Roving through Finland

From Tromso we headed towards Finland. After two hours on the road, the landscape started to change and we left behind the snowy peaks for gently undulating land covered in arctic scrub. The narrow winding roads of Norway were replaced by flat straight roads through this seemingly endless barren landscape.

Northern Lapland is very remote. Reindeer wander across the road, unfazed by the infrequent traffic, and what is marked as a town on the map is simply a Sami hut selling smoked fish, and delicious smoked fish it is.

Louise out walking just across the Finnish border

A break in the sun near a Sami hut that sold the best smoked Salmon

I had avoided driving in Norway, the roads were harrowing and without experience driving a vehicle the size of ours, I wasn’t prepared to put us, or others on the road, at risk. But Finland is different. These roads were perfect for me to start driving the van and have my first experience driving on the right-hand side of the road. It took a while to get used the width, but very soon I was trundling along quite happily. I don’t think I’ll be giving up my role as navigator any time soon though, as Mr Love has a much better disposition than me for being behind the wheel of a vehicle this size, but it’s fun to have a go now and then.

A couple of hours into Finland we found a place to camp in Muonio at the Harriniva camping ground, quite a large tourist complex considering the remoteness of its location. It was a beautiful setting beside a wide swift river that separates Sweden from Finland. Right next door, attached to the complex, is an arctic sled dog centre, home to 400 huskies. The huskies are used for sledding safaris in winter, but they offer a tour of the kennels in summertime. It was very interesting to find out about breeding and training the huskies for sledding, and to meet some of these intelligent and athletic dogs. Getting to hug 8-week old chubby husky pups was a bonus.

After Muonio the arctic fell scenery slowly gave way to forests and lakes, and with every kilometre south the temperature rose, much to Mr Love’s approval.

Our next destination was the city of Rovaniemi, 6km south of the Arctic Circle. Rovaniemi is the home of Santa Claus, so a visit to the man himself at Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle was a must. Being summer the village didn’t look much like the winter wonderland you expect Santa to live in, however it was still fun to visit the official post office and send some postcards bearing Santa’s postmark. And of course, we couldn’t resist popping into Santa’s office for a photo with him.

Apart from Santa, Rovaniemi’s claim to fame is that it’s the largest city in Europe, by area. Most of the area is covered in forest but that doesn’t stop locals proudly promoting this unique fact. It’s a lovely city, clean and green, with wide cycle paths along the riverbank. The campsite was in a prime position beside the river, which would explain its popularity. The Finnish, much like Norwegians, love their camping.

We had been told by many people we’d met on our travels not to expect much of Finland, as it’s just lakes, trees, and more trees. In some respects, this is right, there are certainly lots of lakes and lots of trees. It might not have the dramatic beauty of Norway, but it is very pretty and lush, and not unlike New Zealand.

Still in Northern Finland we moved towards the coast to Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia. We stayed at the popular Nallikari Beach, about 3kms from the city centre. The beach is very small by New Zealand standards, but that doesn’t stop droves of people visiting it. Oulu is at the mouth a river with multiple small islands. It is great for cycling with an extensive network of cycle paths through the woodlands, and across bridges from island to island, and through to the city centre itself. While we were there they were holding a street food festival in the square, with live music and plenty of colour and vibrancy. We were both impressed with Oulu, it seems to be a very liveable and modern city.

Roving onwards we moved inland again to the Finnish Lakeland, where lakes occupy 25 percent of the area. We stayed just outside the small town of Padasjoki on the shores of Lake Päijänne, enjoying the warmer weather with walks through this beautiful area, and my case going on my first run since Mandal in Norway.

After our stay in Padasjoki we decided to push on to Helsinki, as we had tickets booked on a three-night cruise to St Petersburg. We booked a campsite for week at Rastila Camping in Helsinki, giving us a safe and secure place to leave the van and with the intention of spending a couple of days exploring the city on our return from St Petersburg.

We’re off to St Petersburg this afternoon, so will have plenty to tell you in a few days’ time.