NORMAL LIFE: First Time In Lapland: 8th - 11th September, 2006

Well, depending on who you listen to, this was my first time to Lapland. I had been to Rovaniemi one Christmas, but never further north. On this trip, however, we flew to Rovaniemi, but then spent the first night in Kolari (928km north of Helsinki, 163km north of the Arctic Circle). Our host for the night was the partner of Bree's friend Inkeri, who we reached just after midnight. On arrival, he offered us drinks and a slice of Elk pie laced with cherry tomatoes. It was surprisingly delicious and, after 2am, we were all in bed.

I woke up 5 minutes before Bree did, who was woken up by the ringing of the doorbell. Apparently, our hosts friend has turned up to take him away to help celebrate a friend's 50th birthday in Roveniemi. Over a quick breakfast of coffee and sandwiches, our hosts friend entertained us. Born and bred in Muonio, he has lived here all 24 of his years while, in fact, he was 46! I asked him if he had family in Muonio and, with a wide smile planed on a rosy face reminiscent of Santa Claus', he patted his round stomach and claimed that he's been waiting to give birth for years to which the kitchen erupted in yet more laughter. Despite his northern accent, his English was impeccable. When the visitor and our host left, the three of us remained.

After a quick shower, we too were off, bound for Muonio, a further 70kms north. Just after lunchtime, we collected the keys for our Wilderness Cabin from the welcoming Harriniva Hotel before heading into the centre of modest Muonio (pop. 4,000) where there seemed to be nothing more than an Alko store, a supermarket and a cash machine. After buying the essentials (including some booze for the cosy nights in!), we drove through the surrounding area that ran alongside River Muonio. For fun, we crossed the border into Sweden, did a u-turn and re-entered Finland over a bridge that stretched across the River Muonio.

Continuing our drive, we drove to Pallastunturi, passing many reindeer along the way. At 3.30pm, we set off from the base of Pallastunturi and took the steady trek up to Taivaskero (807m), the highest of the Pallas hills. At the top, amidst the wind, we took time out to rest and to read the mound that represents the start of Finland's Olympic Flame back in 1952. From the top, you could see the forests below to the north and many lakes and hills to the south while, in the west the sun began its late afternoon descent.

During our descent, Bree and Inkeri began to pick and eat the wild blueberries. I refused, claiming that you don't know how many reindeers have pissed on those berries. Ignoring my comments, they continued to munch away. Annoyed by their moans of delight, I gave in and once I tasted a blueberry, I was hooked. Trailing behind them every now and then, I grabbed some more blueberries, shamed by my earlier reluctance to partake in this Finnish pastime. Not far from base, Bree burst into song, belting out something operatic. He has a wonderful voice - the song was obviously a popular Finnish song for, quite soon, Inkeri joined in. I looked back at the hills behind us, clicking away to the sound of Finnish song. The weather was perfect, the scenery was perfect, the company was perfect and those berries were gorgeous!

We got back to base about 7.30pm, and headed to Jerisjärvi which is where our Wilderness Cabin was supposedly located. We had a near-miss with a reindeer who dashed back into the forest as quickly as he had dashed onto the road. Great driving from Inkeri, who is familiar with these roads and the clumsy wildlife, saved us from a collission. By 8.30pm, we had arrived at densely forested area of Jerisjarvi. A few minutes after turning off at Nivunkajärvi, our wilderness cabin came into view, a rather large house with a sauna suite in a separate outbuilding. In the distance, some 400metres away, was the lake.

We unloaded the car, put all the food in the fridge, put the wine in the freezer to speed up it's chilling and put wood in the fire and the sauna. For dinner, we ate chicken and rice before Bree and I went for a nice sauna. As we made our way to the sauna suite in the nearby outbuilding, I glanced up at the moonlit sky dotted with countless bright shining stars. Later, all three of us back in the house, we downed sweet Cafe liquer with a Finnish desert, Juustoleipä (translation: Cheese Bread). Yummy! I fell asleep quite quickly in the warm kitchen area and slept like a log, but not before looking up out at the stars of the nearby window, under which my bed was situated

We woke up at 10 and I felt quite refreshed. After a breakfast, during which a herd of reindeers roamed outside the kitchen window, I washed in the nearby outbuilding using the leftover warm water from the sauna. Shortly afterwards, we headed to the base of nearby Sarkitunturi, which sits on the edge of Sarkijärvi. We started our steady walk up through the hells, a very pleasant trail with a couple of dips. On the way, we noticed some ponds that were well below their normal water level as a result of Finland having had the driest summer in more than 100 years.

Just after 1pm, we reached the top of Särkitunturi (492m). When I looked back, I was amazed by the views; you could see the nearby lakes of Jerisjärvi, Akäsjärvi and Särkijärvi, all of which were surrounded by densely arranged trees changing colour as we headed towards Autumn. You could also see Taivaskero (807m), the peak we had scaled yesterday. As we headed to the other side of the peak, we saw blue berries, cranberries, crow berries as well as wild mushrooms. We headed back to the nearby kota (a tee-pee like structure), and grilled sausages. What an experience!

As we descended, the lowering sun cast a warm glow over the countless spruce trees. We arrived at base at 3.30pm and headed to the souvenir store at nearby Muonio. Choosing not to buy anything, we went to the nearby Esso garage for a quick cup of coffee before heading to Harriiniva, the hotel we had collected they keys from the day before, to see the huskies.

Our tour started at 5pm and there were five of us plus our host. It was fantastic - the huskies, some were on leads tied to dog houses while most were locked up in spacious cages, really liked me. However, there was one husky which was so shy that neither Bree nor I succeeded in befriending it. We held puppies, saw unusual-looking husky mongrels and even a husky with different coloured eyes. Bizzare, but cute!

It was 7pm by the time the tour ended and when our host finally managed to stop talking; she was very entertaining and you left with envy, knowing that she literally loved her work. We headed straight back to Nivunkijärvi, where Inkeri's partner was waiting for us. Upon arrival, I headed straight to the shore to capture the sun's warm glow on camera. Getting to the shorline amidst the tangle of bushes and 2 metre high weeds was a feat in itself, but when I finally reached the shoreline, the lake reminded me of that time just before I left Tampere (see Flashback #44, July 2003), when I felt at one with the nature of Finland.

Just ten metres from the cabin, I totally froze. In front of me was a wolf, heading towards me very slowly. I glanced at the open door to the cabin, wondering whether I could make a dash for it. Suddenly, the wolf wagged it's tail and started puffing playfully. It was at this time that I noticed the wolf had a band around it's neck and, as I raised my hand to welcome it, he sped towards me. He huffed and puffed happily, letting out a shriek of excitement. I called for Bree and, when he came to the door, I told him how I nearly got eaten by a wolf. Him and Inkeri laughed hard and, after some petting, the dog ran off. It certainly had been a day for dogs!

The evening was spent in the sauna once again, the four of us settling down for a lovely dinner and some wine before falling into bed in the early hours. Again, as I lay in bed, I could see the stars that dotted the sky and again I slept quite easily. In fact, I slept so deeply that it was difficult to actually wake up the next morning. We woke up at 8am, for we had to get to Rovaniemi in time for our 2pm flight. After a quick breakfast, we loaded up the car, returned the keys to Harriniva and began the three hour journey back to Rovaniemi; for the whole journey, the three of us chatted, covering every subject under the sun. At one point, we even ventured into a political debate so the subject was quickly changed to avoid a roadside row! We made it to the airport just 30 minutes before the flight, just enough time to check into the tiny airport and grab a coffee in the upstairs cafe.

I never have much luck on planes, but I'm lucky that I can just switched off my ears for, onboard, were some twenty rowdy Italian youngsters; by god, they didn't shut up and they were shouting up and down the plane. Despite the noise, I admired the view below as the plane soared into the sky. I already know that I will go back to Lapland again - I just hope it's sooner rather than later!