23The Scotsman Saturday 2 February 2008N o r waySh i p p i n g
the light
fantasti cStuart Farquhar
sets sail in
search of the aurora borealisIN THE dead ofnight, the news
spreadquickly.All acrosstheship,
cabin doorswere leftcreaking on
hinges, possessionsstrewn across
the floor as passengers frantically
rooted around for jackets and gloves to
protect themfrom thebitter ravagesof
the Arctic night. Inthe bar, cards and
stacks of Kroner coins were left scattered
across the table as we abandoned drinks
and winningsto pourout ontodeck,
breathless.
This isn8217tthe denouementof adisas-
ter drama.Instead ofcries of8220women
and children first8221 and a scramble for
the lifeboats, the deck fell silent and still.
All eyes were raised to the heavens in
hushed anticipation, fingers trembling
over camera shutter buttons.
At the very last gasp of our three-day
cruise up anddown the Norwegian
coast on Hurtigruten8217s alluringly-titled
In Searchof theNorthern Lightstour, as
the snow-laden cloudsslowly parted,
would we finally be able to catch a
glimpse of this elusive phenomenon?
Three days earlier, my party and I had
setofffromthe beautifulcityofTromso,
on theship MSRichard With.Although
its operators, Hurtigruten, stress it is a
8220working ship82218211 withgoods andpas-
sengers being ferried up the rugged
coast of Norway8211 it is alsoa luxurious
ship.My cabin,although small,was
comfortable and includeda tiny en-
suite bathroom, complete with heated
floor. Therestaurant, withits plushred
carpeting and elegant chandeliers, lived
uptoitslooks withsuperbdishesat
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It was during dinnerthat the ship set
sail, but there seemed little chance of
seeing theNorthern Lightsin theover-
cast weather.As weemerged fromthe
harbour, theebb andflow ofthe waves
steppedup agear,andthe sensibleop-
tion to offset the motion seemed to be to
drink ourselves into equilibrium.
Come the morning,however, this
seemedless ofa goodidea,as thewaves
grew evermore mountainous. Trying to
shower while the water rushes around
yourankles andslaps thewalls ofthe
bathroom,is, tothe uninitiated,alarm-
ing, while getting shampoo in your eyes
in such a situation, is positively trau-
matic andgives an insight intohow a
sock in a washing machine must feel.
After breakfast,the shiparrived at
Honningsvag,a villageof 3,500souls,
and hometo theworld8217s mostnortherly
brewery.Here, wesetoffon ahalf-hour
bus journey 8211 in blizzard conditions that
wouldbring theUKtoits knees,but
which only seemed to spur our driver to
speed up8211 toNorth Cape,mainland Eu-
rope8217s most northerly point.
The views here, of one of nature8217s most
extreme and ruggedhandiworks, are
utterly stunning. So I8217m told. Despite our
driver8217sdeath-defying efforts,wear-
rived shortly after 2pm, when the sun
sets in January, and with the Arctic wind
whippingup sheetsof snowand ice,it
was hardto see one8217s ownfeet, never
mind the splendour of the coast. The
museumand panoramiccinemapro-
vided some solace, though, as well as
complimentary hot coffee.
With the skyonce again indis-
tinguishable from the seaand the air in
front of our faces, it seemed cards and
drinks would again bethe order of the
night, rather than the aurora borealis.
Kirkenes, ourturning point,nestling
in abay just afjord away fromthe Rus-
sian border,had tobe rebuiltfrom
scratch afterthe SecondWorld War.
When occupied by the Germans, it came
under heavyfire bythe Russians,and
when the Germansretreated, they em-
ployedtheir scorchedearth policyto
unforgiving effect.
As theboat turnedout ofKirkenes,
and ventured to the edge of open sea, we
had the worst weather of the voyage. The
fact that the cabin staff seemed alarmed
exacerbatedsome travellers8217anxietyas
the shiprose andcrashed backdown
like agiant rollercoastercar. TheMS
RichardWith isahugeboat, butthe
awesome powerof naturewas frighten-
ingly apparent as the mighty waves
tossed itabout likea leaf.The windand
rain roared like a jet engine and even the
most vehement of atheists onboard
must have began to have doubts.
Soon, thecaptain hadhad enough
andit wasannounced thatwe wereto
head to back the shelter of Kirkenes har-
bour. By then, conditions at the port had
also deterioratedto suchan extentthat
we could not dock8211 depriving the beer
lovers among us of the chance to sample
thelocal brew.Soforthe nextsixhours,
we edged back and forward, and every
timetheshippoked itsnosefromthe
shelter of the fjord, it took a battering.
Eventually, the storm subsided
enough to play cards and enjoy the luxu-
rious bar insafety as we madeour way
home. We werephilosophical. We
hadn8217t seen the Northern Lights, but we
had experienced first-handsome of na-
ture8217s more savage facets 8211 the bitter
cold, the rugged coastline and the awe-
some power of her fury.
As we slipped into the cosy embrace of
the bar8217s delights, playing hand after
handof blackjack,wewerejolted outof
our reposeby acrew memberannounc-
ing that, for the first night of the trip, the
skies were clearing.
All bets were off as we raced to cabins to
throw onfleeces andhats, grabcameras
and burston tothe deck.Sure enough,a
sliver ofblack waswidening betweenthe
dull greyof theclouds. Neckscraned.
Silence reigned. Eyes adjusted.
And suddenly, asimultaneous intake
of breathfrom themasses ondeck.
There, dancingand twistingacross the
blacknessfromhorizon tohorizon,a
fluttering ribbonof greenrevealed it-
self. Camera shuttersapplauded the
sight before another break in the clouds
appeared, andanother streakemerged.
Thenanother,and another.Wedidn8217t
know where to look. The whole show
lasted less than an hour.But it will re-
main withall who sawif for therest of
their lives.Booking details
8216G etting
shamp o o
in your eyes
during a
storm, gives
an insight
into how a
sock in a
wa s h i n g
machine
must feel8217HURTIGRUTEN offers a range of
holidays in search of the
Northern Lights with various
i t i n e r a r i e s.
Until the end of February, a five-
night Northern Lights
Voyage from Tromso to Kirkenes
and back cost from 163870pp
including three nights half-board
accommodation on the ship, one
night8217s bed -and-breakfast
accommodation in Tromso,
return flights from Edinburgh,
transfers and taxes.
A range of additional excursions
can also be added.
Prices based on two sharing.
To book, call Hurtigruten on
020 8846 2666 or visit
w w w. h u r t i g r u t e n . c o. u kN O RT H E R N
DELIGHTS
N o r wa y 8217s
rugged coastline
shimmers beneath
beautiful
disturbances in
the Earth8217s
magnetosphere
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