And on into Lapland and the land of Elk and Reindeer

Greetings from Rovaniemi in Finland!

Did I just hear you say "where the hell is Rovaniemi ?" [laugh] I didn't know either until today, but it is a reasonably sized town just south of the Arctic Circle. Did you know that Finland has 188,889 lakes? No...I didn't either until yesterday. And did you know that there are 5 1/2 million people in Finland, and 1 million saunas? Gee travel is incredibly educational, isn't it! [big grin]

Thanks for your comments, Cheryl and Amber... wonderful to hear from you!

Thursday, 19/6 - Heading North through the Lakes District
Not much to tell you about yesterday as it was another day in the bus, but we drove through some very beautiful country. What a pity I didn't see much of it! Let me explain.....first of all I didn't sleep that well the previous night as I'm finding it hard to get back to sleep when I wake in the night, as it is light all the time. I wish Finland would discover those amazing shutters they have in Germany but they depend on curtains just like in Australia....except we actually get a time of day when it is dark, and at this time of the year in Finland, it is just varying degrees of light. Also, we got off the main roads to meander through the winding roads and I got a bit of motion sickness as I couldn't see out the front of the bus. Oh well...I'm OK, but it meant that I spent quite a bit of the trip with my eyes closed. Can you hear those violins playing yet? [cheeky grin]

Anyway, enough of my whinging as I'm fine now and I need to tell you about Finland. If you have ever been to the Bay of Islands on the north island of New Zealand, you will be able to picture exactly what it looks like here. Water everywhere and thousands of little islands covered in trees and vegetation. Its just so green and fresh looking! And forget what I said about a lack of flowers as today we went past swathes of pink and purple Lupins that were lining the roads.....yep, just like in New Zealand.

Mid-morning we stopped at an international ski resort called Lahti and saw 3 absolutely enormous ski jumps! OK...there was no snow on them but the height that they towered above us...well...it scared me just imagining what it would be like standing at the top, just before throwing oneself down the precipitous slope at a dangerous speed. I took a photo of Norbert demonstrating how to do it, but during my last attempt at skiing I had decided that as a slope of 2 degrees scared me to death, that perhaps ski jumping at the next winter Olympics might not be for me. [laugh]

Heard another interesting fact today about the roads in this area. When it is winter, most of the lakes freeze over so they actually have 'winter roads' and cars can just take a short-cut straight across the lakes, across the ice. The local authorities first determine how thick the ice is and whether it is safe enough for cars (and sometimes trucks)....and then they just make new roads straight across! When the ice thaws they all go back to the original roads. Imagine having different roads for summer and winter! I bet it would confuse the GPS! [grin]

We spent the night in a nice town called Kuopio...check out the view from our window! Aren't you absolutely jealous!! [cheeky grin]

Friday, 20/6 - the Arctic Circle...almost there!

Another day in the bus as we made our way ever northward, bypassing towns with strange Finnish names such as 'Yli-ii' and Päättyy'. No idea how one would pronounce them!

W had a mid-morning break in a little servo which started to remind me of the ones back home. Up till now they have been the big, European 'truck stops' with their own McDonalds. But this was a tiny one on the side of the road with cheap coffee and a friendly face behind the counter. Just like home! As we forge further and further north I can see other changes too. The trees in the forests are getting smaller as it is harder to survive in the harsh climate, and some of the people in the bus saw a couple of elks (or moose) in the greenery next to the road. The little farmhouses are quaint though, and most of them are painted this brick-red colour. Apparently it was because originally the paint was made from a by-product of the copper industry and so it was really cheap, but now the colour is still used because it has become traditional. You can imagine these red and white wooded houses nestled in amongst silver birch trees....lovely!

Had lunch in a traditional market in a town along the way (Oulu, I think) and Norbert noticed that the beer he was drinking was labelled gluten-free! No kidding! Its made from corn apparently.

Can't complain about the gluten-free thing here at all...in fact I have been given gluten-free bread the last 2 nights for dinner. Tonight it was warm flat-bread which had been freshly made! It seems to be well understood in this part of the world.

While I was at the market I checked out the elk there. OK...he wasn't quite 'all there' but probably much easier to pat than the ones on the sides of the road.

Quick excursion when we arrived in Rovaniemi - to the Arktikum, or the Arctic Museum. Funny moment when we arrived because our bus driver passed by a sign that said 'No entry for cars' and squeezed the bus down this narrow road which was literally a walkway, and parked right in front of the front door! Klaars, our tour guide, was freaking out a bit and said that we all have to walk in limping so that he has an excuse. [laugh]

The museum was really interesting as it had lots of excellent displays and information of how people have lived in the Arctic over the years since the stone-age. Anyone who has been to Christchurch in New Zealand will know there is an Antarctic Museum there, but this one is more about the scientific exploration. Sorry, but can't show you any pictures as we weren't allowed to take photos. :-( Of special interest was info about the Northern Lights...unfortunately a winter phenomenon so we won't get to see it for real. Oh well.

Today we entered Lapland, and tomorrow morning we pass over the Arctic Circle. Apparently we get to meet Rudolph! Hang in there and I will tell you about it as soon as I can.