Northern Lights Over Lake Inari, Finland

It was on this February 2014 night in the Arctic Circle..
When our sweetest dreams happened before we blissfully closed our eyes to sleep..
And I am not exaggerating at all :)

We planned this trip for 6 months, hoping and praying that God would show us the Aurora Borealis. In those 6 months, we were both excited and anxious. Anxious because we could plan everything perfectly, but we could never control nature.

When we arrived at the Finnish Lapland, the weather was not looking good for the lights. The skies were covered with clouds, and the wind was not blowing hard enough to disperse them. You can imagine how helpless we felt.

You see.. to see the Northern Lights, the stars must be out. There must be at least an opening in the clouds. But.. that's just part of the equation.

There must be some solar activity.

On our first 2 nights, we hung out at the frozen Lake Menesjarvi, waiting for the lights to show up. It was freezing cold, but the clouds showed no mercy and owned the skies. At about 1am, when we could no longer feel our toes, we gave up and went to bed.

On our 3rd night, we moved to Hotel Inari, which was just beside the frozen Lake Inari. When we checked in, the hotel guests showed us pictures of the Northern Lights that showed up over the lake the night before. Damn! We were in the wrong lake!

But it was ok. We had 7 more nights to go. However, the clouds were back! 

Seriously, I have never checked the weather forecast that much in my life. Every 5 minutes, I would check and wish for a Sunny / Starry weather icon!

Looking at the clouds, we became hopeless.

So when the night came, we just saved our energies and kept warm inside the hotel. My husband, however, would constantly go out and check the skies. At 9pm, he came back and whispered to me..

"I see stars."

Yes, the value of those 3 words... we panicked!

You see.. the lights can show up for only 2 minutes or over 10 hours. We could easily miss it!

We rushed to wear our jackets, beanies, scarves, neck warmers, ear muffs, gloves.. no, it wasn't that easy to just run outside! ;)

It was at least -15 Cº.. and it was on a windy frozen lake.

Those who had cameras, started setting up their tripods and testing their long exposure shots. Those who had none, just stared at the skies, hoping and praying.

After 30 minutes of waiting, we spotted a movement in the skies. It was very faint, and we could not tell whether it was a cloud or the lights.

So we did test shots. And it came out green through the thin clouds.

It was the Northern Lights!!!

We were all stunned.

It was happening! It was really.. finally happening!!

Our friends positioned their cameras.. and sometimes got overwhelmed by the skies, that they did not know which parts to shoot anymore.

In reality, the lights were more of a fainter green. But equally fascinating!

 The rest of us sat on the icy ground mesmerised..

Ok, not really on the ground, but on flattened cardboard boxes we took from the garbage behind the hotel restaurant.  

Believe me.. frozen bums call for desperate measures! Haha! :)

The lights danced slowly..

Beautifully..

Faded away..

Splashed the skies..

Spiralled down..

Round and round..

Moved back..

Doubled up..

And left us all in awe..

It was amazingly surreal!!!

After 2 hours of being astonished, and against our will, we had to go back to the hotel to defrost our frozen toes.

Tip: Wear a plastic bag over your wool socks before putting on your boots. The condensation inside the boots gets your socks wet, making your toes really cold. The plastic bag prevents the moisture from going into your socks.

Unfortunately, we only discovered this on our fifth night!

We walked away from the lights in a daze.. wasn't that just marvellous?!

3rd night. 1st Northern Lights show. 6 nights to go! :)

We all went to bed with a smile on our faces. 

The whole night seemed like a dream. And it was our dream. 

Also check out: Husky Dog Sledding, Reindeer Sleigh Ride, First Glimpse of the Arctic Circle, and Medieval Old Town of Tallinn. Enjoy! :)

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References:

Full Trip Itinerary and Budget - Finland and Estonia - Northern Lights Itinerary

Hotel Inari - www.hotelliinari.fi