Everything fluffy

When we made our plan for our sabbatical year, Finland was high on the list. At some point, it disappeared again, then only the south, because in the north there is supposedly nothing exciting except for forests, lakes, mosquitoes, and a ski jump. But things always turn out differently, especially when you have a plan without a plan. Since arriving in Sweden, the North Cape was the plan, and you have to go through Finland to get there, namely in the north. The fastest way would be to go straight up through Finland from Kiruna in Sweden. But we think that's a bit boring. So we started researching whether at least the ski jump would be worth a detour and, lo and behold, there are even 18 ski jumps in Lapland. Hm Lapland, wasn't there someone living there with a bunch of reindeer? Oh yes, and there is even a whole village dedicated to this old man. So it was clear: we're visiting Santa Claus, unless he's on summer vacation in the Caribbean, but when if not in the summer does he have time for us?!

We set off towards Rovaniemi in Finland, where Santa Claus Village is located, as Rovaniemi is Santa's official hometown. A cozy Sunday, just a day of driving, the roads are quiet, rain and sun alternate, suddenly from out of nowhere a hysterical scream comes from the passenger seat, Christine literally has a screaming fit... Finally, he or rather she showed up, the elk. She stands calmly by the roadside, nibbling on tree bark without any stress. We note: elk sightings 2, 1 probably dead in the ditch, 1 eating by the roadside, just as we had hoped.

Santa Claus Village can probably best be described as tourist kitsch, which you will probably feel more in the deep winter than in the summer months. You can do it, but you don't have to. Of course, Christian likes tourist kitsch, so after a stroll through the village and the adjacent holiday homes with Christmas trees outside the doors, the obligatory photo with Santa Claus cannot be missed. Even Lilli let herself be petted by Santa Claus. Otherwise, the village has its own post office for letters to Santa Claus, souvenir shops, restaurants, and countless other attractions that require snow. We also cross the Arctic Circle there, even though it annually shifts by about 14.5m due to the change in the tilt of the Earth's axis, the official line in Santa Claus Village remains constant.

After a night accompanied by flight exercises of the Finnish Air Force but also by the sun, we set off towards Pyhä-Luosto National Park. On the way there, we encounter the next fluffy creatures (we are convinced they must be fluffy): reindeer, on the side of the road, next to the road, on the road, above the road, you can see the small herds everywhere, they seem completely unaffected by passing vehicles. So we note: many reindeer sightings.

The park includes a small ski resort, where we realize that the season hasn't started up here yet. Various construction works do not prevent us from taking a beautiful hike through the national park. A deep valley lined with small rocks spreads out in front of us, surrounded by mountains that need to be climbed over many steps. And in the middle, a waterfall.

After that, we continue to the nearby retro charm camping site in Pyhäjärvi, where we can take care of our camper basics and again, no season, we share the place with 4 other campers and 1000 mosquitoes.

The next day, we hit the road again. The weather gods were not very gracious to us during the few days in Finland. It's raining, windy, cool temperatures, but well, you have to expect that when you come here. In search of a sleeping place, we drive to the small town of Saariselkä, where we are amazed. A large herd of reindeer with young ones strolls leisurely across the village square, right past our parked motorhome into the next front yard. For the night, we head to a site on a small hill. From here, we have a wonderful 360-degree view of the country and can enjoy the midnight sun, because sleeping is a bit difficult for us at the moment, despite the blinds on the windows.

We drive to a truly special sleeping place, a sustainable wilderness camp in northern Finland. The Husky farm (yes, Christine was right, the farms are really called that), called Nomadic Naali, is located in Ivalo. In addition to Huskies, there are also chickens, rabbits, wild boars, and yaks living on the farm. The pitch is incredibly lovingly designed and we spend a day of well-being, even though the temperatures are low, we enjoy a canoe trip on the farm's lake before heating up in the Finnish sauna. After pure relaxation and a portion of Kaiserschmarrn (Christine is turning into a camping super chef), we cuddle up in our blankets.

Before we leave the next day, we get a farm tour and get to know all the animals personally. We learn a lot about the animals, sledding with them, and living together with the Sámi people and their reindeer. The dogs, some of which come from animal shelters, live together in a pack and of course, petting and fluffing the Huskies is our absolute highlight.

Completely relaxed and fluffed up, we then head towards Norway. But that's a different story.