Friday 20. February 2015

February 21, 2015
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February 21, 2015 Þröstur Freyr Hauksson

Friday 20. February 2015

The forecast said cloudy sky until midnight so we leisurely picked up our Swiss, Swede, Kazakh, Brit and Aussie new friends, expecting a long wait for The Lights. The group was a happy one, chatting away as we drove towards our destination Garðskagaviti where we expected the sky to start clearing up first.

However, as we drove out of Reykjavík, the sky was already clear. We amended our plan and decided to get off the highway to drive the unlit Vatnsleysuströnd road towards the south.

It wasn’t long before our designated Northern Lights spotter of the group pointed at the sky out the window asking hesitantly: is that… the Northern Lights? Yes, yes, yes it is!

Right in front of us was a desolate side road, the perfect stop, to which we rushed and to get out of the car… in the following chaos someone was even heard shouting “Get out!” all in good spirits though 😉

Long story short; we spent the evening there on that dark little off-road, watching as the colours in the sky changed shapes, got milder, got stronger and shifted colours. Non-stop. We also explored Jupiter and the Orion Nebula through the telescope. All while enjoying a hot cup of chocolate with Icelandic baked goods… Lionel Richie style; All Night Long 🙂

Northern Lights sighting: Vatnsleysuströnd (blue circle)
Time of sighting: 21:00 – ish
Duration: Until morning (we stayed three hours)

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Everyone sleeping soundly on the way back to Reykjavík 🙂