Chasing the Fox

Not clad in red on horseback with blood-curdling cries of “Yoiks” and “Tally-ho” but out in the quiet Arctic cold, hoping for glimpses of the Northern Lights or, more scientifically, the Aurora Borealis. 

And the fox?

Well, in Finland, the Northern Lights are known as “Revontulet” which translates to Fox Fire in English.

One Sami legend has it that, as the Arctic Fox runs across the hills or fells his bushy tail moves so fast it whips up the snow and generates sparks which light up the sky.  Of course, there are also less romantic scientific theories.

Whatever the reason for them, a good display of the Northern Lights is one of the most magical and mysterious sights we ever get to see, and even a mild display has an ethereal quality that only increases the desire to see the more spectacular version.

Last night (12th January 2014) looking out at the sky above Äkäslompolo in Finnish Lapland, there seemed to be just a hint of a green glow even with a bright moon.

We’ve been here before…  often just prior to spending a fruitless evening in a cold car getting a stiff neck leaning forward and looking upwards.

A quick look at the thermometer showed that it was just hovering above -30C (-22F). 

With a warm bed beckoning, it's never an easy decision to pull on multiple layers of clothing to keep the cold at bay, find hat and gloves, camera, tripod and back-up batteries, then warm up the car to drive out of the village to a nice dark spot to watch and wait, hoping for a good display. 

In the Arctic, the Northern Lights are supposed to be visible some 200 nights of the year. There is though a big difference between the “Quiet” display and the “Active” display which is what we really want to see. 

A “Quiet” display is normally a bit of a green glow in the sky. That’s the one that’s usually accompanied with a lot of pointing and “is that something” type questions. The hope is that this is just the beginning, and that the green glow will gradually and magically transform into a “Active” display.  

Fortunately, despite the cold, the decision was made to go out. On the way through the village there were hints of green in the sky, but, even when on arriving at a handy lay-by to the North of the village, it was clearly still a “Quiet” display, with only the typical arch of green fading in and out.

Once out, the temptation is to photograph anything, if only to justify the decision of not going to bed to yourself.  That can be quite interesting in the arctic where, with the help of a slow shutter speed, it’s never quite as dark as you think. One of the result of that was this image of the Orion constellation, accompanied by some lovely clear moon shadows. 

Anyway, after several rushes out of the car to take photographs, then jumping back in to the warmth before body and camera get too cold to operate, it started to look like the display was becoming a bit more “Active”.



This is when you hold your breath and hope that the fox has his running shoes on and is feeling fit.  Then, if you're anything like me, you wish you were a professional photographer and could do more than set a really slow shutter speed, point and hope!

For a short time, there was a really nice display, long enough anyway to capture a couple of images of just how unique and vivid the display can be. 

When a good display gets going, it really is one of the most remarkable things that you will ever see, with the light moving and flowing to its own rhythm in complete silence. 

It does look great on photographs, and possibly more so on video. But standing out in the snow watching it all happening in silence, is really one of the most fantastic things to experience.

Thanks Mr Fox for a cracking display last night!   Fingers and cameras soon return to normal temperature, but the unique spectacle is recorded for ever in the mind. 

The Northern Lights are notoriously unpredictable, although the level of activity is supposed to coincide with sunspot activity, which is supposed to be at a maximum during 2013 and 2014. 

The Auroras Now! site is a space weather service maintained by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) to help watching auroras in Finland.  This was the original trigger for our little adventure.

http://aurora.fmi.fi/public_service/

Good Luck to all other followers of the fox. 

Kick Sledging

In the UK, "sledging" generally brings one of two things to mind...

• Children (young and old) tobogganing down the local grassy slope when school has been closed after a dusting of snow... or 
• Sportsmen indulging in the decidedly unsporting practice of winding up their opponents with what might be called "colourful" insults. 

In Lapland, it's different. 

With six months or more of snow cover a year, kick sledging is a regular way of getting around for young and old.  This one from Esla is a good example of the standard kick sledge. 

The principle is very simple.  The "driver" stands on one of the footrests on one leg, and, using a scooter-type kicking motion with the other leg, pushes back between the runners to move the sledge forwards.  It's pretty good exercise too!

Passengers on the sledge don't get the exercise benefits, but do get to experience the wind-chill and hear how hard the driver is breathing!

Of course, as with every other form of transport, there are people that push things to the limit, and there are kick sledges made with the need for speed in mind.

  

These don't have the shopping carrying option, but they really help you cover the ground fast and are a bit easier to steer.

You can see an excellent example of sporty kick sledges being raced in use by a lot of brave/crazy individuals in the annual Ylläs kick sledge race in Äkäslompolo in the link below.

   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF5z4Wk9rY8

The prize for the winner of the race each year is a copy of the lovely Bruno Maximus painting of a kick sledger, which captures the ethos of the kick sledge race event so well and highlights the dangers of not regularly changing legs when kick sledging.  

Making the most of your time in Äkäslompolo!

If you’re here on a package trip, you might not have much time for exploring and finding out what you can do in and around the village.  There are loads of options!

I hope you will find the notes here useful in making the most of your time here.  I would have included pictures, but I’m sure you’ll be busy taking your own!

Any comments, suggestions, feedback, questions etc. very welcome! 

* Adventures

* Skiing

* Eating Out

* Souvenirs

* Fire and Light

Adventures

If you want to look beyond the options offered by your tour reps, or prefer to explore in a smaller group, relax, it’s easy!  

There are local safari companies that will be delighted to help.  

On the way up Sivulante, the road that heads off to the right as you walk up the hill from the Supermarket, you will see Destination Lapland on your left with the giant lit-up kick sledge outside. 

There are several safari companies further up the same road on the left.  These are staffed by lovely people who all speak good English and will happily organise tours for you.

Husky drawn sled tours (something everyone should do once), exploring in groups on snowmobiles or even hiring snowmobiles to go off exploring on your own with clear maps and instructions.

You might have heard of the Lainio Snow Village.  It’s absolutely worth a visit to see all the snow and ice sculptures.  The best way to get there is to hire snowmobiles for a few hours and follow the map at your own speed, but it’s an easy taxi trip too.   

Skiing

You’re probably aware that there is a ski slope here.  Even if you didn’t plan on skiing, or indeed you’ve never been on skis before, if you head up the Scenic Road (Maisematie) to Y1 on one of the Ski Buses that run regularly from all the hotels, you can hire all the equipment you’ll need.

The instructors are fantastic with all levels from absolute beginners upwards, and even a one-hour lesson will get a non-skier you to a surprisingly reasonable and confident level. It’s also a great family activity. 

Less well-known to many UK travellers is that Äkäslompolo is one of the best places for cross-country skiing.  You might have seen some of the tracks (two parallel lines a few inches apart that head off into the countryside often starting under wooden arches). 

There are more than 300km of ski tracks in this area, with quite a few lit until 10pm for the more enthusiastic skier.

Cross-country skiing is really quite easy to get started with, and skiing off into the woods in the twilight is lovely experience. 

The Äkäslompolo Sport Shop and Sportia both hire all the equipment you’ll need to get started and organise lessons too.  If you have the time, this really is a great way to spend a few hours.  This was what kept us coming back here originally.

You might see ski maps for sale in the shops and supermarket. These pay for the upkeep of the ski trails for everyone, and keep them free for use.  As well as being nice souvenirs, you can really help the area by purchasing one of these.   

If you find yourself getting quite confident and want to venture a bit further away, you’ll see lots of rustic wooden signs pointing to wilderness cafés out on the ski trails.  Never did hot chocolate and doughnuts taste better than after an hour of skiing!

Eating Out

With many package trips, all food and accommodation is included.  Even so, it’s worth exploring the local cuisine further at one of the local restaurants, especially if you like trying local food like reindeer and arctic char.  (Tip - pretty much everyone that isn’t vegetarian likes reindeer)

Poro Restaurant is up past the Yllaskaltio hotel.  Take the right fork in the road and it’s about 250m down the road on the right.  It’s a lovely setting and fantastic Finnish food.  There’s also a nice gift shop there.

To get to Restaurant Rouhe, the newest restaurant in Äkäslompolo, you need to go down the main road past the supermarket to the T-junction, there you can’t miss it on your left at the far side of the junction.  As well as a range of local foods, they also do fantastic pizza!

Eväskori is a nice pub which sometimes does karaoke, and serves great pizza.

Ylläksen Kaivohuone (The Sport Bar) has a good range of sport channels and also serves food.  (Can’t say much more as not been there yet.)

Julli’s has long been a favourite here with tourists.  It’s more of a pub/restaurant, but also does lovely burgers, where you can even chose one with antlers! (a delicious smoked- reindeer topping ).

The Selva pub (Selvä Pyy) is just in front of the supermarket on the main road and also serves great local burgers. 

Tower Restaurant and Nightclub is another very new restaurant in town, also just in front of the supermarket.  It’s excellent quality and, if you have any energy left after a day in the snow, and the pubs close too early for you, has a nightclub that’s open from 10pm to 4am.

Souvenirs

On the main road there are several shops selling lots of Lappish products, many made by local craftspeople.  If you can’t find some good souvenirs in those, you’re really not trying!

Jounin Kauppa is the fantastically large supermarket here.  Pretty much anything you need you’ll find there, as well as lots of gift options.  There is also a well-stocked chemist, a café and a post box there.

Navettagalleria is a lovely little arts and culture wilderness café open from 10am to 3pm Mon to Friday.  Here you can be sure to meet the magical gnomes of the forest.  Easiest to ski or drive/taxi to.

Fire and Light

As you move around the village, you'll probably see lots of candles and torches burning outside shops and cabins.  

On special occasions, (3pm on Christmas Eve and 8pm on New Year’s Eve) the villagers place candles along the sides of the main streets and switch off the street lighting.  There can’t be many better times to see the village.

At around 11pm on New Year’s Eve, down near the supermarket car park, there will be a Fire lantern event, where you can buy and launch your own lanterns to celebrate New Year. 

On “normal” days, the village street lights are switched off at 10pm to make it easier to see the Northern lights (Aurora Borealis) when they make one of their unpredictable, but spellbinding, appearances. 

Have a wonderful time in Äkäslompolo!

Arctic Chills

Since we arrived in Lapland, it's been, not surprisingly for winter, a bit chilly.

Of course, it's all relative, and having the temperature moving between about -5 and -15C is great for cross-country skiing, and isn't at all like the bone-chillingly damp cold that we were used to in UK winters. 

Yesterday, all that changed.  The temperature dipped below -20C and then started plummeting!

Getting a little chilly!

This is how it looked last night... By then, all was calm.  

Earlier, in the afternoon, just as the numbers hit the -30s, we had a power cut, leaving us scrabbling for candles and head-torches by the flickering light of the log fire.

Sitting around the roaring fire in candlelight, is a lovely winter setting, only, in our case, slightly tinged with worry as to how long the remaining logs (and furniture if necessary) will burn for, and how long that will keep the winter chill outside. 

Using the video camera to record the dark stillness outside, my wife wondered out loud if we should keep the remaining four minutes of battery life to record any "last messages"!

Fortunately, the power cut lasted only ten minutes or so, but it was a timely reminder of just how vulnerable we are at the mercy of potentially severe Arctic weather.  

Roadtrip to the Arctic

I've never really understood what "Quantity Surveying" was all about, but the concept came to mind as I looked at the stacks of boxes, wrapped furniture and bags of clothing in the middle of our living room on a morning in September.

Without being too precise, it looked like a heck of a lot of stuff!  More importantly, it looked like a lot more stuff than would fit in the Transit van that we had just hired to take all our stuff to Lapland. 

Ah, yes, we have taken the decision to give up our jobs, house, and life in West London and relocate to the North of Finland, but more on that later.

Fortunately, packing is one of my wife's special skills and,  even though it looked a bit touch and go at the halfway stage... 

We soon had a van full, even (just) finding space to fit in the trolley and headed off around the M25 to Harwich to catch the overnight ferry to Esbjerg in Denmark. 

As we arrived at the port, "Cargo" side rather than "Passenger, it became apparent that we were amongst some "Proper" cargo, with some lorries shipping items that were far bigger than our van, possibly even bigger than the house we will be moving to!

And it didn't look much more impressive when we finally loaded our Tonka toy Transit van on to the ferry!










Once in Denmark we took off in the direction of Sweden, passing over the mightily impressive Øresund Bridge and towards Stockholm and the North.

All was going well until the light started fading.  As it became gradually darker, the number of cars, vans, buses, in fact everything but bicycles, heading towards us, were flashing their lights.

Realising that this was not a traditional welcome to foreigners, we quickly realised that we had yet to adjust our headlights, or at least attach the fairly pathetic and ineffective looking strips we had purchased on the ferry.  

Bingo! Despite our skepticism, we didn't dazzle any further Scandinavians from that point on.  

Maybe just as well, since it's a long old drive from Denmark to Lapland!

Most of our route was through Sweden, and, while the scenery is lovely, the roads are relatively quiet and the Swedes have some of the largest and most picturesque lakes in Europe, we found out, at 6:30pm on Sunday, that some of the petrol stations have sharp kerbs too!

Just as we had filled up, and were about to head off for a last driving stint for the day, there was a popping noise and suddenly the van was listing significantly to Port.  

A quick look around the back confirmed that, not only was the tyre flat, but had a four inch tear in the sidewall.  Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tyre and a van so heavily laden that the basic jack provided would have no chance of lifting it.  This was not part of the plan.  

But, it was a good time for a reminder of why we are heading for Lapland.  It does seem that the further North you get, the more people are keen to help each other out.  

After a chat with the filling station team, and some help from a local Swedish chap, we soon had the local tyre specialist heading our way in a converted ambulance.

Half an hour later, and some serious testing for his jacks, we were on the way again.

(Special thanks to Tobias and his girlfriend for listening to the foreigners ramblings and taking it all in their stride) 

Fortunately, even at this time of year, there are more hours of daylight, in the Arctic than in Blighty, so it was quite easy to see that we were getting close, even at 7:30 pm. 

Another hour or so, and we made it to Ylläs and started loading our worldly goods into our cabin.

Stage one complete.  Now we need to get ourselves and the van back to the London, work out a couple of weeks work notice, then get ourselves to Lapland before winter really arrives...