Reindeer Family & Me

Reindeer.

A majestic symbol of winter.

These animals have been key to people exploring the frozen north...

..so I want them to help me on a very special journey of my own.

My name is Gordon Buchanan.

Over the years,

I've filmed in some of the wildest places on the planet.

Don't even think about it.

Now I'm heading to Lapland, inside the Arctic Circle,

to learn from the Sami -

who are known as the Reindeer People.

With their help, I'm going to try to earn the trust of my own reindeer.

Why have you got that suspicious look on your face?

And attempt to travel across this harsh wilderness...

Whoa-ho!

..to film the phenomenon the Sami most revere -

the northern lights...

Come on.

..but building a bond with a reindeer isn't easy.

Slightly stubborn at times.

Out here, we need each other to survive.

There's something moving over in the trees.

What is that, boy?

And as winter hits, our ultimate goal might be out of reach.

This is tantalisingly close to seeing what I've come here to see.

I'm in Lapland, in Finland's far north,

well within the Arctic Circle.

It might look like a winter wonderland,

but it is without a doubt one of the harshest places on earth to live.

I've come to this wilderness to try and film a natural phenomenon

that has always eluded me.

I've wanted to film the northern lights for over 25 years.

So now I've come to one of the best places in the world

to, hopefully, see nature's greatest light show.

Also known as the aurora borealis,

this magnificent light display

is caused by charged particles from the sun

colliding with our atmosphere.

The lights remain mysterious and unpredictable -

but what is known is that the particles are attracted

to the magnetic North Pole.

So I've travelled over 2,000 miles.

This far north, the lights are reported

to illuminate the sky regularly.

To maximise my chances of filming them,

I'm going to meet the people who have a special connection

with the aurora...

..and who know this region better than anyone else.

For thousands of years,

this unforgiving place has been home to a remarkable group of people.

They are the Sami.

Traditionally nomadic, the Sami have an unrivalled knowledge

of how to survive in this world of snow and ice...

..made possible thanks to their relationship

with one incredible animal.

The reindeer.

The Sami people and reindeer are inextricably linked.

They rely on them for everything - an entire way of life.

Food, clothing, shelter, transportation.

It is very true to say that if there were no reindeer,

the Sami would not have been able to survive in this part of the world.

Reindeer are still one of the best ways to access

the remotest parts of the tundra...

..so I want to drive a reindeer sleigh into the wilderness,

where the night sky is at its darkest,

and I'll have the best chance of filming the northern lights.

Oh, look at this!

Off the road! Off the road!

Coming through. Coming through.

There you go. That's an omen.

It shouldn't be surprising that the only other living thing

that I've seen on this entire drive so far

has been a herd of reindeer.

Off you go!

A Sami family has agreed to teach me everything they know

about the northern lights,

reindeer and surviving in the Arctic wilderness.

-Hello, hello.

-Oh, hello, hello.

You are the man I've come this far north to meet.

I'm Gordon. Lovely to meet you. Nice to meet you, Petri.

I read it's rude to ask someone how many reindeer they have -

is that correct?

I have no money in the bank at the moment!

I can see there is, sort of, 40, at least here.

-Yes, I have...

-I don't want to know.

If it's rude, I don't want to know.

I can count them.

Petri Mattus started looking after reindeer

when he was just two years old.

He comes from a long line of Sami reindeer herders,

and still follows the traditional ways.

So, your shoes, is that reindeer fur?

Yes.

Really?

Whoa! Really? So when it's down as low as -50,

you don't see reindeer shaking and shivering?

Reindeer evolved during the ice age.

There are reports of them living in temperatures as low as -70.

Petri leaves me in charge of feeding time,

so I can take a closer look at these incredible animals.

Hey, you. Over here!

There we go.

It is amazing to be eyeball to eyeball,

nose to nose, with a reindeer.

The first thing I'm struck by is their winter coat.

It's up to three inches thick.

Fur covers almost every part of their body.

It's almost impossible to sink my hand into this dense fur.

It is unbelievably thick.

You can't part the hairs and see the skin beneath.

Not only is the hair super thick,

but each one of these hair fibres is hollow.

So the animal is insulated and each individual hair is insulated

with that air void in the middle.

Everything about them, from their feet, to the tops of their antlers,

and the tip of their nose, to the end of their tail,

they've adapted to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

I'm here as the Arctic braces itself for the toughest time of year.

Winter is coming.

Daylight hours are retreating by ten minutes every day...

..and soon, the sun won't rise for two months.

On my journey to film the lights,

I may face temperatures as low as -30.

So Petri wants to teach me how the Sami camp

in these extreme conditions.

I've got it.

Pretty tall.

So how many people could sleep in a lavvu this size?

This tepee style tent is called a lavvu.

For over a thousand years,

this simple shelter has helped the Sami survive in the Arctic.

When it was first - when it was just two sticks,

it was a bit wobbly, quite wobbly,

and then a third one, it was a little bit wobbly -

but with every additional stick, you see,

you get this really stable structure.

There's more to add.

The Sami leave lavvu poles at waypoints across the tundra.

This is great.

So all I'll need to carry with me on my journey is a canvas covering.

It's amazing how quickly the whole lavvu heats up.

My trousers are getting nice and dry here.

They're steaming.

It might be approaching -20 outside,

but thanks to the fire, I'm feeling very cosy...

..but as I'm getting comfortable,

Petri introduces me to a slightly unsettling Sami snack.

-Blood pancakes?

-Yeah.

-This is reindeer blood?

-Yeah.

-Is your blood in the flask?

-Yes.

-A flask of blood.

I'm glad that I didn't pick this up

and think, "Oh, a nice mug of coffee,"

and it's reindeer blood!

It might seem odd to us,

but over thousands of years,

the Sami have learned to use every part of a reindeer.

They value and respect these animals so much, nothing is wasted.

-Here you are.

-Thank you.

Whoa!

Mmm!

I think I was expecting the flavour to be much, much stronger.

-Mmm.

-But it's very mild.

-Kind of... Good winter food.

-Yeah.

-I like it a lot.

The only thing that's putting me off

is reindeer walking about outside

as I'm eating a reindeer blood pancake.

For the Sami, reindeer are a vital source of nutrients

over the harsh winter months.

That evening, Petri and his family

invite me to a traditional welcome dinner.

I have a strong suspicion about what will be on the menu.

Thank you so much. It's so nice to be here, thank you.

Petri's wife, Kirsi,

and his two sons Pietu and Penjami are dressed in the Sami outfits

that their family have worn for generations...

..and, yes, we're eating reindeer.

This time, it's salted, and served with potatoes.

A traditional festive meal.

This is very nice.

Please.

Do you think either of the boys will be reindeer herders

when they grow up?

Ehka.

OK.

That's good.

I suppose that's part of living in a beautiful part of the world.

Why would you live in somewhere that is quite so difficult

if you didn't love it?

This is arguably one of the best places in the world

to see northern lights.

So, the boys have grown up with that just a part of their life.

Did you ever, was there ever a point where you explained what they were?

Or did you kind of tell them the folklore of the northern lights?

It's great to learn more about Sami culture -

a way of life that is over 4,000 years old...

..and as a thank-you,

I brought a slice of Scottish culture to share with the family.

I have this - it's called a clootie dumpling.

It's like a fruit loaf. This is the sweet version of haggis.

If you don't like it, I won't be offended.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

It's definitely better hot.

Sunrise this morning is at 9:30.

On my journey to try and film the northern lights,

I'll have just a few hours of daylight.

To help maximise travelling time, I need a reindeer to pull me and my

equipment on a sleigh.

Not every reindeer can pull a sleigh.

It can take up to two years of training.

Here I come. Here I come.

Hello, boys.

Hello, boys. You remember me?

Hello.

Petri has two sleigh-pulling reindeer,

and the morning feed is the perfect time to get to know them.

Right. Let's try some following.

Come on, then.

I have the very difficult job of choosing between these two reindeer.

I need a reindeer to pull my sleigh.

That age-old problem!

I know how Santa feels.

But he was lucky, because he's got eight -

nine, if you include Rudolph.

Either way, however this decision goes,

one reindeer is going to be disappointed.

The first trial is,

can your reindeer walk at heel?

OK. Walk on.

Trot!

# I don't know what I've been told

# A reindeer's tootsies are mighty cold. #

Come on! Trot, trot!

Trot on. Trot on.

Reindeer have been domesticated for around 3,000 years.

They still have very distinct personalities...

..and I soon discover the differences between these two.

This one is definitely friendlier...

..and, er, yeah, it seems more interested in me than this one.

For me, this friendlier reindeer feels like the ideal companion -

but ultimately, Petri will decide which one is best.

All reindeer here eat the cladonia group of lichen -

a nutritious mix of algae and fungi.

It grows all over these northern forests...

..so finding food, at least for the reindeer, won't be an issue...

..but I'll have to take rations with me,

and Petri has offered to help me gather some food,

using a traditional Sami method.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this is done,

cos I've seen ice fishing with a hook and line, but not with a net.

-Yeah.

-This is new. This is uncharted territory for me.

Net fishing on frozen lakes has been perfected by the Sami

over hundreds of years.

-So, we have to get the net from this hole..

-Over there.

-..to over there.

And I have not a clue...

..how that will be done without a submarine.

I don't have to swim, do I?

A towel and some speedos!

Petri may not have a submarine,

but he has the next best thing.

A uittolauta, made of wood and metal.

It will travel under the ice with a rope attached.

Ah!

This is the eureka moment!

That is very clever.

With each pull on the rope,

the spike on the uittolauta digs into the ice.

When released, it shoots forward.

No.

I've lost it.

As I'm discovering, keeping track of it isn't straightforward.

If there was no snow on top of the ice, it would be easy,

because you could just look through the ice

for a big yellow piece of wood -

but I'm having to listen out.

Go again.

Go.

I feel like a madman.

OK, here it is, got it.

It's right here. It's just moving about.

HE LAUGHS

Moving about, maybe kind of half a metre at a time.

It's very, very clever.

Once the uittolauta gets from one hole to the other,

we attach a 160-foot-long net to the rope, and pull it across.

The best part of fishing with a net, as opposed to a rod,

is that once it is deployed,

we can just go back to somewhere a little bit warmer and less exposed,

and leave this out for hours and hours, leave it overnight.

We'll check the net in two days' time, before I leave on my journey.

Today, sunset is around quarter past two in the afternoon.

It's the ideal time to try out a specialist camera

I've brought to film the northern lights...

..and I've got the perfect subject to test it on.

Hey, boys.

Watch, I'm coming through.

I've got my own version of antlers right here

Come on.

This is one of the most light-sensitive cameras

in the world.

I have to say that these images look beautiful in this light.

A short time ago, if you wanted to film in these light levels,

you'd have to film in infrared,

and then everything is seen in black and white,

but this camera picks up colour, and that's what I really want.

It's not just to see the northern lights

and the shapes they make in the sky,

and to see that there are lights in the sky,

but to actually see the richness of colour.

Hopefully, you can see colours that I can't even see with my own eyes -

and filming the reindeer

is a good way to actually just get a sense, at this time of night,

of what this camera can do.

And my favourite, friendlier reindeer, isn't camera shy.

Get your antlers out of my lens!

This is really exciting.

I'm really looking forward to the next stage of this adventure,

heading off into the wilds with my reindeer.

I've got one more day left with Petri

and today he wants to show me how to drive a reindeer sleigh.

I know which reindeer I'd like to use,

but I need to see what Petri thinks.

Hello, boys.

See, I quite like...I quite like this one. He seems friendlier.

This is a good one for pulling my sleigh?

It's a better one? Why's that?

Really? Because I was going for which one I liked the most!

HE LAUGHS The friendliest one.

It does make sense to take the bigger, stronger reindeer -

but he just puts me a bit on edge.

There's one thing I don't quite like about the reindeer -

I should speak a bit more quietly,

because I don't want him to hear me -

is that it's got quite an aggressive-looking...

..part of its antler, that comes straight out

and every time I'm close to it,

I think it's going to gouge my eye out -

but I suppose it's about selecting the best reindeer for the job.

The job is to pull a sleigh.

To get to grips with sleigh riding,

Petri wants me to follow him on a five-mile circuit of a frozen lake.

I'm positive I'm ready.

In which direction?

OK. 70km. Do you know where the hospital is?

Hopefully, we won't need that.

Ready?

Let's go. Come on. Come on. Come on.

Come on.

While he may be the strongest reindeer,

it seems he's also the most stubborn.

Come on.

Shoo, shoo!

I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

Shoo! Shoo, shoo!

Shoo, shoo!

Shoo, shoo, shoo!

Once my reindeer does get going, I can enjoy the ride.

Come on.

There's something, very, very nice about being pulled along

through the snow by a reindeer.

You can see why Santa's done this all these years.

It's not something you grow tired of.

Shoo!

Reindeer make driving a sleigh easy.

A gentle tap with a rope is all that's needed to keep them going.

Their splayed hooves act like snowshoes...

Come on, boy.

..so they can pull hundreds of kilos in weight -

and if the conditions are right, they can cover 30 miles in a day.

It's quite...I suppose it's moving at a pace that I could walk out,

but the one thing it does do,

it gives me the opportunity to look around and enjoy...

..the world about me -

and it's beautiful. It is a winter wonderland.

Come on, boy. Ho!

You don't need a licence to drive a sleigh in Lapland

and after a day's practice,

I feel in good shape for my journey...

Fabulous. That's great.

It's quite something.

It's the way to travel round about here.

I could load up this sleigh, and just keep going,

heading off into the wilderness.

Keep going until we see the northern lights.

That's the plan.

..but I've got to admit, I'm still wary of this reindeer.

I'm just not sure he likes me.

That evening, my ambitions to film the northern lights

are dampened further by the Arctic weather.

No. This is not happening.

There's no chance of seeing the northern lights

while it's like this.

There's complete cloud cover. It's just grey -

and what makes it doubly frustrating

is that on this very clever aurora app that I have,

it shows you that there are spectacular northern lights

taking place right here, right now, in this location,

but they are happening, kind of,

up there, above the layer of cloud.

What it does also show me

is the best northern lights on the entire planet, right now,

are in Claremont, in Canada!

That's just 3,425 miles from this exact spot.

So if my reindeer could fly

with kind of Santa-like speeds across the world,

which would probably take us,

I would say, a couple of minutes, we could go off,

film the northern lights, and then be back in time for dinner.

It's the morning of my departure.

Petri and I are up early to check the fishing net.

It's been a couple of days,

so hopefully we've caught something for my journey...

Come on!

I say six, you say five.

-Oh, here we go, one white fish.

-Yeah.

-Whoa! Trout. Ah, wow! That's a nice fish.

-Yeah. One trout.

..but after the initial haul,

the net comes up empty...

..and I'm reminded how harsh this winter wonderland can be.

There is, kind of, one view of looking at this scene,

and it's all snowy and white.

It's very different just standing here.

It's freezing cold, my feet are cold, my hands are cold,

the wind is cutting through the clothing that I have on

and this is just the start of my journey.

It's a very daunting, the fact that things, undoubtedly,

are going to get a lot harder, a lot tougher, in the days to come.

I'm just worried that I'm not prepared for that.

I'm worried that I'm not quite tough enough for this place.

But I won't have to face this wilderness alone.

If I can make friends with him,

perhaps this reindeer WILL be a good Arctic companion.

Good lad.

Don't run away. Don't run away.

He may not be my first choice,

but I trust Petri's call that he's the best reindeer for the job.

Come on, you.

You know me. You know me.

Why have you got that suspicious look on your face?

Traditionally, the Sami don't name their reindeer,

but I'm beginning to think I should call this one Grumpy.

Things are starting off on a bad foot.

He knows that I'm up to something.

He knows I'm trying to catch him.

An important part of this is to bond with my reindeer -

which I want to do, but he has absolutely no desire whatsoever

to be anywhere near me.

Hey!

Right, I think I'm going to have to resort to bribery.

In my pocket, I have some lichen.

You know lichen. You love lichen.

Look. Oh, yes.

I've got you now. Look at it.

You cannot, you cannot resist it.

This way.

Putty in my hands.

Come on. Look at that.

I think we're making progress.

I would like to have not had to resort to bribery to get him,

but I think every moment that I spend with this reindeer

is valuable.

I think it's just kind of our friendship is growing

in sort of baby steps, one step at a time.

Let's go, pal. Come on.

HE MAKES CHIVVYING NOISES

Before I leave, Petri has a farewell gift for me.

They are great. Thank you very much.

So when you put yours on, you just keep them on for the whole day?

-Yeah.

-There we go.

-Oh!

-Is that good?

-They're brilliant.

They're so comfortable.

-Yes.

-My feet are already warm in them.

Don't worry. I'll look after the reindeer. Come on, you.

Time to go.

-OK. Bye.

-Bye.

Hup!

Shoo, shoo, shoo!

It's 11 in the morning and I've got a 12-mile journey ahead of me.

Good lad.

I need to make a good time, as the sun will set before two.

Petri has planned my route and today, I'm heading to a forest

where I should find my first camp.

Shoo!

It isn't long before I'm fully in the Arctic wilderness.

It's beginning to feel a little bit desolate.

Even when it's cold when you're in the forest,

it still feels quite comforting.

Out here, I feel a little bit more exposed -

like I feel the temperature has dropped quite considerably.

The first time since I've been here that I've felt really quite cold.

It's not only the environment that's challenging.

Walk on. Come on. Shoo, shoo, shoo!

My grumpy reindeer is still being difficult...

..and, as we approach the forest, he slows to a complete stop.

Good boy. Walk on. Come on. Shoo, shoo!

Come on, you.

Come on, lazybones.

He's really reluctant to go.

Come on, you. Come on.

I don't want to drag you. I'm not dragging you and a sleigh.

Baby steps. Come on.

Good fella. There you go. Shoo!

Come on. Right, come on.

I'm not going to do this.

Oh!

That's interesting.

Right here, there's some tracks - kind of faint here,

a bit better along here.

It looks like a very small wolf.

These are very fresh.

I reckon from this morning or maybe through the night.

Lapland has many predators.

WOLF HOWLS

Wolf packs regularly target lone reindeer...

..while ambush hunters like lynx lurk in the forests.

In Finland, it's estimated the Sami lose up to 20,000 reindeer a year

to predator attacks.

Is that a worried expression?

I haven't seen that before.

As we get to know each other, we get to know each other's ways,

each other's looks and that looks like a slightly...

..a slightly worried look that you've got.

Years of filming animals has taught me to trust their instincts.

I need to help him through this potential predator hotspot.

I'll go first. Come on.

I'll go first. Come on.

Walk on. HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE

Come on. That's a boy.

That's a boy. Come on.

Once we've passed the tracks, I can jump on the sleigh again.

But now, being in this remote forest is making me feel uneasy.

I was feeling quite confident and now I feel a little bit...

..mmm, kind of out of my depth.

I'm on my own without Petri's help and all I've got is a reindeer

to get me out of trouble.

Good boy. That's it.

Excellent.

Did that pretty well.

Made it look easy. Oh, hang on.

Whoa, my harness is coming off.

Whoa, boy.

Whoa! Whoa! That ain't good.

Why did that happen? Has it snapped?

It has snapped.

Right, stay, stay, stay there.

The harness, the halter part of it has just come off.

It's not broken. It's just come undone.

It's one thing to feel comfortable and confident

with something new like this,

but you don't want to be lured into a false sense of security,

thinking there's no potential problems

and there's nothing bad around the corner

and I think this is quite a good little reminder

that things can go wrong -

unexpected things can happen.

I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable around this reindeer.

We are definitely bonding.

Shoo, shoo!

At least, I think we are.

Don't leave me. Don't leave me.

Don't leave me. Don't leave me, don't leave me.

Don't leave me. Keep going. Come on.

Sorry about that. That's not quite what I planned to do.

OK, right,

if you see me being dragged along through the snow,

I want you to stop. OK?

Shoo! Come on. Shoo!

I've got to be a little bit quicker.

Hoi! Here we go. That's it.

Good boy. Shoo.

Good lad.

Oh, chilly on the hands, chilly on the hands.

My first camp will be in this forest.

The Sami leave lavvu poles resting against trees

so they don't get hidden by thick snow.

Should be around here somewhere.

In fact, right here at the side of the track.

Perfect.

A little bit further. Good lad.

Whoa.

Whoa, boy. Good boy.

Stay there.

Right, let's tie you up.

Right.

This can be done by one man.

HE LAUGHS

But can it be done by THIS man?

I've got a little kind of idea of my own -

if I actually get that kind of basic structure up,

I think if I lash these three poles together, raise them up as one,

and then start to spread the legs out.

Right, let's see how this is.

I'm not sure my reindeer is impressed

with my lavvu building skills.

One out like that.

After all, he's watched the experts do this many times.

Oh!

But my reindeer has underestimated the persistence

of a very cold Scotsman.

It's good.

I'm very pleased with that.

With the poles up, all I need to do is wrap my canvas around

and I've got shelter for the night.

Mr Door, where are...? Oh, there we go.

Is that you, Mr door? Yeah, that's you.

Right, boy.

My reindeer might not give my lavvu top marks,

but I know how to win him over.

The way to a reindeer's heart is through his stomach

and while he can dig beneath the snow for lichen,

it also grows on trees.

This is what I'm looking for,

but there's a problem here. It's way too high up.

I need to find one that's lower down.

He'll love that.

This one here. I think I can get that.

This might be achievable.

It is positively festooned with lichen.

Do you see what I'm doing for you? Do you see what I'm doing?

Hup!

HE SPLUTTERS

Perfect.

Hey, Mr Reindeer, your digging days are over.

Well, this digging day is over!

Come on, you, look. Lookee, lookee!

What do you think of this?

This is like...

..delicious, fresh from the vine.

HE CHUCKLES

There you go.

Your lips are perfectly designed just to nibble the lichen off.

Here we go. Look at this bit. Have you seen Lady and the Tramp?

The famous scene?

Good boy.

That evening, yet again the Arctic clouds smother any chances

of me filming the lights.

It's -18, the same temperature as my freezer at home.

It's frozen solid.

But with a roaring fire,

the Arctic whitefish from Petri's lake cooks in minutes.

Oh, man, that is great.

Mmm! Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm!

At six in the evening, I try to get some sleep...

..but after dark is when the forest wakes up.

Most predators here are nocturnal.

I do worry about the reindeer out there -

not because of the cold, but there's many predators around,

so I think that's kind of keeping me awake, as well.

This is when my reindeer is at his most vulnerable.

Normally he'd be with a herd,

so while he's on his own, I need to look out for him.

GRUNTING

Is that my reindeer grunting out there?

GRUNTING

OK.

There's something moving over in the trees.

I can hear it. What is that, boy?

BRANCHES MOVING

It's close, whatever it is.

This might be about...

GRUNTING

Ten metres.

What the hell is it?

GRUNTING

Oh, for God's sake - it's a reindeer!

Two reindeer, in fact.

What are you doing out here?

Scared the life out of me.

What are you doing, worrying a lonely traveller like me for?

Panic over. I didn't know what that was.

A lynx, at least.

A yeti, at worst.

Oh, God, it's freezing.

Freezing, freezing.

This morning, dawn is at 9:45.

I had a sleepless night worrying about my reindeer.

HE COUGHS

How was your night? Are you coming in here?

I don't think you'd like it in here. I think it's too hot for you.

Did you sleep OK?

Were you cold? Because I was blooming freezing.

I felt very thirsty at one point,

then I realised I made a schoolboy error and didn't put my water bottle

inside my sleeping bag with me, so it was frozen solid.

I have around four hours of daylight to reach the next camp.

Today, we've got to climb a big hill and drop down into the next valley.

In places, the snow is a few feet deep.

Come on. Shoo!

It's heavy going on my reindeer, but spending all this time with him

means I'm beginning to understand when he's struggling.

Come on. Walk on.

It turns out his stubbornness is his way of asking for help.

I'm not dragging you the whole way.

Come on. Come on, then.

Come on.

Good lad. Come on. Come on.

This makes me feel much less guilty walking up the hills.

I think sitting on the sleigh, being pulled uphill -

that is a little bit unfair.

Getting very attached to this reindeer.

He's actually very good company.

He doesn't say much.

He's very useful.

He's always there when I need him.

He's slightly stubborn at times.

Good lad. Come on. It's starting to level out.

There we go. There we go.

Come on. Good boy. Come on, you.

Up we go. Good lad.

Up we go. Good boy.

At the peak, I'm reminded how cold the Arctic can get.

Now that we're up higher,

the trees have thinned right out.

Instead of there being a tree every metre,

there's a tree every ten or so metres.

It's very, very different...

..and every single one of the trees up here is just laden -

not with snow, it's frost.

That would have just started with a little dusting of ice

on each one of these branches,

and before too long, it looks as if every single tree

has been dipped in sugar a hundred thousand times.

There's something kind of otherworldly about it.

At times, I feel like I kind of need to pinch myself

just to make sure that this is real, that I'm really here.

This is such a magical place -

but its greatest wonder is still eluding me.

I'm desperate to film the northern lights...

..but today, like every day I've been here, is cloudy...

..and I'm starting to lose hope I'll ever see them.

As much as I'm enjoying hanging out with the reindeer,

being in this place,

I do really worry, because with the northern lights,

there's absolutely no guarantee,

so despite the fact that I am in the best place,

at the best time of year, it's far from certain.

I think, when it comes down to it,

there is still a huge element of luck to seeing them.

So I think maybe I just need to enjoy as much of this experience

when I can, because my ultimate goal might not be achievable.

Good boy.

As we approach the downhill, my blues are quickly blown away.

Over. Over we go. Whoa-ho!

Good boy. Shoo!

# Dashing through the snow on a one-horse open sleigh

# Over the fields we go laughing all the way. #

Oh, my goodness. You are dashing through the snow.

Reindeer can reach speeds of up to 37mph,

and we're soon making up for lost time.

# Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way

# Oh, what fun it is to ride on a one-horse open sleigh. #

It's not a horse. # Jingle bells, jingle bells

# Jingle all the way

# Oh, what fun it is to ride on a one-horse reindeer... #

No.

# Sleigh. #

Good boy.

Whoa, boy. Whoa.

Whoa.

Whoa. Good lad.

Well done. You're the best.

You're the best.

Boy, are you hungry?

After all that activity, my reindeer deserves a quick feed.

MUNCHING

Because the forest is so quiet,

you can hear a lot of strange noises that you wouldn't think a reindeer

would make. The noisy munching is one thing,

but all these kind of gurglings and garglings and rumbles

from his stomach are really quite peculiar...

..and that's because he's a ruminant.

He's ruminating on partially digestive food,

so he'll chew it on the first pass, swallow it,

and then that food will be regurgitated to be re-chewed.

MUNCHING

He can eat for the rest of the morning

without actually having to find any new food.

Four stomach chambers

allow reindeer to squeeze every bit of energy out of lichen.

MUNCHING

I can't believe that I was actually scared of you to begin with.

Not scared of you,

but scared of that big prong you have coming out of your head.

I think because you were a bit nervous with me initially,

you were moving your head around a lot more -

but now, you're calm...

..I'm calm.

Just a couple of buddies making their way through the forest.

Within hours, we arrive at the place Petri recommended...

..and it looks perfect.

One great thing about this place is there's a big wide-open area -

A lot of distance between me and the trees,

so the horizon stretches all the way round to there,

and if the lights appear maybe on that side,

I can go out further out into the lake -

but the one good thing today,

despite the fact that there's some low-lying cloud,

up above, it's looking a little bit blue...

..and that's a good thing.

Finally, with the skies completely clear,

I get a glimpse of the phenomenon I've been searching for.

It's not what I was expecting.

It's like a big sort of smear across the sky.

It stretches round in a kind of rainbow,

a sort of single colour of green,

all the way around to the horizon on that side.

What I'm really hoping for is that classic northern lights,

big flowing river of light, a big ribbon through the sky.

This is tantalisingly close to seeing what I've come here to see.

As quickly as they appeared...

..the lights vanished.

I've no way of telling when or if they will come back.

Without cloud cover, temperatures plummet to -25.

Oh, oh!

You might wonder why I'm standing in these conditions with no gloves on.

The simple fact is, that this hi-tech piece of equipment

needs the warmth of a human hand to function.

It's touch-screen, so as much as I want to keep my gloves on,

I can't actually operate the camera with them on.

As the hours pass, standing out in the Arctic begins to take its toll.

Oh, goodness me!

This level of coldness actually makes you really tired.

You're using up a lot of energy

just to stay warm without even moving around.

It's like everything is cold.

You feel the cold coming up from the ground.

It's coming in from all sides.

It's just all-consuming.

I'm just wondering if there is - if I have a cut-off point,

if it's going to get so cold

that it's not going to be possible to stand out here.

My eyes begin to play tricks on me,

and I start to question what I'm seeing.

There is something happening

in the sky

but neither my eyes nor my camera

can fully see it as the northern lights.

It's weird because at times it looks like...

..little clouds moving very fast and then, as it is at the moment,

look at that, it's just burst into life!

Holy smokes!

Gee whiz!

That is phenomenal!

It just changes in an instant.

Look at that.

My goodness, that is something else.

It starts off as a sort of...

almost an underwhelming cloud and suddenly it starts to shift

and take form and the lights start to dance

and flicker and move

and what is just a smear becomes this sort of rich texture

that's moving across the sky from horizon to horizon.

Every single second is precious,

and you get a sense, every moment you watch this,

that as far back in time, all those millions of years,

that this has been taking place,

it has never been like this before...

..and then it changes again.

After a couple of hours, the aurora builds to an incredible crescendo.

These particles from the sun have travelled nearly 93 million miles.

It's quite hard to take it all in.

It is just... It is so grand, so spectacular.

It is... It's mind-blowing.

I couldn't have filmed any of this without my reindeer's help.

After a bumpy start, I can't imagine being here with anyone else...

..and I want something special to remember our time together.

That's a boy. Handsome, handsome man.

You're a good fellow.

Who says reindeers don't like hugs?

Good boy. Right, OK.

Right...

We'll do a selfie. You know what a selfie is, don't you?

Everyone does. Even reindeer.

You've got to lift your head. Best smile.

Right, boy. Look this way.

HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE

Three, two, one...

This has been an incredible journey

and to top it off, I think I've got my Christmas card sorted.