Aurora Borealis

[camrogers]

A week ago I got a text from Dmetri telling me to turn on the TV. I told him I couldn't as I didn't have one. He explained there was a documentary on - Joanna Lumley and the Land of the Northern Lights - and that while he hadn't initially understood the appeal of going to Finland, now he did. The doco is largely about Norway; the closest spot to see the Aurora Borealis from Helsinki would be Finnish Lapland, and the doco spends some time there. I asked J about this when we first started discussing my getting over there, and I'd love to see them. She's never seen them either.

Anyway, talking with some friends led to them mentioning that iiNet has this thing called iView that (I think) holds recently broadcast TV for about a week. Curious I checked out the ABC section at:

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/474787

... and found the doco. I don't mind Lumley, but her excitement in this is really infectious. She's wanted to see the lights since she was a child growing up in Malaysia, and when she finally does it's pretty moving.

You can watch it fullscreen for a 250MB streaming download - and it doesn't come off your cap if your ISP is iiNet. I think it's hosted for another three days if you're curious.

It also makes me want to see Norway. And now I know not to ask a Sami about the size of his herd.

EDIT:

Comments

[annetten.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you need any information about Norway, just let me know :-) Both fjords and aurora borealis are worth going here for, but if you want to see something really spectacular and different, try Svalbard. (Technically a part of Norway, and the most wonderful northern lights I have ever seen.)

[jilder.livejournal.com]

You can also view iView using the Playstation network, if you're one of those weirdos who likes watching their tv on their tv.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

I had a friend excitedly txt me to say "Joanna Lumley in Moominland!!!"

Sadly, I was away from home at the time, and don't have the data rations to spare to watch it. Does it actually have Moomins?

(I'm a bit of a Moominfan, to tell the truth.)

[belegdel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's fantastic :)

I heartily support going dog sledding. We did it in Canada and it is too much fun. They do indeed hate to stop - I got a filthy look from one of the dogs when I jumped on the brakes as we hurtled downhill towards a sharp turn...

Northern/southern light are high on my "must see" list. (As were snow, snow capped mountains, and blue, part frozen streams)