Joanna Robertson
Having grown up as a member of a very active family, Jo now lives on her husband’s family farm in Northumberland where she can indulge her passion for ‘The Great Outdoors’. Having been on active holidays throughout her life, The Aurora Zone is the ideal place for her.
Whilst she was lucky enough to have travelled a lot before joining The Aurora Zone, she was only introduced to the Arctic in 2007 when she went to visit a small, newly opened hotel called Wilderness Hotel Nellim. On her first night, the hotel owner, Jouko, had assured her that at 10:10pm the Northern Lights would appear. Somewhat sceptically she set herself up on the frozen lake with a warm drink and a reindeer skin and waited. At 10:10pm a green arc appeared in the sky and an exceptional display dazzled her. The next day Jouko took her snowmobiling on Lake Inari, sautéed some reindeer on an open fire and that was it, she was hooked (she still goes back to Nellim on holiday!).
Whilst Jo knows that the Northern Lights are sadly not that easily predicted, she is passionate about making sure that other people get the best possible chance to experience the incredible spectacle she was so lucky to witness that night.
Jo spent many years working as Product Manager and so has been lucky enough to visit most of our destinations at some point. As General Manager she tried to still get her Arctic fix every year. She has since stepped back and works part time to focus on raising a young family, but is still as passionate as ever about sharing her experience and knowledge (with anyone who listen sometimes!). She cannot wait to take her own children to experience what she has been lucky enough to do.
Favourite Experiences
- Watching the Northern Lights from the glass roofed sauna at Wilderness Hotel Inari.
- Snowmobiling on the pack ice in Luleå, Swedish Lapland.
- Listening to the excited huskies howl before dog sledding at Harriniva, Finnish Lapland.
- Eating reindeer meat cooked on an open fire in the Arctic.
- Hiking on a glacier in Iceland and seeing the black volcanic ash layers bringing geology to life, then winding down in the Blue Lagoon.
- Being in Menesjärvi, Finnish Lapland – in the middle of nowhere and skiing across the frozen lake.
- Bumping into Ray Mears on a frozen lake in Finland.
- Seeing the colour of autumn dazzle in Lapland and watching reindeer meander through the golden forests.
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