Bellarine Traveller: Into the Arctic Circle

We have arrived in Lapland, northern Finland. The vegetation is starting to change a little. But, we are still driving through all the beautiful Silver Birch and Pine Forests. The trees are a bit smaller and there is more open land and you do see reindeer grazing on the new grass or looking for moss and lichen in the forests.

I cannot believe how many lakes and rivers there are here. Because the weather is good the reflections on the lakes are just beautiful.

We had a lunch stop at a lovely small market town called Oulu. I enjoyed wandering around and looking at the many stalls. Many of them sold food, traditional clothing & handcrafts and Reindeer skins.

Later that afternoon we arrived in Rovaniemi which is located on the Arctic Circle. We have had some really good tour guides on the trip, but the one here was exceptional.

* We visited the Lutheran Cathedral that had the most beautiful fresco painting behind the Alter. It told the story of the people from this region. Next door to the Cathedral is a War Cemetery and we learnt about the role of Finland and the Finnish people during WW2. I did not know very much at all about this and I did find it very interesting.

* Next stop was the City Hall and again it was very interesting to learn about the National & Local Government systems here. We had seen many people walking around dressed in their National Costumes – apparently there had been a large political conference in town and they were having a parade to celebrate the election of a new Party Leader.

* A visit to a Pioneer Museum was really interesting and I do wonder how people survived here in past years.

* Next on the agenda was a visit to the ‘Arctic Museum’ – a great place to visit and learn about the local Lapland people who are called Lappi’s and the Saami people. We saw a really good film that was all photographs of Lapland in all seasons. There were also a number of photos of the ‘Northern Lights’ (aurora borealis). You can only see the Northern Lights during the winter months. The colours were amazing. Our guide did tell us that even the locals, if they are out driving often stop and look at this amazing spectacle. We will not see these sadly, but we are hoping for a good clear weather night so we can see the ‘midnight sun’.

* Later in the day we went to a Reindeer Farm. Reindeer farming is all done by the Saami people. They are the native people of Lapland. Lapland is a wide geographical area that covers Norway, Sweden & Finland and there have been Saami people in Russia too. We were met and greeted by a Saami family who took us to see some reindeer. These ones were very friendly as they are used to people coming to see them and during the winter they also pull sleighs for people to ride in. Their fur is very soft and their antlers were covered in velvet like skin. We were given some moss to hand feed them and they were all very friendly even the 2 reindeers who each had a baby. The reindeer are let loose in the forests this time of the year and they do fatten up. During harsh the winter months the Saami people handfeed them if food is scarce. The reindeer are used for meet and their skins are used for a number of products including shoes, clothing, handbags etc. We then had dinner at the Reindeer centre, and yes we did eat reindeer meat and it is very nice.

* We are staying at the most wonderful hotel here. It is located about 28km out of Rovaniemi but in the most beautiful location. In front of the hotel there is a large lake that you can walk around and there are several chalets that families stay in during the winter. It is called Bears Lodge. Our cameras got a good workout here as the reflections in the lake were incredible.

Before leaving Rovaniemi we visited the Santa Village. This is a fabulous place for everyone but especially for children. It is Christmas all year round. Santa is of course there, as are his helpers. You can have your photo taken with Santa, and you can arrange for Santa to send special letters to children at Christmas. And, of course a great place to shop for anything Christmassy. The village is located exactly on the line of the Arctic Circle.

We have just arrived in Saariselka which is a few kilometres from the Russian border.

There are not that many large mountains in either Sweden or Finland and most of the skiing here is either cross-country or ski-jumping. However in Saariselka there is a smallish mountain that does have a ski lift and people do, do some downhill skiing. At the top there is a cafe and information centre and a lookout tower and you can see snow on the mountains in Russia from the lookout. You can drive into Russia from here there is a border crossing not far away. This is the region in Lapland where it is not unusual to have temperatures in winter anywhere between -20 to -40 degrees! Thank goodness it has been about +14 degrees today.

We are all hoping for a clear night tomorrow (with a blue sky) so we can see the ‘midnight sun’.

Oh - by the way, there is a pile of snow outside by room!