Hei, hello dear readers,
where are the lights?. Any idea?:
Thanx to once more:
http://www.gcmap.com/
Monday, 03.03.2014
KKN (Kirkenes lufthavn, Høybuktmoen)
ALF (Alta lufthavn)
The vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJtfZIfQ1R0
Service WF953 operated by Wideroe Flyveselskap
Scheduled: 14.37 // 15.24
Here are just some visited airports!:
Visited Airports II auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
And two or three more!:
Visited airports auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
The checked airlines also:
AIRLINES CHECKED auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
And the recorded plane types:
PLANE TYPES RECORDED auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
All the visited countries:
VISITED COUNTRIES auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
And the Tripreporter 2013 log:
TRIPREPORTER 2013 auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
Here is 2014:
TRIPREPORTER 2014 auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen
And this is 2015, at least till now!:
The FIDS and just for a short view outdoor. There is no lounge on offer here also at "Kirkenes Lufthavn Høybuktmoen"
And finally the green one for me!
This ticket is fixed with Wideroe directly at 85.00 Euro´s and a nice lady checked me in
So, let´s go but trust me, take care with the ice on the ground
"Wideroe" is ok from gate 23 at
2.30 pm, short ahead to schedule, runway "Two-Four" like arrivals and the temperature is -6 degrees.
It´s glassy here and we are racing, drifting down the runway, ok it seems the guys done it more than once in advance!
Cabin crew is a middle aged asian woman, nice.
Service is BOB.
Up in the air for more chilly views!
Interior view with the oldfashioned really well used fabric seats.
The load is 80% with me at 8E.
Free seating and two for me.
Interesting to notice, all informations in Norwegian only.
Cockpit crew is from Norway, ok, the guy at the left hand seat with a short welcome inflight.
No route or flightlevel info and once again during approach very short
This is LN-WSC, no individual name to see and just by big surprise, the Dash 8-300 on schedule, but this is a -200 example.
Leg no. 4 on type and new to the log it is.
Spend it´s time since 24.09.1996 with ARAMCO and Field Aviation till Wideroe together with just two other -200´s.
And there are no stories to notice
Something to eat or drink?
The engine is running properly
The right place at the right time, isn´t it?. The sun is out again
Talking about frozen lakes
And you are sure that there is an airport somewhere here?
Not a single sign of any human population down there
All white it is
Stunning scenery, at least from my point of view
Water ahead
Wheels down, sure?
Yes, there is a road in the distance
And a runway, too
Ice floes again
Touchdown at "Alta Lufthavn" and the 2253 meters runway "Two-Nine". 3.10 pm, well ahead to schedule at -2 degrees
Bye now, that was a nice experience
Also from this point of view
Well, this is Alta in the far north of Norway where the public transport options are limited.
In fact there is no kind of public transport at all. Taxis should be preordered and lucky me that a nice woman waiting to pick up a passenger called the taxi office to send me a car.
What also means not an cheap car but better an expensive taxi than no transport at all for the, ahem, city of Alta
And once again take care where you go, it´s slippery here to say the least
The taxista is a nice guy and told me a couple of stories about his place and not that long thereafter my credit card account does the job and I´am at the Altafjord Gjestegaard and Spa.
Not that really my piece of cake but the options are limited here
But the view for the Altafjord is nice
So, now I´am in Alta, the Aurea Borealis capital of the world.
There is just the one and only night tonight to catch a glimpse of the nordic lights. Is it enough?.
Well, I was in contact with Alta´s city hall and just to maximize the chance, called for a guide. Well, the response was fast and soon thereafter I have the phone and mail contact of Trond Strifeldt on my laptop screen.
A couple of mails in and out and we decided that he pick me up around 7.30 pm, two other travellers should be also with me on the same track.
Trond arrived ontime but the two others not, what was a lucky point in the end.
Trond decided to give me a ride around the Fjord for a couple of places from where there is a chance to see the lights.
2014 is according to longtime activity statistics the last year of a high activity periode and the chance seems especially good during the late winter months.
Well, we stopped a couple of times,
the sky is unbelievable clear, it feels like you can catch the stars with your own hands. I´ve never seen something like this before. It´s completely dark and calm and the sky is speckled with stars. Trond explained a good number of constellations, amazing to follow it with your own eyes.
But most important, no show till now. We spend the time talking together and finally he decided to invite me to his private place, a good time to drive up and down rural roads till a place close to the top of a mountain with a marvellous view all around. He is half Sami and there is a Sami tent with an rural wood stove to warm up from time to time and he also boiled water on the stove for a hot, really hot, cup of tea or two
I don´t need more, no way
So, by now it´s around midnight, we stepped in and out the tent various times, the temperature is now down to -20 degrees, the sky is as clear as never seen before, at least not me
and Trond was more unhappy than me that there is no activity all around.
We decided to stay for one more hour and later drive back to civilization.
My expectation about the lights is yet unclear. Slow and bright maybe?.
You know, the right place at the right time!.
From one second to the other, lucky me we are both out at this time, the show started and boy, what kind of a show
An amazing pink flash from one side of the sky to the other, a blue thunderstorm all around the left side, a red fence above the right side, flashs from one side of the sky to the other, a blue veil direct infront
Trust me, I´ve never seen something like this before and when you don´t see it for yourself it´s inconceivable. The most stunning point for me is the speed. It happens during seconds and the next second there is something else right hand side, something else left hand side and before the sky is clear it started again.
I stand there, tears in my eyes and trust me, I don´t feel cold anymore
Trond told me later about people returning with frostbite´s and don´t even noticed it.
The show goes on and on and it seems we spend an hour or more there in and out the tent and it doesn´t find an end,
unbelievable.
Finally we decided that it´s time to leave the lights, a big, great thank you to Trond and back at the hotel at around 2.00 am, just the one important SMS down to Europe and I fell asleep immediatelly with a yellow, red, blue, green, pink thunderstorm in my mind!.
Do not forget the conclusions!:
1.)Norwegian TOS-KKN: Stunning views worth the window seat.
2.)Wideroe KKN-ALF: There is really a light up the north.
Farvel and take care.
The Tripreporter
