On the day that marks one month since we hit the road, it was time to take a rest after a fully hectic few days with dog sledding, ice hotels/dinners, Santa Claus Village and Arctic crossing certificates, ice hockey matches, snow mobiling, ice fishing and lots and lots of walking in chilly temperatures.
Coincidentally, it looks like before we leave the deep north, we'll get a bit of a taste of a more "normal" winter in Rovaniemi with temperatures dropping today to minus 15C and the forecast for tomorrow currently at minus 21C.
Feeling a touch nostalgic about the Scandinavian stretch nearing its end, I decided to head out on foot to revisit some of the sights of town. Down to the river to get a photo of the midday sun (about 5 degrees above the south horizon), along past the Science museum with Arctic garden (not much to see of the plants but pretty), along past the river's edge where we have seen the aurora and eventually back around to our place at Kiertotie 1. I stumbled on the local school children heading home at 1:30pm. Not sure if they go home for lunch and return in the afternoon or not.
While out I experimented with balaclava on and off, and at this temperature I didn't feel worried about frost bite on my nose. Did have a lot of icicles on my moustache and beard, plus some on my eyelashes at times. It's a strange feeling to have my face feeling really "tight" from the ice pulling on facial hair when moving face around. It's also a fine line between getting cold and getting sweaty/hot and then not being able to get the moisture off. We've got good merino thermal base layers but it's still easy to get it wrong. When it's this cold though, it's not an easy "vent" of heat/strip off, because the cold really bites very quickly. So, listening to the body and trying to keep the level of exertion below sweating is the balance to find. All interesting. There are some items of clothing that I was thinking had been a waste in bringing. Not so...neck warmer, balaclava have had a good run, as have all of my base layers. Also, very pleased to have brought the hoodie that almost didn't make it!
Bronnie's devised a nice way of keeping her "cold spot" (back of shoulders just below the neck) warm by always wearing a singlet and then tucking her scarf in at the back and pulling it down to cover that spot. Wearing of 4 layers plus jacket is not unusual for we Aussies. I'm sure we've acclimated a bit too.
Anyway, a quiet night enjoying a Swedish true crime show before we head to the zoo by bus tomorrow. Forecast still at minus 21C...we may think we're a bit crazy yet.
Some other thoughts on Lapland/Finland. The not unfriendly but not warm demeanor of the locals is still puzzling. Bronnie also had the revelation that something she's noticed about the men especially is that they haven't been feminised as is the case in Australia. Men look like they can be men without undue political correctness/judgement, and seem better for it. They do the jobs like driving buses etc without fanfare as men being men. Plenty of them smoke...it feels like an old fashioned/old world/slightly unaffected by intellectualism (without being judgemental). Perhaps the harsh reality of difficult climate and the nearness of potential harm in the extreme cold has a bit to do with this.
Cost wise, Finland is on par with Norway, more expensive than Sweden but less than Copenhagen which was the most expensive of the four. I wish I'd bought more souvenirs in Sweden ;)