Dear Minna,

We returned to Sydney on Saturday after 7 weeks away and after having a wonderful trip. We saw the Northern Lights on 4 nights so we were very fortunate and we were assured that the light show on our first night in Abisko was the best they had seen for a number of years. For the 2 weeks before they had apparently been experiencing blizzard conditions so we were very fortunate.

We loved Lyngen Lodge, which was surrounded by plenty of snow, and really enjoyed the snowshoeing and dog sledding. Because of the snow falls we were unable to do the ice fishing as the road to the area hadn’t been ploughed but we were happy to enjoy an afternoon relaxing in that beautiful lodge. The staff were very attentive and we really enjoyed our stay. We thought it would be fantastic to be there is summer too, with such a beautiful location on that lake.

Abisko Turiststation had a very relaxed feeling about it and we enjoyed our time there, also because of the lights of course. Our trip to the Aurora Sky Station was very dramatic as >60km wind came up while we were up there so we were delayed for 2 hours coming back down the chair lift so that was a bit scary. We did see the lights though in relative calm on the walk back to the hotel from the bottom of the chair lift and out of our hotel window.

Despite the mix up at Kiruna about our transfer from the station, which was resolved capably by your Norwegian colleague, we had a wonderful experience at the ICEHOTEL We survived our night in the ice room and had a great time on the dog sledding trip. Adrian found the snowmobile driving a bit challenging but it was great experience.

All our other hotel stays were very nice, but we particularly enjoyed the Hotel Rival in Stockholm, with the ABBA theme- went to the Museum of course - and Hotel SP 34 in Copenhagen. They were very friendly there and we participated in the Happy Hour every night. The Food Tour was very good and the guide very nice as well as knowledgeable.

Thank you for organising such a wonderful trip for us.