OMG...it's the REAL Santa!!
February 22nd 2010 22:57
Time: 4:16pm Date: 21/02/2010 Location: My Apartment, Helsinki
Ok, if you are wondering why I haven't posted a blog in a while; it is because of the real reason I am here...study!! Although not much has been achieved [yet], assignments are building up and I have begun to get lost in the clutter of notes and handouts.
Anyway, enough of the housekeeping...I would now like to talk to you about my recent trip to Lapland - amidst the inners of the Arctic Circle!
Day 1
Thursday night saw Feds (my housemate) and I arrive at the train station at around 9:30pm. We were about to embark on a journey to a place where you cannot physically be any further away from home (Australia). We wanted to buy some supplies in the way of beers for the 13 hour train ride but Finnish law, which states 'selling alcohol in supermarkets after 9pm is prohibited' disallowed us to do so. At around 10pm, we went aboard 'The Santa Clause Express' that would take us to the capital of Lapland: Rovaniemi. We arrived at about 11am, where we were taken to the shopping centre to purchase the necessary supplies for the weekend. I swear the temperature was around -25 degrees. 'Welcome to Lapland!' We then travelled to Korvala - the 25 acres of land owned by a family business - where we would stay for the next three nights. On the land, there were eleven cottages, a frozen lake, a restaurant, the family's house, a gift shop, an equipment shed, two saunas, a grill house and of course, beautiful bushwalks and forestry.
Activities on day one included a husky sleigh ride and a reindeer sleigh ride. Although, in theory the reindeer can travel up to speeds of 60km/h and the huskies around 50km/h; the huskies were much more fun. These dogs are really beautiful and the way they interact as a pack under their leader is incredible. You could immediately tell who the leader was because as he walked out; the rest of the dogs all went crazy. They were barking and yelping as they watched him wherever he went. The ride lasted only about a minute because the track was short and the dogs were fast. However, it was a once in a lifetime, unique feeling.
On the other hand, the reindeers were a disappointment. Having been told that they could go faster than the huskies, I was really looking forward to it. This was not the case. To be honest, it was boring. The idea is to drive them with a rope with the same actions you would use on a horse. I kept hitting him with the rope to make him go faster but as stubborn as they are, he would not obey. However, I did get to see the 'spastic' side of reindeer. The group that went after me had a reindeer that seriously wanted to prove that he could go faster than the huskies. As I looked to my left, out from behind the trees came this raging reindeer, racing towards the fence. The two boys driving kept yelling out 'stop' but again, stubborn as they are, he wouldn't obey. As their life flashed before the boys eyes, the reindeer herder came across and calmed the situation, just in the nick of time. Funny stuff! Oh by the way, I did manage to pass the test and be awarded with my reindeer driving license!
Dinner on day one was meatballs and vegetables with a rasberry soup for dessert. This was quite a typical Finnish meal which was extremely nice. After dinner, the sauna opened up. Again, in true Finnish style, the boys sauna quickly became a sausage fest! It was so squashy, you had to be careful of knowing where your bits and others bits were at all times! However, the heat of the sauna was well worth it, especially with a beer in one hand. The sauna tradition did not stop here though. An ice hole awaited about 10 metres away where you would heat up in the sauna sausage fest and then put some sort of footwear on (socks or thongs) to walk into and dunk yourself in the ice hole. You would then repeat the process. Apparently, it's meant to be good for you, but I still cannot understand how! Honestly, it does feel good at the time though. The night or morning rather finished with a party at cottage number six as well as cottage number five.
Day 2
Saturday morning began with breakfast at 9am. A true buffet of cereals, toasts, fillings, yoghurts and juice was just what I needed to get me started. Whilst most people went on the snowmobile safari, I chose to stay at home and do the 'free stuff' because of the cost involved to go snowboarding at the ski resort the following day. I was a bit envious of the safari groups, who in pairs, were taken on a 30km journey around the Korvala region with the opportunity to drive the snowmobile for half the time each. The leader informed them of a few things before they went: Obviously, the basics like how to accelerate, break and steer, as well as to watch out for cottage number seven. He said that he had seen it before that some people panic when they drive past this cottage as it appears out of nowhere and instead of breaking; they accidently choose to accelerate. He warned the group not to do this because if you crash; there is a fee of 500 Euros. About five minutes later, this is exactly what happened! The result: a 59 Euro snowmobile safari catapulted to a 559 Euro snowmobile safari!
Meanwhile, I was enjoying the winter wonderland of Korvala's natural surroundings, whilst cross country skiing for the very first time. At first I thought, it was like walking but with skis but then I realised how difficult it can be - especially trying to get up hills. For a track that should have taken us less than 30 minutes to get around, it took us at least an hour with a few stops (falls) on the way. However, because your skis sit in the man-made tracks, when you begin to go down hill; it can be quite exhilarating! I actually loved it so much that I just made my own path down a random hill and survived, though I did fall once more!
The next Lapland activity to be ticked off the list was ice-fishing! With a beer in one hand and my rod in the other...I waited...and waited...and shivered...and waited....and shivered some more...and waited for a fish! Apparently, there were fish down there because we were told beforehand and to prove it; others had their bait taken off. They also have a grilling house set up near by so that in the slightest chance that you do catch something; you can gut it, cook it and then obviously eat it. Whilst I braved the cold for the longest 20 minutes of my life, I did learn that there is a technique to this ice-fishing. Firstly, you must use a long, sharp hand drill to create a hole in the, at least 30cm layer of ice. Secondly, you use a spoon to scoop the remaining icicles out of the hole so that the hole is purely water in order for the fish to come up. Thirdly, you load your rod with bait and then lower your line to the bottom of the lake. Finally, you wait and your patience becomes increasingly shorter and shorter before you pack up your rod and go back inside to enjoy the warmth and comfort of the indoors. Therefore, as you have probably guessed by now, I gave up pretty quickly and went back inside. However, I could not get enough of the cross country skiing. This had to be repeated!
Following round two of cross country skiing, sledging was a must. A makeshift hill of about 10-15 metres was all we could find but was well worth it. Suddenly, a snow storm set in...
The afternoon also saw some people learn to drive the husky sleigh. An interesting story that came out of this was that the few front dogs (including the leader of the pack) during the journey had chewed through the rope and ran off. The driver thought he had lost the dogs forever until about five minutes after the rest of the pack had returned, the three or four dogs also returned, at the directions of the lead dog. Amazing!
Dinner on day two was the traditional Finnish potato casserole with salmon...yum! Dessert was blueberry tart with cream...also yum! All that was left to do now, was to jump in the sauna...and the ice hole...three...or maybe four times! The party for night two again began at cottage number six and finished at cottage number 10.
Day 3
Sunday; arguably the best day of them all! Again, we woke up to a buffet breakfast before the fun really started. We hopped on the bus at 10am; destination - Pyhä ski resort. This mountain was scaringly high in comparison to Mt. Bulla but I was certainly up for the challenge. Our group leader kept saying that we shouldn't get too excited because it's not very high....yeah well maybe for the rest of Europe! Standing at what seemed to be a whopping 520 metres high, this mountain was not be messed with. Ok, I have only done snowboarding once in my life before but it is such an amazing feeling, I wasn't going to leave Europe without having done it Lapland! Yes, I may have fallen a few times but my gosh, was it worth it! The speed you can create on that slope is incredible. Towards late afternoon, the only thing that turned me away was the freezing temperatures; especially near the top of the mountain. I left my last run until the last minute when I had to be back on the bus. As I climbed back through the thick snow to near the top of the mountain (where the carpark was) with only myself and my snowboard, the feeling when finally reaching the top was like I had been in the wilderness for three straight days without any food or water. I thought I was going to die... but it did not matter because I had conquered Pyhä with my snowboard! I was so hot and sweaty that I had to stand outside the bus for 10 minutes with just a shirt on to cool down!
When we returned to Korvala, reindeer was on the menu for dinner. Amazing! Tastes like lamb but better. Dessert was this thing called bread cheese with jam...also amazing! That evening, a few of us sat down to watch the Winter Olympics in front of the hot fire, whilst roasting marshmallows.
Day 4
Monday; also arguably the best day of them all! Why? I'll tell you why! Ever since I was a young boy, it was my childhood dream to meet the real Santa (I always knew he was real) and today, it was about to become true. We packed up our bags and said our goodbyes to Korvala and then arrived at Santa Claus Village around 1pm. Along with many tourist shops, cafes, a theme park and a post office; this was it - FC's house! I was about to meet the Fat Man! When the time came, I think I may have worked up a slight nervous sweat! The tension was building! His factory was amazing, however I did not see any elves =( When we got inside his office; there he was, with a white beard down to his knees and a Christmas suit that looked like it was brand new. I did manage to talk to the great man and I was stoked to hear that although, Australia is one of the furtherest countries he visits on Christmas Eve; he contacts his mate (can't remember his name) down under to prepare the 'six white boomers' (QUOTE THE REAL SANTA CLAUS). It was right then and there, I felt proud to be Australian!
Before we had to board the train to depart back home, we spent the last few hours in Rovaniemi. Having just met FC this part is irrelevant, however we did eat in the world's most northern Mcdonalds!
Overall, this trip was well worth it! It had exceeded all my expectations. However, there was one thing that was missing: the Northern Lights. This time around, unfortunately I did not get to see them, whilst others claimed that they did. Admittedly, they said it wasn't 'postcard material' but it was definately the Northern Lights. Apparently, the best time to look out for them is between 10pm and 11pm but I was not man enough to stand out in the cold and look up at the sky for a potentially long period of time. Hopefully in Kautekeino, Norway, they will be nicer to me and come out to play.
The end.
Ok, if you are wondering why I haven't posted a blog in a while; it is because of the real reason I am here...study!! Although not much has been achieved [yet], assignments are building up and I have begun to get lost in the clutter of notes and handouts.
Anyway, enough of the housekeeping...I would now like to talk to you about my recent trip to Lapland - amidst the inners of the Arctic Circle!
Damn it...he's real! - Me and all of my excitement pointing out that I am actually at Santa Claus's Office!
Day 1
Thursday night saw Feds (my housemate) and I arrive at the train station at around 9:30pm. We were about to embark on a journey to a place where you cannot physically be any further away from home (Australia). We wanted to buy some supplies in the way of beers for the 13 hour train ride but Finnish law, which states 'selling alcohol in supermarkets after 9pm is prohibited' disallowed us to do so. At around 10pm, we went aboard 'The Santa Clause Express' that would take us to the capital of Lapland: Rovaniemi. We arrived at about 11am, where we were taken to the shopping centre to purchase the necessary supplies for the weekend. I swear the temperature was around -25 degrees. 'Welcome to Lapland!' We then travelled to Korvala - the 25 acres of land owned by a family business - where we would stay for the next three nights. On the land, there were eleven cottages, a frozen lake, a restaurant, the family's house, a gift shop, an equipment shed, two saunas, a grill house and of course, beautiful bushwalks and forestry.
Activities on day one included a husky sleigh ride and a reindeer sleigh ride. Although, in theory the reindeer can travel up to speeds of 60km/h and the huskies around 50km/h; the huskies were much more fun. These dogs are really beautiful and the way they interact as a pack under their leader is incredible. You could immediately tell who the leader was because as he walked out; the rest of the dogs all went crazy. They were barking and yelping as they watched him wherever he went. The ride lasted only about a minute because the track was short and the dogs were fast. However, it was a once in a lifetime, unique feeling.
On the other hand, the reindeers were a disappointment. Having been told that they could go faster than the huskies, I was really looking forward to it. This was not the case. To be honest, it was boring. The idea is to drive them with a rope with the same actions you would use on a horse. I kept hitting him with the rope to make him go faster but as stubborn as they are, he would not obey. However, I did get to see the 'spastic' side of reindeer. The group that went after me had a reindeer that seriously wanted to prove that he could go faster than the huskies. As I looked to my left, out from behind the trees came this raging reindeer, racing towards the fence. The two boys driving kept yelling out 'stop' but again, stubborn as they are, he wouldn't obey. As their life flashed before the boys eyes, the reindeer herder came across and calmed the situation, just in the nick of time. Funny stuff! Oh by the way, I did manage to pass the test and be awarded with my reindeer driving license!
Dinner on day one was meatballs and vegetables with a rasberry soup for dessert. This was quite a typical Finnish meal which was extremely nice. After dinner, the sauna opened up. Again, in true Finnish style, the boys sauna quickly became a sausage fest! It was so squashy, you had to be careful of knowing where your bits and others bits were at all times! However, the heat of the sauna was well worth it, especially with a beer in one hand. The sauna tradition did not stop here though. An ice hole awaited about 10 metres away where you would heat up in the sauna sausage fest and then put some sort of footwear on (socks or thongs) to walk into and dunk yourself in the ice hole. You would then repeat the process. Apparently, it's meant to be good for you, but I still cannot understand how! Honestly, it does feel good at the time though. The night or morning rather finished with a party at cottage number six as well as cottage number five.
Day 2
Saturday morning began with breakfast at 9am. A true buffet of cereals, toasts, fillings, yoghurts and juice was just what I needed to get me started. Whilst most people went on the snowmobile safari, I chose to stay at home and do the 'free stuff' because of the cost involved to go snowboarding at the ski resort the following day. I was a bit envious of the safari groups, who in pairs, were taken on a 30km journey around the Korvala region with the opportunity to drive the snowmobile for half the time each. The leader informed them of a few things before they went: Obviously, the basics like how to accelerate, break and steer, as well as to watch out for cottage number seven. He said that he had seen it before that some people panic when they drive past this cottage as it appears out of nowhere and instead of breaking; they accidently choose to accelerate. He warned the group not to do this because if you crash; there is a fee of 500 Euros. About five minutes later, this is exactly what happened! The result: a 59 Euro snowmobile safari catapulted to a 559 Euro snowmobile safari!
Meanwhile, I was enjoying the winter wonderland of Korvala's natural surroundings, whilst cross country skiing for the very first time. At first I thought, it was like walking but with skis but then I realised how difficult it can be - especially trying to get up hills. For a track that should have taken us less than 30 minutes to get around, it took us at least an hour with a few stops (falls) on the way. However, because your skis sit in the man-made tracks, when you begin to go down hill; it can be quite exhilarating! I actually loved it so much that I just made my own path down a random hill and survived, though I did fall once more!
The next Lapland activity to be ticked off the list was ice-fishing! With a beer in one hand and my rod in the other...I waited...and waited...and shivered...and waited....and shivered some more...and waited for a fish! Apparently, there were fish down there because we were told beforehand and to prove it; others had their bait taken off. They also have a grilling house set up near by so that in the slightest chance that you do catch something; you can gut it, cook it and then obviously eat it. Whilst I braved the cold for the longest 20 minutes of my life, I did learn that there is a technique to this ice-fishing. Firstly, you must use a long, sharp hand drill to create a hole in the, at least 30cm layer of ice. Secondly, you use a spoon to scoop the remaining icicles out of the hole so that the hole is purely water in order for the fish to come up. Thirdly, you load your rod with bait and then lower your line to the bottom of the lake. Finally, you wait and your patience becomes increasingly shorter and shorter before you pack up your rod and go back inside to enjoy the warmth and comfort of the indoors. Therefore, as you have probably guessed by now, I gave up pretty quickly and went back inside. However, I could not get enough of the cross country skiing. This had to be repeated!
Following round two of cross country skiing, sledging was a must. A makeshift hill of about 10-15 metres was all we could find but was well worth it. Suddenly, a snow storm set in...
The afternoon also saw some people learn to drive the husky sleigh. An interesting story that came out of this was that the few front dogs (including the leader of the pack) during the journey had chewed through the rope and ran off. The driver thought he had lost the dogs forever until about five minutes after the rest of the pack had returned, the three or four dogs also returned, at the directions of the lead dog. Amazing!
Dinner on day two was the traditional Finnish potato casserole with salmon...yum! Dessert was blueberry tart with cream...also yum! All that was left to do now, was to jump in the sauna...and the ice hole...three...or maybe four times! The party for night two again began at cottage number six and finished at cottage number 10.
Day 3
Sunday; arguably the best day of them all! Again, we woke up to a buffet breakfast before the fun really started. We hopped on the bus at 10am; destination - Pyhä ski resort. This mountain was scaringly high in comparison to Mt. Bulla but I was certainly up for the challenge. Our group leader kept saying that we shouldn't get too excited because it's not very high....yeah well maybe for the rest of Europe! Standing at what seemed to be a whopping 520 metres high, this mountain was not be messed with. Ok, I have only done snowboarding once in my life before but it is such an amazing feeling, I wasn't going to leave Europe without having done it Lapland! Yes, I may have fallen a few times but my gosh, was it worth it! The speed you can create on that slope is incredible. Towards late afternoon, the only thing that turned me away was the freezing temperatures; especially near the top of the mountain. I left my last run until the last minute when I had to be back on the bus. As I climbed back through the thick snow to near the top of the mountain (where the carpark was) with only myself and my snowboard, the feeling when finally reaching the top was like I had been in the wilderness for three straight days without any food or water. I thought I was going to die... but it did not matter because I had conquered Pyhä with my snowboard! I was so hot and sweaty that I had to stand outside the bus for 10 minutes with just a shirt on to cool down!
When we returned to Korvala, reindeer was on the menu for dinner. Amazing! Tastes like lamb but better. Dessert was this thing called bread cheese with jam...also amazing! That evening, a few of us sat down to watch the Winter Olympics in front of the hot fire, whilst roasting marshmallows.
Day 4
Monday; also arguably the best day of them all! Why? I'll tell you why! Ever since I was a young boy, it was my childhood dream to meet the real Santa (I always knew he was real) and today, it was about to become true. We packed up our bags and said our goodbyes to Korvala and then arrived at Santa Claus Village around 1pm. Along with many tourist shops, cafes, a theme park and a post office; this was it - FC's house! I was about to meet the Fat Man! When the time came, I think I may have worked up a slight nervous sweat! The tension was building! His factory was amazing, however I did not see any elves =( When we got inside his office; there he was, with a white beard down to his knees and a Christmas suit that looked like it was brand new. I did manage to talk to the great man and I was stoked to hear that although, Australia is one of the furtherest countries he visits on Christmas Eve; he contacts his mate (can't remember his name) down under to prepare the 'six white boomers' (QUOTE THE REAL SANTA CLAUS). It was right then and there, I felt proud to be Australian!
Before we had to board the train to depart back home, we spent the last few hours in Rovaniemi. Having just met FC this part is irrelevant, however we did eat in the world's most northern Mcdonalds!
Overall, this trip was well worth it! It had exceeded all my expectations. However, there was one thing that was missing: the Northern Lights. This time around, unfortunately I did not get to see them, whilst others claimed that they did. Admittedly, they said it wasn't 'postcard material' but it was definately the Northern Lights. Apparently, the best time to look out for them is between 10pm and 11pm but I was not man enough to stand out in the cold and look up at the sky for a potentially long period of time. Hopefully in Kautekeino, Norway, they will be nicer to me and come out to play.
The end.
| 74 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Sonya Smith (mum)
Comment by Anonymous
PS. Does FC still have BO like he used to when he was in John Martins Magic Cave?.