SWEDEN’S LACK OF LIGHT AND ABUNDANCE OF MAGIC AND WHITE

In our previous post, we experienced the last bit of autumn Scandinavia had to offer. With T’s work done and beating the flu, we had all week; we were on our way north. We’re on the hunt for quiet, white, northern lights and a bit of winter magic.

The journey started with a super scenic train ride to Stockholm overnight and a morning flight to Luleå.

Luleå

It’s difficult for me to put into words the feelings and emotions we got when flying into Luleå.

Let’s start with a conversation I had with T and my parents a while back. I told them I was jealous of people visiting Africa for the first time. Going on a safari and seeing a lion, elephant or just a common old zebra in the wild. I’m not talking about zoos, as they don’t count, in my opinion. I’m talking about people (especially adults) seeing a giraffe or rhino in their natural habitat for the first time in their lives. It’s all new and exciting to them. We grew up with a game reserve within an hour’s drive and knew the animals from a young age. Honestly, I can’t even remember the first time I saw some of these animals; they were always part of my life.

We were like that the first time we flew over the alps on our way to Switzerland. That feeling was taken to the next level when we flew into Luleå. Snow, in general, is foreign to us, coming from South Africa and living in Dubai. We were giddy and speechless at the same time when we flew in from over the ocean, with the shoreline frozen, an ice-glazed runway and everything in a gloomy monochrome colour scheme.

Although Luleå was merely our entry and exit point to the north, we spent one night on our way out. From what we saw, it was a beautiful and bustling city despite the extreme weather.

The lack of light/s

Being relatively high north, we’ve experienced our shortest days yet. We had short days when we visited Moscow in 2019, but nothing compared to this. The sun would rise well after 9:00 and set well before 14:00. To make matters worse, were the fact that the days kept on getting shorter. At that stage, it was around six minutes per day. We stayed there for almost ten nights, which meant our day was almost an hour shorter than when we arrived.

Then there was the cloud coverage, making it even darker, even when the sun was supposedly up. The cloud cover brings us to our next topic.

Aurora Borealis, a.k.a Northern lights.

Most of my homework for this trip went into clothing solutions and everything as much as possible about the Auroras. I had the apps and how to read them, learned how to photograph them, and possible troubleshooting. But the clouds were not kind. The app would go ballistic with action, but we never saw any due to the clouds.

Bucket list item – Not checked. We’ll have to try again…

Striking glitter and gold.

As gloomy and monochrome as the landscape can be while cloudy, just as impressive and alive as everything becomes when the sun comes out. We were lucky enough to have had one sunny day. This single sunny day was our first morning/day waking up in Harads. In hindsight, because it was our first day, we didn’t know it would be our last and didn’t appreciate it nearly enough. We did go gaga, but if we knew it would be our last, we probably would have embraced it even more.

That sunrise was one of the best we’ve had in my life. For sure the coldest as well. The landscape transforms into glitter and gold when the sun peaks its head out from behind the earth. The low sunrays throw the warmest colours on bright white snow, creating the most amazing contrast with the ice-cold blue landscape. Following the golden hues, the scenery is transformed into a glitter-covered landscape. I’m still not sure if it’s ice particles falling from trees or ice in the air, but all around us were the smallest sparkles floating around like magic dust.

On our only afternoon nap of the trip (hoping to stay awake for auroras that evening), we almost missed the most spectacular sunset. As I turned around to hold T, my eye caught the sunset. Not even flash would have been that fast out of bed. Dressing and grabbing cameras while dashing outside. I had to work fast to capture the day’s last light.

Winter wonderland.

We love experiencing new stuff. Please note my word usage. Experience. I know we are very fortunate to experience things rather than see them in books, tv or the internet. We want to use all our senses when travelling and exploring new places.

Although we didn’t experience the auroras, we did experience the winter wonderland around us. It is like something out of a painting, yet not at all. It’s picture-perfect with the little red houses in a sea of white and pitch-black mirror-like frozen rivers.

It’s also the coldest we’ve ever been. Although far from their lowest temperatures, our averages ranged between -16°C and 0°C. On that first sunny day, our maximum in the middle of the day was -10°C.

The next thing is how tranquil it is; every step you take breaks that silence. Nature also still has its way of making a noise, from the woodpecker tik-tik-ticking away to the rupturing sound of the ice echoing through the valley.

Arctic Circle.

Most of our days would be spent driving around, exploring Sweden’s countryside. Our favourite day was the trip to the Arctic Circle. For those who don’t know, the Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude where the midnight sun can be seen at the summer solstice.

Most of the day was overcast, but as when we got to the arctic circle, it mostly cleared up, giving us an incredible experience. This was also our coldest recorded temperature at -19.5°C.

Snow-covered Churches.

While on our road trips, we would pass some pretty churches with graveyards lit with candles. This is a tradition to honour and remember passing loved ones. During the long winter nights, it’s more common to see burning candles, especially close to a Holiday such as Christmas.

Churches, in general, are photogenic architecture, add a bit of snow, and it’s transformed into something even more pure and mystical.

Abstract Cold.

The details of these cold, frozen and half-frozen landscapes were ideal for me to explore abstract photography a bit further.

Conclusion of the Arctic.

Although the Auroras stay on the bucket list, we managed to tick something off we didn’t know was on it in the first place. To experience the vastness and cleanliness of a winter wonderland (that’s really what it is) had to be on our list. For anybody able to travel, add it to the list NOW! You have to experience the quiet and noise, the glitter and darkness and even something small like your frozen breath on your scarf.

We also realised that although Dubai’s weather is good most of the time, we miss seasons.

In the next and final post of this trip, we wrap it up in Stockholm and tell you about the Scandinavia Christmas Markets.