Finnish Lapland

Well our first real trip was to Yllas, about an hour drive from Kittala airport. It is a good way into the Arctic Circle - so should be a lot of snow and pretty bloody cold. I had grand hopes of seeing the Northern Lights - but didn't really know what the chances were. We arrived to -9 degrees, a good start and lots of snow.
We did a typically english package holiday, so were meeted and greeted and piled onto a bus with the other crowd. The package holiday is not all bad...the best thing being the price. Also, most people who go on them tend to stick very close to the hotel and only take the 'tours' they sell. For this trip we wanted to avoid the snowboarding and try the other snowy activities'...
Monday, we had not much planned... the temp rose to (apparently hot) -1 degrees and we got about 10 cm of fresh snow. We trekked down and hired our snow gear - Josie got an especially sexy 1 piece suit :) that made her look like super mario ! The boots were great, no more slipping over and warm feet. We then piled down to the supermarket to store up on 'supplies' to ensure we could eat nice and cheap. Luckily, our holiday included a 3 course breakfast and dinner - good for the budget, but not the waist line :( However, given we are facing the shits for the next few months, it makes sense to store up some fat for the hard times ahead. That night we discovered one of the downsides of the package holiday - hill billy families and their kids (that appear to have been raised by feral animals). These little shits proceeded to play musical rooms with their friends and ran up and down the hall until 1 in the morning.
Tuesday morning - we moved rooms, right down the other end of the hall. It was that, or kill a few of them. Today we were going ice fishing - I felt obliged to do this and swap fishing stories with someone on the other side of the world. Josie was not too keen, but the 15km snowmobile trip provided some promise... As we booked this ourselves it was just us and the guide which always helps... The snow mobile was great, I was only allowed to drive it at 40km per hour, but the dial went up to 160 !! Wouldn't mind trying that again sometime without a guide around and see how fast they really go :)
We got to a small lake in the middle of nowhere... got given a reindeer skin to protect us from the cold. Our guide, Damo, then drilled a 4" hole in the ice, and produced a fishing rod that looked like a kiddies toy....about 8 inches long, made of plastic and with just a break in terms of reel functionality...
It was then we found out it was not really the season for ice fishing...it is best for the 1st ice and the last ice of the season, when there is still plenty of light getting through the ice. In mid-winter, the ice is about 50cm thick, with another 50cm of snow - it is very dark in the water, and the fish are not really looking for food. So you need to drill a hole pretty much above a fish, drop your fake worm right onto his bottom lip to stand a chance... So with bugger all chance of catching a fish, we did what all good fishermen do best and share some tales. Damo spoke good english, and had one great story where they go ice fishing in a competition where they release tagged fish into the lake, and if you catch one the tag number is matched to a prize. Total prizemoney is 1M Euros !! and 32,000 people turned up to fish this one lake !! Madness - surprised the ice didn't crack with that many holes!!
It was only -4 today - so we went back to have a cup of tea around a fire to warm up... before another session for some more fishing. We caught nothing, but good fun. Josie finished the day with one of the longest wee's in the history of the world. She was worried about getting out of 14 layers of clothing and freezing, so had been crossing her legs for 5 hours. I think she clocked somewhere between 2 and 3 minutes of uninterrupted flow !!
And that night, we discovered we were at the other end of the hallway race track for the mutant kids... But they weren't too bad - finally been dragged to bed at 11.30pm.
Wednesday was a big day, we had Reindeer sleigh safari in the morning and then tobogganing at night. The Reindeer sleigh ride was good, very sweet and romantic, although Josie felt sorry for this poor reindeer that had to drag our (now xmas loaded) asses through the snow. Again, minus 2, so not too cold. That night we all got taken up to the ski slopes for some sledging (note to aussies - this is not taking the piss from your sporting opponents but riding down the hill on a sledge). Was good fun, but very tiring. Josie won the race series 3:2 as I kept falling off. We then sat round the fire drinking hot chocolate and Cointreau and Mint Liqueur - very nice.
We got back at about 10pm, and the cloud had cleared so I talked Josie into a stroll down to the lake...and we got lucky. We saw the northern lights!! They started feint and we argued over whether it was a cloud or the lights... but as the time wore on they got more pronounced and more green. It wasn't a brilliant display, but considering the next day one couple had been there 5 years in a row and never seen them !
Thursday the temperature dropped, down to -25. And bugger me it was cold. And today we had the Husky Safari... It was soo cold the hairs in your nose freeze, which is a very annoying feeling :) The husky safari was brilliant....Josie drove first (I had no chance of stopping that) and the dogs were mad for running. We had a team of six dogs and can they run. The temp was perfect for them...as -10 is too hot... and the ran and ran and ran. Especially amusing was the dogs running and crapping at the same time... I nearly froze to death sitting on the sled, but soon warmed up once I managed to get Josie to give up driving. We got back to the Husky Farm and several kids were wailing - as they had nearly frozen to death on the sled while there parents drove. I hoped it was the little shits who had been running up and down the hall at night :)
Friday was a rest day..still stupid cold but also windy. We chilled out, wandered out for a walk and then quickly retreated back to the hotel for a swim and a sauna. Saturday was a trip to the ice hotel in Sweden..which was amazing, but why you would pay 400€ to spend a night in -5 degrees was beyond us. Lovely design though, and they have to rebuild the thing every year so it is always different.
It was a great trip, I have had my fill of snow and cold weather...we are now off to Edinburgh.