NGV May/June 2022

The
Snowy
Tale
Finally, after a two year wait, our trip to the Arctic
Circle to see the Northern Lights had arrived.
everything back in the case. Painful to watch. But
less so with a mug of gin.
After blowing the budget in Aldi on thermals,
goggles (not used), waterproof gloves (not used)
and balaclavas (not used), we were ready!
Arriving at the airport, clocking the amount of
luggage everyone was hauling through check-in, we
started to panic that we had woefully under packed
with our tiny little cases.
Being organised, I had made a list, stuck to it,
packed in 10 mins and was good to go. Gary, on
the other hand, had been packing and unpacking
his case for days, fretting over how many pairs of
socks, base layers, undercrackers etc. to take. To
vest or not to vest?? This is the dilemma I have to
listen to pretty much every day, home or away.
We were all-inclusive (apart from drinks, which
turned out to be a slight problem as the hotel wine
was expensive and the nearest licensed shop was a
4 hour drive away). Thank goodness for the litre of
gin we bought at Duty Free!
Thankfully, Gary’s prediction of us having to choose
from whale blubber baked or fried everyday turned
out to be wrong. To be honest, it was like a full-time
job keeping up with all the eating. It’s the only place
I have ever been where eating dinner in your long
johns is acceptable.
After the packing/unpacking pantomime before
we arrived, we were back on that tip everyday, with
Gary umming and ahhing on how many layers to
wear, how many pairs of socks to put on, whether to
double vest, bla bla bla. Everything out of the case,
Day one was a reindeer safari.
Gary to me; “Take a picture of me and Roy.”
Me; “Who’s Roy?”
Gary; “The reindeer.”
Me; “How do you know he’s called Roy?”
Gary; “You just called him Roy, didn’t you? I
assumed they had names like the donkeys at the
seaside.”
Me; “Errr no Gary, I said he’s a lovely boy.”
Actually, his name was Urko, but that’s beside the
point. He was Roy the Reindeer for the rest of the
trip. And a hearing test at Specsavers has been
booked.
The snow shoe trek was next. Basically, you have
two small skateboards strapped to your feet and
the theory is that you stay upright and walk through
the snow with ease. Of course, Gary’s shoes were
broken, but Rory, our leader, said they would be fine.
Easy for you to say Rory, you didn’t have to haul him
out of a 7ft snow drift twice when the shoes came
off!
Our favourite trip was the snowmobile ride over a
frozen lake. It was 11.30pm and -20 but we loved
it. Until we got stuck and it took three people to get
us back on track by which time my feet had literally
lost all feeling, my hair had turned white (frost) and
Gary could no longer see as the condensation on
his glasses had frozen. Maybe we should have used
the goggles after all…
Oh and yes, we did see the Northern Lights and they
were awesome!
© Ali Wale