Trampling across the velvet like snow on the back hills above Tromso, Norway, the near full moon was reflecting brightly, making it feel daylight, writes Calum Corral.
There was laughter as yet again, my left leg suddenly sunk deep into the snow unexpectedly!
It seemed only common sense to venture northwards to see the northern lights, and I was joined by intrepid travelling duo Ale Nardini and his wife Dee, as we headed to Arctic Circle.
A 45 minute bus journey out of the beautiful bustling sea port, and we had already spotted Rudolph the reindeer, as we headed to the summit in freezing cold temperatures.
Attracting tourists from all over the world, there is no doubting the majestic aurora borealis is a major selling point for tourism. The hotel we were staying at - which had aurora in its title - had an elevator lift decorated with the dazzling lights, and in the harbour outside, was the cruiser 'Aurora Explorer' which even offered jacuzzi nights to see the phenomenon!
We instead opted for the budget Busman's Holiday version with marshmallows and coffee around the camp fire, and according to the official Tromso holiday brochure, there was an 82% chance of seeing the aurora over Tromso.
We had been out for three hours, and despite the odd flicker, there was a tangible fear that we weren't actually going to see anything.
We were outside the camp, chatting to our bus driver Magnus, who was a Tromso native, about home, and how he shared his name with a famous Viking statue.
Midway through our conversation, we looked up, and in the west, we could see a fluctuating green cloud light in the night sky.
This was all that Magnus needed, and he started whistling, clapping, and shouting: "Ay! Ay! Ay!" - to everyone inside by the campfire.
As people came rushing out, the flickering light, which reminded me of the dancing flames of the camp fire, started to emerge stronger, and indeed, it seemed to suddenly split the sky, but within minutes, it was gone again.
Just as we finished up at midnight, there was a second sighting, although it was slightly faint. One woman in the party from Dorset said she had been ten times to Scandinavia to see the aurora, and this was one of the best - so we were lucky indeed to hit the aurora bingo on our first outing.
As the bus was winding down the hills towards Tromso, and we could see the elegant bridge in the distance, Magnus stopped the bus once more, as another aurora was forming, and this one particularly dazzled, and bizarrely, reminded me of the dancing silhouette lady from the opening titles sequence of the ITV drama 'Tales of the Unexpected', which is somewhat apt, as you never really know when it is going to turn up next!