I had assumed that, being so far south as we were last night, we would be done with aurora. We had a howling gale for most of the evening and pretty stout waves that were making the boat roll quite a bit. I’d had enough of the uncomfortable wobbling and was going off to bed when one of our tour members walked past saying there were lights in the northern sky. I went up on deck with none of my usual cold weather gear and there it was, low on the horizon. I ran downstairs, suited up, waking Mom in the process and went back out. There was visible green. There was movement. There was also miserable ship movement and salt water spray. I was debating getting my camera and our tour leader John was there and he was having the same debate with himself and then he said “The hell with it” and ran to get his so I followed suit. This time I tried ISO 4000 and 3″ so I could get quick pictures to try to combat the motion of the ship. I think I got enough pictures to maybe string together a little animated gif when I get back home. I also failed to use the intervalometer correctly and ended up with a 24 second exposure that is not very good but has a neat effect. At the same time, the ship was passing a fire on the port side that was apparently 25 acres of burning heather and dried grass. That produces a somewhat different kind of night sky illumination.
So I ended up in bed late again and then this morning Mom and I got up early and went for a walk in Trondheim. We had hoped to browse in a few shops and maybe get a few things but the only things open at 7-8:00am were convenience stores and coffee shops. Too bad. It was still fun to walk around and see things from a more typical tourist’s perspective rather than as part of a group. Today was mostly reading in the early afternoon and then a nap before dinner for me.
Tonight is the great repacking of the suitcases. We have to have those out for the crew before 10:00AM and we likewise have to vacate our room by about then. We have lunch on board and then come into Bergen at around 14:30. From there we take the bus to the airport, a plane to Oslo, a different plane to London and then finally most likely the Tube to Gloucester Station and our hotel for two nights. We have a day in London for sight seeing and then Friday noon our flight leaves for home. I’ve been a little melancholy (perhaps too dramatically so) today. I’ve had a great trip up the coast and back. Norway is incredibly beautiful and the aurora is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.