We booked two evening aurora hunts with Kjetil. We knew that the weather might make life difficult, but his reputation of staying on the hunt until his clients had seen the aurora or that he and they agreed that there was no hope that night won our booking. We also knew his reputation for assessing the changing weather conditions, coupled with knowledge of topography and experience of potential viewing spots.

Each night we joined him at the gathering point in time for 6:30pm. He greeted us all warmly, stowed tripods in the rear of his comfortable vehicle, seated us, ensured we fastened our seat belts, and we headed off.

The first night we had no luck. Not for lack of trying, either. We covered at least 400km, and finally abandoned the hunt deep into Finland, amid cloud, snow, almost thin enough cloud, more cloud, and, well, yes, cloud. The aurora was playing all right, but we never stood a chance with the cloud cover. We got to bed just before 4am.

The second night was a real chase. There was cloud again, and the temperature had soared into the positive! Northern Norway in mid winter at +4C is absurd! But almost at once, in a snowy lay-by, we stopped and found a display starting. The full moon made it very hard to work out what was wispy cloud and what was aurora, but our camera sorted it out after Kjetil's advice on settings. That's another benefit of going with a professional photographer who is also a guide.

As clouds came in we moved to another viewpoint, chasing a parking place down the E8 behind two aggravatingly slow drivers. Kjetil drives too safely to risk overtaking and scaring his passengers. He's safe, but quick. We made it and got what are, for us, some superb pictures, though right at the limit of our little camera. The clouds followed us, so out came tea, coffee, and a sweet snack.

We tried a third place in the Tamok valley, but without success there. It was a glorious and quiet place, amazing mountains against the sky, but the cloud was too thick for the aurora there. We all agreed to wait until midnight and see what happened then. What happened was a drive home to Tromsø, hoping all the while as we headed north to see the display in the windscreen. No luck.

Major plus points with this tour include the fact that Kjetil almost insists we see the aurora and will not give up if there is the smallest hope. He's calm, charming, very customer oriented, and drives in such a manner that all his passengers are totally relaxed. We didn't need the insulated suits he offers with the high temperatures on the second night. The first night we never got out of the car! As a bonus he also knows where good grade toilets are and makes sure there are enough toilet stops on the tour. He networks by phone during the evening with other guides who all co-operate in a competitive way to find the best places for that night.

Do not expect just to go out for a short drive! If the aurora isn't playing you will be out for a long time trying to find it! Kjetil does not give up easily!