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We stayed for two nights at Nivunki Village resort, set in a remote area at the edge of a (frozen) lake amid snow covered trees. Beyond the skies and landscapes at Nivunki, highlights of our stay included wonderful dinners featuring Lappish cuisine.
The accomodation at Nivunki is in glass-fronted huts;
looking something of a cross between a hut and a wigwam, but much more luxurious than that description might imply.
A "kill-switch" at the bedside allowed all interior lights to be quenched, but photography was still difficult through the thick, triple-glazed windows. Better to don arctic clothing and brave outside temperatures as low as -29oC.
The skies were clear and the auroras consistently active during our two nights at Nivunki.
Aurora behind snow covered trees; Nivunki Village, LaplandLapland
Although we were there at the time af a nearly full moon, the auroras were bright enough not to be overwhelmed, and the moonlight
illuminated the landscape where trees would otherwise have appeared as dark silhouettes.
After a night of auroras, changing light and mists on a very cold morning
Blue hour before sunrise - trees and bumps in the snow; Nivunki Village, Lapland
The temperature on our second morning at Ninunki dropped to -29oC (52oF) below freezing. This created a low cloud bank of tiny ice crystals (diamond dust) above the frozen lake, making for some nice atmospheric photography.
First glimpse of the sun over bank of ice ice mist; Nivunki Village, Lapland
There is a delightful Finnish term "Tykky"
for trees completely encased in frozen snow and ice. Tykky (crown snow load) requires specific conditions to form. When the air is humid—such as in foggy conditions— it starts to freeze. The moisture in the air begins to accumulate as frost on surfaces like tree branches, and the layer keeps growing. For the crown snow-load layer to grow, this process must repeat itself multiple times, and there must be no warm periods in between. I think the conditions we had were not a true Tykky but just a regular covering of snow from a storm a few days earlier, which had already started to shed.
