Jeff: Travelling down South

We got up the next morning and hit the road again and we headed to a town almost 2 hours further south. My bike chain has got some broken links so we knew we needed to get a new one fitted and this was the closest bike shop. We want to make sure its fixed before Helsinki and before any more bike rides. Once we made it to Kajaani we found the bike shop who said they had no time to fix it today so we decided to carry on driving down south. We drove for another couple of hours and eventually made it down to Kontiolahti where we spent the night at a biathlon arena. Biathlon is the Finnish sport of cross country skiing followed by shooting and it was interesting to have a good look around at the set up for it. There was a ski route around the arena and then a shooting section in the centre and some one was practicing while we were there and often the top athletes come but we wouldn’t have recognised any of them.

The next morning we headed into the town to try another bike repair shop and this one, while speaking no English said he could fix the bike this morning. We left it with him and headed around the town to kill some time (how much time we weren’t sure but he said he would message once done). We needed to pop to the shops and we had some food and then we got the Finnish text message and we headed back to the shop to pick up a fixed bike before taking it to the nearby woods to have a good ride on it on another, albeit it easy, mountain bike path. We cycled around and the bike appears to ride lovely now but as we were in a nice location we decided to spend the night here as well.

The next morning we continued our journey down south to Kolovesi which is a national park based around lakes and we got out the paddleboard and went exploring. There are a species of seal in the lakes around here and slightly further south that are endangered and this is the only place in the world they are located. We did go off in search of them, although knowing that the chance of seeing them this time of year is limited, with a basic route planned. We travelled around the first island and on the other side we found a very small passage where you could get through the second island into more of the lakes. We decided to get off the board and carry it over on the way out into the lakes as it didn’t look that deep and it was a tight section with rocks to slalom around. We then continued to paddle for awhile longer before, at almost 7km, deciding to turn around and come back the same way. These lakes go on for miles so we didn’t want to get lost! We tried to navigate through the passage way on the way back but it proved too shallow and we had to get off and walk through the mud which was not pleasant. We also stopped on the way back to see a cave like structure in the rocks, which also had a cave painting, although its not really visible any more. Finally we headed back to the start and got the paddleboard out and walked back to the van, not before being stopped by an older couple (who spoke good English) and asked to help them get their kayaks off the top of their car. After some well deserved lunch we headed to Enonkoski where we planned to spend the night but had to stop on the way as we saw some sand structures. I’m not sure what they were there for and there were still some under construction but they were really good. We then carried on the short distance to our stop for the night by the river (with free electricity which is a novelty)

The next morning we did a short run from our stop to the end of the road and back which was about 5km before we headed to a town called Savonlinna where there is the most northernly stone fortress in the world which is still standing. It was very cool to see and stands on an island just the main town before we did a long drive (with a stop for lunch and a swim – including a jump of a diving tower for Rich). During this drive, having said a couple of times since we left Lapland that we are missing the deer and other animals we saw, a pair of moose walked across the road about 300 metres up the road (too far to get a photo) and the one was huge, the biggest we have seen. Unfortunately a car was also travelling on the other side of the road and was closer so they had scarpered by the time we got there but it was fantastic to see. We finally arrived near a town called Lappeenranta at a beach where there is a sauna. We had a chill before we headed down to the sauna and first we went for a swim in the cool lake before heading into our respective saunas. Now while most insist you are naked in the sauna this one didn’t which was good as it can be a pain to put on swimwear to go out to the lake every time you want to swim. This sauna was probably one of the warmest we have been to in Finland and with the amount of water the locals kept putting on the heater I could not last 15 minutes and kept having to have breaks. Rich and I agreed to meet in the lake every 20 mins (which did get shorter as the time went on) and after about an hour we were both baked and decided to have a shower and head back to the van for dinner.

The next morning we had planned to get on the paddleboard on lake Saimaa which is the largest lake in Finland but it was grey and cold and neither of us really fancied it, to be honest. So instead we parked up just outside the town centre and jumped on the bikes to go and explore. We knew that there was another sandcastle showcase here so we headed over to them first as it was due to be removed today but it was still standing when we were there. It had a theme of fairy tales and was a circular, with tunnels to walk through it, display of different fairy tales including Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood and some dragons and Wizards. They were very well made and fun to look at. We then headed into the town on the bikes and explored a little before heading back to the van and as it wasn’t great weather we decided to do a longer drive today so we continued down south to another little lake for the evening.

The next morning we got up and headed into the local town called Porvoo which is the second oldest town in the country which is full of colourful houses and cobblestone streets. We walked around the old town, the church, the old railway and the riverside admiring the wooden houses and the old architecture. We also headed to the Art Factory where we looked around at some very interesting and weird art including an sound installation which a video of a spider and a wooden robot who rhythmically tapped his fingers when you sat down. After a morning of exploring the town we headed back to the van. We drove slightly out of town to service the van before heading to our stop for the night which is close to Helsinki where we plan to spend the next couple of days.