I am happy to be there for your service ;)

The last three chases has been like vacation for me ... 3 nights on the coast, short drive and 3x very early returns ... the time will show how the next week will be when the bad weather is back again ... and we will be back to the normal this autumn ... with long drives and late returns ...

Re; my Aurora pics from this night it didn`t get so many of the best show, since I was testing of filming it with my iPhone 14 Pro Max, so please check it out on GuideGunnar`s #Insta & Facebook, for see how crazy beautiful good it was in real time ...

December 13th

• Guests / Country: 12 guests from China, Australia, UK and USA.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
• Destination / weather: Skogsfjordvannet lake / Kvalsundet / cloudy.
• Aurora activity: 0/10
• Aurora show: Too cloudy / No activity!
• Tour km: 160.
• Tour hrs: 4,5.

The impossible game!

Some nights the weather and the Aurora activity cooperating badly ...

When I left my home 40 km north of the city the sky was clear ... the weather forecast says also it should be okey conditions north on my island, Ringvassøya, but when we arrived 80 km north of the city it was totally overcast ... only a few stars was visible ...

Then I got a couple of messages from my good colleagues I cooperate with; "It was a okey partly clear sky at Sommarøy, 60 km west of Tromsø and 120 km away from us ...

I know very well that the clouds are moving, but we are always going for the best option, so with all guests back in the bus we headed south west ... at the half way I got a new message; "it begin to cloud over also there.."

30 km north of the city I decided to cancel the chase after half run leg, and refund my guests 50% since I saw no good reason to continue when all my colleagues in a 150 km radius was reporting about overcast anywhere ...

15 mins later Lady Aurora begin tonight`s performance, but it was only visible above the clouds ... goodnight.

December 14th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Germany and UK.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
• Destination / weather: Lyngen Fjord / Finnish border / Keinovuopio / hevay snow / some stars / 90% clear.
• Aurora activity: 2/10.
• Aurora show: Just a faint ribbon on the south sky, some spikes.
• Tour km: 430.
• Tour hrs: 9,5.
• Space show: 15-20 good shooting stars and fireballs from the Geminids.
• Wildlife: 2 mooses.

An new tricky night where the weather forecast was totally wrong ... again ... it says it should be clearing around 8 pm, and then better and better ... but, it was heavy snow and wind all night long except inside Finland, where the forecast didn`t show so good ...

After fighting and waiting little too long by the fjord, I was thinking of an return close to the city where the sky camera shows very good clear sky ... but, after chatting with my colleagues I also ended up in Finland, where we got the "after show" ... missed the best one with 15 minutes ...

December 16th - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

• Guests / Country: 5 guests from Australia and Ireland.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
• Destination / weather: Keinovuopio, Finland / part clear / clear.
• Aurora activity: 4/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons all over, but faint. Spikes, curls and curtains. Two colors on camera.
• Tour km: 370.
• Tour hrs: 8.

Lovely settings for the Private Dinner on the frozen border river between Finland and Sweden ...

Normally a very busy location when the bad weather sets in from the coast, but most of the other Aurora Guides turned into an another valley further south west in Norway ... so, tonight I had really success with what I am selling; Silence ...

December 17th - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

• Guests / Country: 5 guests, incl. a baby from Australia.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear.
• Destination / weather: Takvatnet lake / clear 100%.
• Aurora activity: 0/10.
• Aurora show: No activity! Just a faint glow ... 2 colors visible on camera.
• Tour km: 240.
• Tour hrs: 7.

The Lady was shy tonight, only two weak colors on the camera ... so, then I played with my camera and made a short star circles ... so clear sky is not an guarantee for get an Aurora experience, but it was a lovely colorful sky ...

December 18th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Germany, Australia and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear.
• Destination / weather: Skibotndalen valley / part clear / haze / clear.
• Aurora activity: 5/10.
• Aurora show: All over and far south, but faint. Then several brighter spikes, curls and curtains. Little moving. Two colors on camera.
• Tour km: 245.
• Tour hrs: 8.
• Spaceshow: Several nice shooting stars.
• Wildlife: One fox.

What an amazing group of guests ;) Tusen takk !! Thank you very much !! You made my night, and I really loved that you was so a great chatting group with all of you ... that was really nice.

First, I had to postpone to show the Aurora documentary, since it was the WC final in football between Argentina and France, so I open my intern WIFI so my guests could stream the game on theirs cell phones ...

It was a new weather tricky night, so since there was no activity yet I drove straight to the gas station in Nordkjosbotn for fill diesel and let my guests use the bathrooms ... and then I just waited to let my colleagues came in the right position in the valley 30 km back for hear if the sky was clear there, so we could drive back ...

But, at the end I decided to just continue further east ... where we had close to totally overcast, so I decided to take my driving break in 30 mins, and then drive backwards ... but, before it was gone 30 mins it begin to clear up more and more ... so, we stayed put at the same spots all night ...

Lady Aurora decided also to performance little better this night, so I went late back to the city with very happy guests.

December 21st

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Australia, China and USA.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear.
• Destination / weather: Sommarøy / part clear / clear / cloudy.
• Aurora activity: 7/10.
• Aurora show: All over and little towards south. Spikes, curls and curtains. Little moving and two colors on camera.
• Tour km: 125.
• Tour hrs: 6.
• Wildlife: 15 reindeers, plus one who walked in front of the bus.

December 22nd

• Guests / Country: 12 guests from Hong Kong, China and Namibia.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy / snow.
• Destination / weather: Skibotndalen valley / Storfjord / part clear / cloudy / clear.
• Aurora activity: 7/10.
• Aurora show: All over and far south. Curls, spikes, dancing curtains in two colors visible for the naked eyes, and a small corona.
• Tour km: 245.
• Tour hrs: 7,5.

My body was sooooo knocked after four months instene chasing in too much bad weather, so tonight I decided to make the chase as short as possible ... simple because I needed to come me home an take me an deserved Christmas break ...

But, as I knew very well ... and what I also tell my guests some nights; "It`s not me who decide how far we drive and how long we stay out, since the weather decide the distance, and Lady Aurora`s activity decide if we can leave or not .."

So, here we go ...

Before we left the gas station stop for bathrooms in Nordkjosbotn, 70 km south of Tromsø, I checked the sky cameras in Skibotn and Kilpisjärvi, Finland which showed partly clear and totally clear, with a very good band on the south sky, which means it will come a very good Aurora show soon ...

So, we drove to the forest area of Skibotn and had an okey sky, partly clear with haze, but the south band was very bright ... so, I decided to stay put, while several another buses left since our colleagues was reporting 100% clear sky closer to the Finnish border and inside Finland ...

5 mins later the south band exploted which is normally do ... so, if the another buses didn`t stopped, then they missed it ...

Then we got more clouds and totally overcast, but I know Skibotndalen valley very well, and it`s change quickly ... clouds / clear / clouds ...

Then our very good (and top secret) Aurora forecast showed it should come a new great show around midnight, so should we stay more or should we drive closer to Finland for totally clear sky ?

After chatting with several of my colleagues I decided to continue to stay in the clouds and hope for the best, since it was many ... A LOT of buses out tonight, so all parking spaces was occupied, so then we have had to drive far inside Finland for find a free spot, and then my early return plan got destroyed ...

But, patience is king ;) so, around 11 pm it was clearing up again ... and 11.40 pm it got totally overcast again ... it was only 20 mins to the next show should begin ...

I decided to leave and return back to the city, with an toilet stop on the way ... 5 mins drive before that stop the sky was clearing up again, so I cancel my plan for an early return, since I always like to give my guests the best ... ten past midnight Lady Aurora waas dancing for us on a partly clear sky.

With more than happy guests in the bus, I returned back to the city with arrival at 2 am and I was home 3.30 am ... very knocked I felt quickly in my bed ... so, no Netflix and sofa relaxing this night ...since a busy next day was waiting for me; Cleaning the house before my regular Christmas company arrived ;)

Happy Holidays!

December 25th

• Guests / Country: 13 guests from China (students in Europe) and my Christmas visit from south Norway.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Part clear / haze.
• Destination / weather: Ramfjord / Laksvatnbukt / clear.
• Aurora activity: 5/10.
• Aurora show: All over and far south, but faint. Spikes, curls and curtains, and a little corona.
• Tour km: 125.
• Tour hrs: 5,5.
• Space show: Several shooting star, and one huge and long fireball.

Late start tonight since I had to wait for the delayed bus from Santa Claus Winter wonderland in Finland, so we left the city at 8.30 pm, two hours after normal time ... but, sometimes that`s good, since then I could just call around to my colleagues and ask where the sky was clearest ... and since the sky was clear around Tromsø the chase didn`t had to be too far away.

First stop at Ramfjordmoen Scients station where we get the Aurora activity information from, then south east to the next fjord at Laksvatn lake & fjord, close to the Lyngen Alps.

It was Northern Lights all over, but faint, and sometimes it spikes up ... but, when she went far south I was hoping we should get tonight`s best show, but it didn`t happen ... so, I choosed to return to the city.

Just one wondering / question: Why like most of the guests stand outside and freeze ?

Warm boots and thermo suits are included in the tour price ... I present it before the chase start inside the bus to all my guests ... But, for this chase; No-one was saying "Yes, thank you, please give me warm boots and a warm suits" ...

Close to the tour end; 9 of 13 guests was sitting inside the bus, since they was freezing ...

Just a tips: Follow the experience guides recommodations on how you can get an more pleasant stay out in the cold.
Please check more Cold Facts info here; "Why freeze, when you can stay warm"

December 26th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Norway, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Clear.
• Destination / weather: Kvalsundet / clear.
• Aurora activity: 4/10.
• Aurora show: Couple of ribbons across the sky, curls and spikes. Faint, but two colors on camera.
• Tour km: 75.
• Tour hrs: 4 (!).

The best show tonight ... or this afternoon, before my chase begin, was happened at 3.30 pm and 5 pm with pink dancing over the city ... and when we came out 30 km north of the city 2 hours later The Lady was very shy, before she suddenly dissapear ...

Then we waited in three hours for something more, but when the Aurora forecast neither showed any should happen, then I decided to make an super early return to the city ...

December 27th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Norway, Germany, Austria, USA and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
• Destination / weather: Báktemohkki, Storfjord / part clear / haze.
• Aurora activity: 3/10.
• Aurora show: Several ribbons across, curtains, spikes and curls. Little moving.
• Tour km: 210.
• Tour hrs: 7.

I had several Aurora pics from this night, but this pink colorful high clouds made the pics of the night ;)

It`s not often I am making the main stop for the chase along the main road E6, where the traffic was high tonight, but cause a very strong wind who made it freezing cold outside, then I choosed this one where there was no wind.

December 29th

• Tonight`s chase is canceled! cause an incoming forecasted storm with strong wind in the gusts.
  

December 30th

• Guests / Country: 14 guests from Norway, Germany, Ireland, UK, India and China.
  
• Weather Tromsø: Cloudy.
• Destination / weather: Dåfjord / cloudy / clear.
• Aurora activity: 9/10.
• Aurora show: All over and far south, 3 colors eye visible intense dancing curtains, spikes and curls. Very much red on camera, and a couple of very good coronas.
• Tour km: 140.
• Tour hrs: 6,5.

Finally the weather forecast was right ;) Cloudy when we arrived at the right spot, and then slowly it got more and more clear sky.

And then we got an really great Aurora show.

December 31st - Private Aurora Chase Dinner

• Tonight`s chase is canceled! cause an incoming forecasted bad weather with snow later ...
  
• Happy New Year ! See you maybe in the city under the Cable Car fireworks ;)