Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Qupperneq 58

After seeing a recent high-alert
aurora forecast, myself and a
few other Grapeviners decided
to jump in the car and get out of
the city for the promised spec-
tacle. Our photographer became
a special Northern Lights tour op-
erator for the night, deciding on
a secluded hot pot in Hvalfjörður
as our destination. We rushed out
of Reykjavík as the sun started to
set, driving into the dark and ner-
vously checking the sky, imagin-
ing a soak in the hot pot with the
aurora flickering above us.
Adventure time
Upon our arrival, the reality was
slightly different, with a cold gale
blowing. While my colleagues
tried to find the courage to take
off their layers, I got changed, ig-
noring the goosebumps. I stood
by the pool, ready to jump into
a natural hot spring for the first
time in my life. But there was
another twist: it quickly became
apparent that the water was too
hot to enter for more than a few
seconds. The spectacular and re-
laxing night we’d imagined had
become a mission we were deter-
mined to complete.
As our eyes grew accustomed
to the dark we looked around for
anything helpful, finding some
unused buoys that we could use
to carry cold ocean water to the
steaming pool. After some unsuc-
cessful attempts to fill them up
from the shore, my feet had soon
turned white from wading into
the ocean. But eight buoys full of
icy seawater later, we could finally
sink into the hot pot.
Worth the wait
By now, we’d entirely lost track of
time—we had no idea if cooling
the water had taken fifteen min-
utes or an hour. But as we settled
into the hot pot, we started to
see some dim green light in the
sky. “Mission accomplished!” we
thought. But it was just the begin-
ning—we were soon to witness
some truly powerful aurora.
It’s difficult to describe the
indescribable—it was like noth-
ing I’ve seen in my life. Green,
purple and white bands danced,
mixed and swirled in every di-
rection. It made me want to have
more pairs of eye, and to see 360
degrees at the same time. From a
distance, we must have sounded
like we were having a pyjama
party, unable to hold in our ex-
cited screams. We sure broke the
silence of Hvalfjörður.
As the lights faded, we started
to search around for our belong-
ings, with one of us almost put-
ting on a stranger’s lost sock by
accident. If she’d put it on without
noticing, maybe it would have be-
come her “lucky northern lights
sock.” We got dressed for our re-
turn to city life—but this time,
with a different perception of the
greatness of nature.

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High Alert
A night of chasing
aurora in Hvalfjörður
Words ARTA BALODE
Photos ART BICNICK
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2016
58
ADVENTURE
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This issue’s human:
Clara Subirats Galimany
Why did you move to Iceland?
I moved here to finish the last
year of my BA. It was part of the
Erasmus program. I only had ten
months left. I loved it here so I de-
cided to stay.
What do you love about living
here? Also, what do you hate?
Icelanders. I love the people. The
people is what I love the most.
I mean, I just fell in love with
them, you know? I love the way
they approach life. I know this
is a huge generalization, but you
must know what I mean. There is
something about the people here.
What do I hate? Well, I know
it’s a worn out topic, but the
weather—specifically the dark-
ness. The darkness affects me a
lot. It gets harder and harder to
deal with every year. I’m Spanish
and I miss the heat. I do love the
summers here though, all that
light, all the time.
Where is your favourite place to
live in Iceland?
Well, it’s either all or nothing with
me. I live in Reykjavík or I live
out in the middle of nowhere by
myself. I don’t want to be teased
with an almost city. I couldn’t live
in Akureyri. It’s a tease. I mean I
could live there maybe a month,
but that’s it. It looks like there
might be something going on.
You’d think something was hap-
pening, but then you’d get down-
town and realize, no, nothing is
happening. This is Akureyri.
HUMANS OF REYKJAVÍK
Words & Photo
YORK UNDERWOOD