Summeradventure Finland 2004

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Day 1 Tuesday August 3th we left for Rostock.(Germany, near the Polish border). We arrived at the boat at 16.15 pm. After some hanging around (there was no restaurant), we could embarque at +/-18.30 pm. It was 32 degrees Celsius. We drove 601 km. And then we were hungry. The buffetrestaurant on the boat opened at 20.30 pm. The boat left at 21.00 pm. We didn't see much when we left the harbour, because it was dark and we were having dinner.

Day 2 The next morning August 4th we skipped breakfast, because we were to tired to get up. At noon we used the lunch, needed for the rest of the day, because in the evening we would mis our dinner. ( Debarque). The wheather was nice so we have spent our day on deck in the sun. We arrived in Hanko at 19.00 pm local time. That is 18.00 pm Dutch time. We saw a lot of boats at see. We were 1000 km. further with 21 hours on the sea. After this, once again in the car on our way to Hämeenlinna, 212 km away from Hanko. The maximum speed on the roads was 80 km with a lot of woods, small pieces of maximum 100 km roads, a lot of curves. We drove away from the boat at 19.30 pm and arrived at om 22.30 pm at the hotel. Shall we drink something first ? The first drink costs 0,75 eurocent, the same second drink costs € 2.20. ???? It became dark at 21.30 pm. Today it was 27 degrees C.

Day 3 Thursday August 5th we drove from Hämeenlinna to Kokkola. First paid a visit to a supermarket and then, driving, we saw only wood wood and once again wood along the way. We saw red and yellow houses. We left at 10.30 am and arrived at 17.00 pm at the hotel. Did some more groceries and went to bed early. We thought it was kind of "busy" on the road. As they say: In Finland it is very quiet on the road. But it is no comparissing with all the traffic in Holland. It was 30 degrees C. today. It gets dark at 23.00 pm and at 03.00 am it becomes light again. We drove 428 km.

Day 4 Friday August 6th. Early rise, because we have a long journey ahead of us. We left at 8.30 am from Kokkola. Via Oulu we drove to Kemi. Just before Oulu, via road 827, we went in Muhos to the oldest wooden church of Finland. This church is build in 1634. Originally the church had a flat roof, but, through time, people thought it was to dark in the church with its little windows, the church now has a gothic roof. There are beautiful paintings on the wooden walls. Via road 22 we drove back to Oulu. Via Kemi we drove to Rovaniemi. +/- 1000 km north van Hanko. The first "big" city we see. After arrival we explored the centre of the city. We visited a harvestmarket. There were all kind off local harvest products sold here. We have eaten reindeermeat in restaurant "Fransmanni".( good restaurant) After dinner we went for a walk and saw that there are a lot of homeless and drunk people in the streets. It was 27 degrees. Dark at …… and light at …………At night it is 17 degrees C. So it did not became dark in the night. We drove 480 km.

Day 5 Saturday August 7th we went to the Arktikum. This is a museum that tells about the living in the old days and the present days of the Lap people in Lapland. From here we drove to Santa Claus Village. On the Polarcircle: Napapiiri. We bought some souvenirs and left for Salla at 12.30 pm. On our way to Salla we came across a Vikaköngäs. This is a rapid. We saw reindeer in this area. Today it was 26 degrees C. We drove 165 km. We saw the bar with the longest name in the world: Ä-baari. Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi - baari. In Sallatunturi we have a very nice bungalow. With a lot of comfort. The bungalow is in the woods, surrounded by berries.

Day 6 Sunday August 8th we slept a few hours longer. After breakfast we hiked the OPOE route. This is one of the few hikes that ends at the beginningpoint. Finnish people hike from A to B and how they get back will always be the question ………. The OPOE route is a firm hike. Not long, but intensive. 2,5 km long. We walk through the swamp, meet reindeer and have to climb up to higher grounds. In the woods you see shelters with barbeques. On our way we come across a lake where the fire is still burning near a laavu ( half open shelter). We decide to sit down for a while. After lunch we climbed the mountain Sallatunturra. Pffffffff…….It took us 45 till 60 minuten to get on top. The mountain was very steep. In wintertime this mountain is a skislope. We saw a lot of reindeer and many kinds of berries. We saw Russia and 15 lakes on top of the mountain. Then again it was quit a descend. We went down over the skislope. In the evening we saw reindeer again. The reindeer walk around the bungalows: How was it again??? Woods, woods and woods... We are 15 km away from the Russian border. Today it was 22 degrees C. and cloudy. It doesn't get dark at night.

Day 7 Monday August 9th. After a quiet breakfast we drove to the Russian border. After speaking with other Dutch people and after explaining to a Fin ( not speaking English) that he had arrived at the Russian border ( he was terrified) , we went to Jaurujärvi. This is 15 km north of Salla. Here was a lake where we had a very fine relaxing afternoon. The sandy road ( typical Finnish) to get there was rather rough and we saw that we lost a wheelaccessory!! We drank kettlecoffee in a tipi (kota) in Aatsinki . The Café was in a kota in a piece of grasland at another lake. Here lives a family with two children, a dog and sheep. Dayly they go out fishing with a boat on the lake to have something to eat. In the kota is a fire burning with a kettle water hanging above the fire for the coffee and the benches made of truncks are furnished with reindeerskin. Coming with the coffee we had homemade Lap cake with berries. Today we saw reindeer aswell. We shopped in Salla and in the evening we went to Sallalake.( A lot of mosquitos at the waterfront). We drove 125 km today.

Day 8 Tuesday August 10th we went to Oulangan Kansallispuisto National Park. It rained and it was 16 degrees C. We visited the informationcentre in Hautajärvi. We picked up a map and used this to move further on. Due to the bad weather we went from Hautajärvi to the little Bear route (Piena Karhunkierros). Via road 950 and 8693 to Jumma. We had to drive over a gravelroad (dirty road, half sandroad) 13 kilometer long and filled with bumps and holes, driving 40 km p/hr. We made a heavy hike in the rain, (good shoes are needed) went over two hangbridges with paths that existed out of treetruncks, rocks and swappy woodground. That means, you have to walk a lot over wooden shelfs and stairs to overcome heights. We saw two rapids. (Myllykoski en Jyrävä.. We came across a shelter. It was a watermill with shelfs inside which you can use as a bed. There also was a first aid kit present. Outside the bbq and a picknicktable.This hike is a small part of the little Bear route. The Big Bearroute is approximately 80 km long. So we did the Little Bearroute. Later this day it became dryer and we decided to go to the (Kiutaköngäs). Afterwards 10 km back over the rollercoasterway full of bumps and holes to once again ride 10 km the other way around to see the next rapid (Kiutaköngäs). Here we find the "Red Canyon".. There is a visitor centre. We also hiked overhere. It was less heavy but very beautiful. De Canyon was red with rapids. It was very nice to cross over Finnish roads this way. 13 km to get there, 10 km back , once again 10 km the other way around and 13 km back = 46 km shaking towards highway 950 to "Kayla". In the meantime it became dry and we saw a lot of reindeer. On the way to Kuusamo we saw a very high skislope at Wintersportcentre Ruka. But now we had to clean the car first. The car was very dirty. Can't get out staying clean…… we cannot go to the hotel this way. So .........find a carwash !! After arrival we we had dinner. After dinner we did a small walk at the lake behind the hotel. We drove 159 km.

Day 9 Wednesday August 11th . Early rise. We went to the Kuva church in Paltaniemi. The church has beautiful wall- and ceiling paintings. We drove dia Kajaani, through the centre and road 880 to Paltaniemi. It was quite a puzzle to het there. Then we drove to Nurmes and visited a traditionel Karelian house (Bomba-talo). It was very rainy today, but after arrival in Kuopio the wheather became better. We did a quick tour through the centre, took a look in the harbour and went back to the hotel. It was 16 degrees C. and in the sun it was 23 degrees C. We drove 532 km.

Day 10 Thursday August 12th we drove from Kuopio road 17 to Outokumpu and visited a cuppermine and museum. Via a little road 477 (to Heinävesi) and road 23 to Varkaus, we went to Uusi Valamo. Pay attention to the signs and you can not miss it. We visited a Russian-orthodoxe monestary. The monks and nuns walk in black clothing. The church is very beautiful. Once again we had to follow a dirty road. We saw a lot of lakes. It was rainy but then again it was also very sunny. In the evening we went in Kuopio to the Puijo tower. We had dinner in the restaurant on top of the tower. The restaurant is turning around (152 meter high) and we enjoyed the view very much. We looked down on a skislope, where sporters were practising ski-jumping. And ofcourse we saw a lot of lakes. Today we drove 270 km.

Day 11 Friday August 13th we did 2 routes in one. First we went to Savonlinna and took a tour through the castle. From Savonlinna we went to Kerimaki and visited the biggest kuva kerk of Finland. Via a little road we went to Imatra. We drove parallel on the Russian border where we were watched closely with camera's in watchtowers…. Via road 62, the touristic route, driven to Puumela and Mikkeli. This is a very beautiful and scenic road to drive. It was 16 degrees and we drove 458 km.

Day 12 Saturday August 14th. We didn't do anything today. A little shopping, a small walk, sleep, played games and had dinner at .... McDonalds. ………..

Day 13 Sunday August 15th augustus we visited Porvoo. A cute old wooden city from the 14th century. The cityplan is still the same als in the mideaval. We had coffee in a Finnish little restaurant (read: part of the house), where the owners live themselves aswell. From Porvoo we travelled to Helsinki and after arrival we visited the Olympic Stadium. We drove 249 km.

Day 14 Monday August 16th. Helsinki. From the hotel we could travel by tram to the centre (keskusta). Ofcourse we shopped on the Esplanadi. We visited a Greek orthodoxe church, the Domchurch, and the market at the harbour. We strolled through a park and walked along the harbour back, to get to the centre again.

Day 15 Tuesday August 17th we visited rockchurch Tempelliaukio. This church is build in a rock and has a roof of cupper. We took a look at the Sibeliusmonument. We have been to the openairmuseum on the isle "Seurasaari". This was very nice. Too bad we had bad wheather. It was 14 degrees C. and raining very hard.

Day 16 Wednesday August 18th. In the morning we did some shopping. In the afternoon we had to leave Helsinki to go to the boat in Hanko which would bring us back to Rostock. The wheather was getting better and we enjoyed the view on the kay of Hanko. The boat left at 20.00 pm. It was 14 degrees C today. We drove 151 km.

Days 17/18 Thursday August 19th. We arrived at 18.00 pm in Rostock with the boat. From here we drove to Wismar to stay over for a night. (good idea) To go on Friday the 20th back home. From Wismar back home we drove 630 km.

Totally we drove 4460 kilometers. Back and forth to the boat 1231 kilometer. In Finland driven 18 days and 4460 - 1231 = 3229 kilometers. We extended our trip with a few extra days in Helsinki. This can be done very easy with FINN checks. For us, it meant, that we could not stay in the first hotel in Helsinki. We had to find another hotel for the last night. But we found another hotel in the centre of Helsinki. No problem. We can do everything by foot now. No car needed.....

We did get a good impression of the country making this trip. We made this trip with two children of 12 and 16 years old. They also enjoyed the trip.

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