You're not from round here, are you?

So you head off for a long walk through a wood and across a frozen lake, passing the odd cross country skier, making sure you don't head off the track in case there is thin ice. You decide to stop for refreshments in a village on the edge of the lake.

The only place open is a wooden lodge which on closer inspection is the local bar and restaurant.

You open the door and enter a dark corridor which leads to the bar.

The bar is dark and lite by a dying fire, candles on the table and a light over the bar. The walls are decorated with skulls of animals. Above the chimney breast is a stuffed black bear and on a ledge is a stuffed wolverine.The owner gives you a look of 'you're not from round here, are you?' as do the customers.

So, do you feel safe?

The owner approaches, stirs the fire and adds some more wood. He smiles and gets out his torch.
Ok a little nervous now.

He bends down and suddenly you hear... Jamie Cullum singing 'What a difference a day makes' on the cd player. His smile broadens and asks 'English?' at which we relax and then spend a lovely couple of hours chatting with the barman, drinking some amazing hot chocolate and eating Belgian waffles. We wished we had found the place earlier in the week instead of the last day.

Trains, planes and automobiles. Forget that try reindeer, snowmobile and husky!

There are so many ways to get around Lapland. Some traditional and some for speed. As Andy had recently frozen broken his leg and I had never skied before we took advantage of the trips laid on by the tour company.

Our first was very traditional. Reindeer! The sami people breed them and the number you have is a sign of wealth. However it is rude to ask how many they have.

The White reindeer are very sacred. The sami believe they are the reincarnation of ancestors and treated with respect.

Our trip was slightly uncomfortable affair as our sledge which was at least a century old creaked it's way across a lake and through the forest. Reindeer are unpredictable. They can be very fast or very slow! The three on our trip were happy to plod, occasionally attempting to over take each other but never succeeding. The lead reindeer had a small passenger so the owner purposely chose a slow reindeer which was slow.

The only time we had speed was near the end when the reindeer saw the farm and their reward.... Food.

Time for speed! Snowmobiling! A very popular way of transportation. Sadly I was unable to drive one as I didn't have a driving license. I therefore put my life and trust into the hands of Katie. These snowmobile's are fast and we really wanted to go top speeds. My job as passenger was to relay signals from our guide to everyone behind. Slow down, stop, etc. A 60km round trip through the forest, across lakes and again stopping at a Kota for lunch.

However it wasn't all fun. There was a scary moment coming down a steep hill. Katie and I battled to keep the mobile upright. We were probably going a little too fast up the hill not realising the steep drop the other side. We were very lucky, the mobile behind wasn't. Another couple behind us and in front of Andy and Bernice crashed into a tree and were thrown from the mobile. For a few minutes it looked serious, but thankfully they were able to walk away but visibly shaken. Amazingly they wanted to continue. A trailer was called for so we could carry on our journey.

Lunch was soup, a sandwich (which needed to be defrosted in the fire) and a cup of tea or berry juice. Our entertainment was a French Canadian who was studying tourism in Helsinki and was working for the snowmobile company. When asked why he chose Finland he simply answered 'a girl, there is always a girl involved'. By this time the couple who had crashed had recovered and started to enjoy themselves as well as being able to joke about the cost they had to pay. The wife even made her husband travel back in the trailer whilst she rode on the back of our tour guide's mobile saying 'well I wasn't the one who crashed'. And costly it was. It cost them 500 euros!

Feeling a little husky? Husky dogs aren't native to Finland but the terrain is ideal for racing them. The huskies at the centre weren't pure bred either. Too slow apparently plus there is the risk of degenerative diseases. So the owner has bred them with other breeds to create a faster husky. From the start these are cute dogs which love their job. They become very excited at the sound of the coach as they know it could mean a chance for a run around the block.

There was no skill needed to steer the sledge as the dogs could do the trek blind folded. They have also been taught to stop if you shout 'mush' at them! They will only race for their masters and understand that this is just exercise time.

Ours seemed to go fast at the start but soon slowed to a jogging pace. Funny moment came when one of the eight dogs took a mouthful of snow for a drink only to trip up. The others just looked at him with 'what an idiot' expression. He was ok and was soon back in his stride, I even thought I saw him blush!

Tips for when visiting a husky farm. Don't stick your gloves through the cage as they love a good game of tug of war especially if you have any dangling bits. Just ask Katie! More importantly... avoid yellow icicles!

There's snow business like snow shoe business!

This was truly the funniest day of our holiday. We could have hit the slopes like the average holiday maker but we wanted to look cool... so we hired snow shoes!

The point of snow shoes is to help distribute your weight whilst walking through deep snow. Yeah right! I don't think so. With the exception of Bernice we all kept sinking and occasional getting stuck.

The best thing about snow shoes was that it gave us the opportunity to go off piste and explore the mountain. It was so quiet except for our trudging and laughing. I felt like I was walking in Narnia, hoping to find the lamppost and Mr Tumnus.

Occasionally we would come across the ski run where all the skiers we met were very jealous of are mode of transport, they didn't need to tell us, you could tell by their looks. We were only out done by snowboarders and stunt skiers performing amazing stunts at the snowpark.

A welcome site was the Kota, a hut with an open fire in the middle, where we could cook our lunch, sausages, and warm up. Sausages taste better when cooked in this way.

The photos below show just some of the sites and fun we had.

Finland, Finland, Finland! The place where I want to be!

Why?!!!! That was the response I got when I told friends I was off on holiday to Finland with my friends Katie, Andy and Benice. Well why not? We had a great deal with a holiday firm, lots to do as well as skiing and it's somewhere completly different to the usual winter destinations. There is one big draw back... It's cold! Not just cold, freezing!

On arrival at Kittali airport it was -24! Just a few days before heading out there a friend told me that your nose hair starts to freeze at -17. Well I can confirm it does! It's a very weird sensation. However the bracing dry cold air was very refreshing. The temperature averaged at about -18 for the rest of the week, the warmest it got was -12.

Finland is a beautiful country with very friendly people. The scenary is truly breathtaking and I could have spent all day just looking at it. Andy and I tried our best to capture it with our cameras but I recommend that you really need to be there to really experience and appreciate it.

It was an amazing holiday with experiences that may never be repeated although I hope that many will be.


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2010 New Year's resolution

At the start of 2010 I decided it was time to start writing a blog. After all there is so much going on in life to comment on, some good, some bad and then there is the strange and fun stuff. I was inspired to write one after reading my friend Kylie's blog, who is an expert at blogging and is great to follow.

I was going to start this last year following 'The curious incident of the upside down sheep at lunchtime', a story I may still write up. But I never got round to it. Then I thought it could be a new year resolution but it wasn't the best start to the year and I didn't feel like it as every thing seemed to be falling apart. It was worth a blog but I wanted to start on a high and not a long rant about corupt solicitors!

So what can you expect from me? Well at the start of the New Year (Chinese New year) you will hear stories about my trip to Finland, to buy or not to buy a flat and many stories about Archie the dog, plus whatever else comes my way. I hope you enjoy it!

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