The sun has officially set for us until January but we still get some daylight for a few hours every day, although it doesn’t feel that way when the weathers bad and we’re in a gloomy state of twilight before it’s pitch black again.

I normally enjoy this time of year, the colourful sunrises and dancing aurora make the darkness more than worth it but this season has kind of sucked. The aurora has been illusive and the pink skies are as rare as the Dodo. We’ve tried to make the most of our time though and if any hints of colour were in the sky we’d dash out and photograph it.

One day we borrowed our friends car and drove to a lake with a mountain backdrop. The snow was thick and animal tracks were all over the place; moose, rabbits and mice clearly loved the area. The lake wasn’t frozen yet which was a pleasant surprise so I decided to attempt a quick dunk for a good old mental health cleanse. It was unbearably cold, but mostly on my feet as I stepped on the snow and navigated the rocky shoreline.

Another day we did a snowy roadtrip around the area. The road looked fabulous, nicely packed with snow and the pine forest was caked in fresh powder. We drove to a little village by the sea where the pathway was a lethal sheet of ice. Locals were clearing snow off their drives, using the snow-chopping machines which project the snow into the air. There was a collection of red boat houses behind a little beach with crystal clear water and if it hadn’t been so windy and freezing cold I would of been tempted for another dip.

On our drive back we came across a highland cattle farm and stopped to photograph the lovely animals. Most of them had icicles dangling from their red-locks. Craig even spotted a big adult use it’s horns to scoop up a tiny calf and fling it in the air. The poor thing looked very dazed and confused afterwards.

In almost 3 weeks we’ve had basically diddly-squat aurora shows. There was one evening when we ran out to see them but the best part of the show calmed down almost immediately and we were left with a subtle beam of green across the sky. It’s a shame it wasn’t a better show as it would of been a great opportunity to photograph the aurora alongside snow covered trees.

We’ve taken a few strolls through the neighbourhood which is basically a stretch of road along a fjord with mountains across the water. Along the way we’ve spotted squirrels, eagles and a lovely white stoat.

One morning we had a special treat though, at 8am a few bright pink clouds formed in the sky. It was too early for clouds to be that bright or pink and it turned out to be Polar Stratospheric Clouds which have rainbow colours through them.

It started off with a slight rainbow tinge to the pink clouds but it just got better and better with the clouds having an intense icy blue colour to them with rainbow edges. They were absolutely incredible. It was like an oil slick in the sky which probably explains why they’re known as ‘Mother of pearl clouds’.

We couldn’t believe how long they lasted, sometimes a snow squall would pass through but as soon as it moved away the colourful clouds would be revealed again. It’s a pretty rare sights to witness so we were super chuffed.

We ended our trip in Norway by returning to the lake I’d swam in a couple weeks before. On the way we spotted four moose which was lovely as we hadn’t seen any on this trip. The temperature dropped substantially in our final week with consistent -5° but it often dropped to -10°. There was no swimming in the lake today as a solid slab of ice covered the surface. We tried to smash some thinner sections open so we could throw the sheets of ice onto the lake and listen to the tinkling sound. It was quite a long hike, about 5km which under normally conditions would take just over an hour but we were walking through deep snow.

A small part of the trail had been packed down by a skidoo but the vast majority was untouched. Snow drifts from the gale force wind the day before meant some sections were hard-packed and we could literally walk across without sinking at all but suddenly we’d sink out of nowhere and once one foot went down that was it, every step would sink. It was exhausting.

We took a break in the gapahuk and had a fire to warm up which was really lovely and then it was time for the final slog back to the car.

We had one last aurora show before we left Norway. There was a big full moon which hindered the viewing but it wasn’t a crazy show in the end. We really seem to of had some bad luck as this season was predicted to be the strongest aurora in years but we just had too much cloud or clear skies and mild activity.

Now it’s time for us to say goodbye to Norway, again. I think next time we want to come back in the early or late summer and do a camping trip somewhere, there’s still plenty more to explore!