A night with the bears

 We got up the next morning and we headed to the local leisure centre where we paid 5.50 euro and had access to the gym, swimming pool, sauna and showers. Its been a long time since we were last in the gym and it was nice to be back (and not purely running or using outdoor gyms) which I know is a little sad but also true. However the gym wasn’t as stocked with the cardio machines as we are used to, having only 1 treadmill and 1 cross trainer. As I wanted to do a run before the workout we had to think of our options and I had read that there was a running track so we asked where it was and was told it was downstairs. This centre was a maze and after walking around in what could only be described as a basement for almost 10 minutes we found a long thin room with three lanes to run in but they were only about 60 meters long. Down in this room was also some free weights, a climbing wall, a bouldering wall and a large trampoline. Anyway we managed a bit of a run before going to use some weights and then headed for a nice swim, sauna and shower before leaving feeling very chilled. We then spent the day exploring the city and got on the bikes to cycle around one of the lakes in the town, which is one of the over 180,000 lakes in this country. We then headed back to the place we parked last night to chill by the beach for a bit as it was sunny but there was a chill in the wind so we didn’t spend too long out there. It was long enough however to watch some locals playing on their boat and towing an inflatable and trying to stay on it.

The next day was Monday and it was a bit of a chilled day, we are stuck in this town for a few days as we have a trip planned on Tuesday evening so we used the day to clean, tidy and managed to find some half decent (although not that fast) wifi to upload stuff on the internet. We also ached after the gym as its been a while since we actually lifted any weights.

 Tuesday started with a run around the lake we had cycled around as we knew it was flat and we could actually plan a 10k route for the first time. It wasn’t a fast run but we both managed it and then we had some breakfast before heading back to the leisure centre where we had a swim, sauna and a shower. After that we had to service the van and pop to Lidl for the last bits of food before heading East towards the Russian border. About a mile from the Russian border we turned left but not before seeing the cameras that watch the area to ensure people do not cross and to ensure only people with permits enter the restricted zone which is around 1km each side of the border. We reached our destination a bit early and got ourselves ready for our vegan bear hunt. The place also does husky tours in the winter and has about 150 huskies and some reindeers which we got to see before we headed off on the trip. This involved us, a family and a German man being taken into the woods and into a bear hide to watch for bears. We had to walk quietly from the car into the woods so we wouldn’t spook the bears and we entered the wooden building which had three windows of one way glass with disguised holes for cameras and comfy chairs as we could be here awhile. There were also bunkbeds, a rustic toilet and blankets if you got cold. The hut was about 1.7km or just over 1mile from the Russian border so still outside the restricted zone but some of the tours go into the zone and for these you have to give them all your details before you go as they have to register you to get a permit.

The tour we went on does use food to encourage the bears to the space in front of the hide and most companies do this as it increases the chances of seeing bears but not all companies do. Its always a difficult choice as feeding them does impact their lives more but mostly it is food like salmon they would catch anyway and the aim is not too much so that they still need to hunt or gather berries.

 We sat in the hide and some bears were already having a look to see if there was any food for them, which they had just placed, the bears know what time the food is placed and come regularly although some may go elsewhere for awhile and then come back months later. First there was a large male who they think is over 5 years old and he was enjoying the best bits of the food. Shortly after another two bears came to join him and they all explored and snacked on the food. There was a bit of tension between these three bears and it looked, at one point, that there would be a little bit of an argument but it was clear who was the top bear and the others backed off. As food is used to attract bears it also attracts birds and sea eagles who are keen to get in on the action. The birds were gutsy and were not too bothered by the bears but did flock more once the bears wandered off into the forest. The sea eagles were more cautious, mostly due to the number of other birds, and would watch and then swoop down to steal some of the salmon. There were two or three sea eagles and they were huge and great to watch but you had to be very patient.

The activity outside died down a little so it was tea and cake time and the guide had bought us vegan chocolate cake which was appreciated and just as we were finishing it three bears came to find a snack. These three explored more and as some fish was placed in the trees they did some climbing to get it and were more active, as they were younger. They wandered around the area and did get quite close to the hide but they were far more jumpy and you could tell that they could sense/smell humans nearby and as the hunting season has just started this may have made them a little more jumpy.

After they had eaten the rest of the food they retreated into the woods and we waited a little bit longer to see if any other animals would come but after awhile we all agreed to head back as it was getting darker. In total we saw 4 different bears in the two groups of three and two or three sea eagles.

 We headed back to Jeff and started the drive back and soon caught up with the German driver who had stopped at the side of the road. We also stopped and soon saw why he had stopped. There were two moose at the edge of the forest eating which was very exciting as we haven’t yet seen any moose. There was one larger moose and a smaller one but neither had horns/antlers.  They were aware we were there and a little jumpy but we sat and watched them for a bit before carrying on back towards the town and our stop for the night. Its been a fabulous night all in all.

 The next morning we headed back to the town for an hour so we could use the free WIFI again to just upload all our pictures and save them (while having breakfast) before heading south to Hossa National park. The drive took about an hour to the park and first we went into the visitors centre to work out where in the park was best to park. The plan is to do an easy mountain biking route that I have found but we couldn’t find on google where it starts. Having found the start was about 6km away we jumped back into Jeff and headed off further into the park. Once we got to the car park we had some lunch before heading off down the path on the bikes. it started with a nice gravel path to lure us into some sense of security and then it started with the smaller paths lined with slippery tree roots, dips, sand banks, mud and duck boards. We did struggle to start with as it was a bit harder than we had thought it would be and we had to get off the bikes several times to walk them around large sections of roots if we didn’t have enough speed or weren’t in the right position to get over them. The duckboards (essentially a thin board or two over muddy sections) proved difficult as well as usually the start and end were surrounded with roots and Rich found them a little too thin to ride on. We did get more confident as the ride continued and managed to get over more of the different terrains but it still wasn’t something we were comfortable with. The views were supposed to be stunning but most of the time we were concentrating on not crashing to pay too much attention. The whole root was just under 14km and a suggested time for it was 1 hour 30 and we ended up finishing it in 1 hour 40 having managed not to fall off once which we were happy about.

 After that we headed a bit further south to the field of 1000 quiet people which is an art installation that started in Helsinki and travelled to several different countries (including the UK) before being placed near Suomussalmi. The quiet people are essentially 1000 scarecrows/crosses dressed up with turf for their heads. It’s quite eerie really and I'm glad we knew it was here rather than just getting scared when you drive past it as they glare over the main road. We parked up here for the night and chilled as we are quite tired after the last couple of days.

One of our night time visitors 

The quiet people field 

A close up of the Quiet people 

Looking from the back of the field 

Finally we saw a moose

One of the sea eagles swooping for some food

and flying past

Huskys at the park

A bear climbing a tree for some fish

one of the bears, they were very close and beautiful

another bear - a younger one

Another young bear

We made it to FInland

 The next morning we got up and went to the supermarket to pick up some basic essentials as today we are leaving Norway and heading to Finland! We then headed off towards the boarder which was an easy crossing and parked up in a national park car park and headed off for an 11km walk. While we were preparing for the walk I looked out of the van and there was a small group of reindeer just wandering around and then they decided to head into the woods where we were due to walk so we had to follow them and they were interested in us but also scared. As we continued the walk we saw several sets of reindeer, including an all white one which was very pretty, all dotted about around the hills and one even followed us for a short while without us noticing. The walk wasn’t too hilly but it was long and while around 60% was nice pathways the rest was slightly more tricky terrain and included a couple of river crossings but it was by no means a hard walk like the Norwegian walks we have been doing. After 11km we got to Kolmen  valtakunnan rajapyykki which means Three Countries Cairn. This large yellow cairn is on a lake and is the boarder of Norway, Sweden and Finland and as you walk around it you enter each one of the countries (and as Finland is on a slightly different time zone you can time travel as you move around it). We had a good walk around it before having some lunch and getting ready for the long walk back.

 We managed the long walk back, spotting several more sets of deers and eventually made it back to Jeff where we decided to go towards the next town and find somewhere to relax for the evening.

 The next day was deservedly a rest day for us and we started off by getting up late (well 8am as we have lost an hour and haven’t gotten used to that yet) and did some research so we could look at our options and plan our overall route for the next bit of the trip (not that we ever fully plan or stick to a route). After all the planned we decided to try our luck in the local supermarket as our fridge is very empty as we have heard that Finland is better for vegan food. I don’t think our luck was fully in at the supermarket but we did manage to pick up some essentials to keep us ticking over but nothing substantial. We then decided to head off on our kind of route to get near a national park that we may hike in. As we were driving down the only road around here we had to be on watch all the time as reindeer stroll across the road or hang around next to the road thinking about crossing at any point. The road was also having some major work to resurface it so it would be nice and flat in sections and then the next section would be compacted dirt and gravel meaning we couldn’t go anywhere fast. We made it to a town where we stopped to grab some water for the van, although we don’t really need it service points seem to be further apart here so it’s a case of when you see it you should get it. We then carried on and got to a bigger town we stumbled on a larger supermarket and went a bit crazy in there and bought lots of food so we are all set for a good few days now! Then we went to a nearby lake where we plan to spend the night and managed to book a nice private sauna on the lake for a treat in the morning.

 So the owner of the sauna sent their grandfather down to help us light the sauna and set it all up. He didn’t speak any English and we could only say hi and thank you in Finnish so there was a lot of hand gestures and pointing to things. The log burner in the sauna was soon roaring and we worked out the gist of it all. These saunas out in the remote areas are set up slightly differently as they often have no running water there it an urn over the log burner which is filled up with some water, probably from the lake outside, to make it nice and hot and when you mix it with some of the colder water that is in the sauna in buckets you have water in order to wash yourself. There is also, usually and there was in this case, a lake (or body of water, outside so you can cool down before going back in the sauna. We had booked the sauna for 2 hours so interspersed swims in the lake with time in the sauna, despite the constant rain that had reached the area today.

We decided that given the weather we might as well drive as much as we can today so we set off on the drive with a few stops along the way, mostly to have some lunch or service the van where possible and eventually we made it to our stop for the evening, where it was still raining and relaxed for the evening. We are parked near an amethyst mine and near a skiing area so we plan to explore it a little more in the morning, if the rain has finally stopped.

 The next morning, while it looked really grey we thought we would have a short run to some stairs where we could then climb to a view point and then we could run back. Pretty much as soon as we were out of the van it started to spit but we continued anyway and managed to run to the stairs which we then climbed. The climb was about 200 meters (over 600 stairs) but given how grey it was we didn’t have great views but we could see the local area. We then climbed back down and ran the short distance back, showered and had some breakfast while deciding what to do.

As it didn’t look like it was going to brighten up like we hoped we headed towards Rovaniemi which is the capital of Lapland. On the way there we had to stop at Santa Claus’s village where we wandered around (with a surprising number of adults – without children). There were opportunities to meet either of the two Santa Claus’s, see the clock that slows time so he can make all his deliveries, see elves at work and the arctic circle line. It was all very tacky but I loved it. Next up we headed to a shopping centre to get a load of washing done as the weather was still a bit crap and we picked up some bits while we were waiting for it to finish. Afterwards we headed to the nearby forest to park the van and as it had finally stopped raining we headed on the bikes into the centre for a look around. Given it’s the capital of Lapland I did expect a fairly large town but we had walked all around it in less than 10 minutes so we decided to go and get some burgers, chips and a beer each and relax. After dinner we (and by we I mean me!) decided we should see the Barbie movie as it was on at the local cinema and was in English. We got into the 8pm showing and thoroughly enjoyed it and then got on the bikes to ride back. It was about 10.30pm by the time we were riding back and for the first time in a very long time it was actually getting dark! We haven’t seen darkness for so long it was surprising to see and while this means the end of summer is looming it also means the van will actually be fully dark, even if we have the windows open at night.

 

The next morning we got up and had seen on komoot a nice run in the forest so we decided to follow it but instead of taking all the nice smooth paths in the forest this one made us run over the ones where roots or rocks rose up in the small footpaths meaning we had to watch where we were putting our feet the whole time and the route twisted and turned constantly meaning we would have to try and stop to look at the map on our watches before continuing (mostly up the right paths but not always). Finally we managed to get back to the van after a nice final section of the run over a boardwalk for the last km. We then headed to the nearby hotel where we planned to use their swimming pool, sauna and shower but unfortunately there was an aqua aerobics class on (which they did say we could join but we declined) so we couldn’t swim but we still had a sauna and a shower (and as everyone was either in the aqua class or staying away from the pool we had the saunas to ourselves).

After that we jumped in the van and headed to Auttikongas which has a 3.5km nature trail around a small (16 meter) waterfall created by a damn which has next to it a channel which logs used to be sent down the falls on. The walk was easy, especially compared to some of the walks we have been doing and covered both forests and a canyon and we managed to do some foraging for blueberries and see the views from the bird tower before getting back to the van and driving on to a lake for the evening.

 The next morning we got up and drove to the next hike which was a 12km hike (and supposedly one of the most scenic short hikes in Finland) called Pieni Karhunkierros circle trail (translates to small bear circle trail). This trail took us through forests to some rapids and then round various lakes and rivers before looping back. There were three suspension bridges to cross and several huts where you could light fires to cook on or stay in the huts. Pretty much every fire pit was lit when we got there by people cooking their breakfast or heating water so it appears these are all well used. The walk took around three hours to complete and then we headed back to the van for some lunch and drove on to the next largish town called Kuusamo. Here we went straight to the tourist office as we want to organise a trip on the coming days but we wanted to get some opinions and more details on what is available. Armed with a little more information we headed out to a lake where we plan to spend the night and do a little more research and while there for the evening a group/herd of reindeer came down to forage around the lake as it got dark (well as dark as it ever gets here).

We made it to Finland

One on the many reindeer on our walk

A little shelter on the walk, they are big on those here

A waterfall on the walk  - it was three hours each way this walk, thankfully it was beautiful

Rich walking next to the Norway border

The three countries cairn topper which had three sides, one for each country

The whole cairn

More reindeer

And more - considering the lack of wildlife we spotted in Norway, this was a big change for us

some views of the walk

This rainbow appeared at the end of the walk (yes it did rain on us on the walk, we are just used to it now)

Reindeer, casually walking down the road, we would soon learn this is the norm

He's leading us on a wild reindeer chase

The views from the hill top near the amethyst mine

The long set of stairs down

Santa's village

I love Christmas

plastic santa

The arctic circle markers, we are now no longer in the arctic circle

Presents!

The clock which slows time to allow Santa to reach all the different houses in one night

The village had soo much going on 

another clock

See even famous people go and visit santa

Rich wouldn't put his head in the santa with me

The distances from the village to the rest of the world

I found a mural in Rovaniemi 

The little waterfall and log carrier on our walk at Auttikongas 

one of the bridges on the nature trail - Auttikongas 

The view of the many trees in Finland from the Bird watching tower - Auttikongas 

The little bear walk views, this was the rapids near one of the many huts

more views from the little bear ring

It was a very pretty walk

Sunset (at 11pm) from our camper stop in Kuusamo, it is a beautiful and peaceful stop