North to South Finland

Thu 20.07.2023

The weather was still not good. So, we booked a visit to the Arctic Sauna World right next to the Pallas-Yllästunturin National Park. At 3:30 pm we were there and the facility was really great. It had 5 saunas, of which 'only' four were in operation that day, and was located right next to a lake. Three of these saunas were in beautiful wooden huts, really rustic. After each sauna session, we went to cool off in the lake, which was about 12 degrees cold. We also got to talk to a Finnish family. The father was very chatty and told us a lot about his summer holidays in the far north when he was a boy. His first question to us, by the way, was whether we were Germans. We realised in the course of the conversation that even today the dislike of the Germans and Russians is greater than one might think.

The very good dinner we ate in the Sauna’s restaurant and as sleeping place we chose the parking lot of the National Park, from which we wanted to make a hike the next day. The weather forecast was still not nice, but we wanted to decide spontaneously.

Fri 21.07.2023

It was windy and raining. The clouds were very low, just not motivating for a hike. The destination would have been the highest hill at 800 meters above sea level, which would have been a great panoramic view. But in this weather, you wouldn't have had any of that today. So, we let it go, and we just decided to head south. Shortly after we left, we discovered an advertisement on the side of the road for a Swiss coffee shop in Muonio. We made a slip towards the Swedish border and drank a hot Caotina chocolate and ate something sweet. The coffee is run by a Swiss woman who emigrated about 15 years ago. But we didn't get to see her.

And because we had nothing better to do, we drove almost three hours straight to Rovaniemi. We parked in the Christmas village at the Arctic Circle, but stayed the evening in the camper. By the way, the German man parked next to us, we have already seen in Norway. Funny.

Sat 22.07.2023

We spent the morning in the Christmas village. In the summer it is actually nothing more than a collection of souvenir shops. Santa Claus could be visited for 40 Euros. There would have been a petting zoo (Santa's Elfs) and a small husky farm, but for everything you would have paid separately between 10 and 20 Euros. It also had some offices that sell you activities like dog sledding, ski tours, snowmobile rides etc. We think this would be a great place in winter. A huge Christmas market including Santa Claus. By the way, we saw three cars with Chinese license plates and learned that the gentlemen are driving from Beijing, China to Morocco. 40,000 kilometres in three months, just unbelievable. Unfortunately, we didn’t find them in the European social medias, it would have been very interesting to follow their route.

For lunch we left the village and went to the town of Rovaniemi itself. This time we ate at the McDonalds. It is the most northerly McDonalds in the world, but actually there is also a branch in the Russian town of Murmansk. However, McDonalds withdrew from all over Russia in April 2022 for well-known reasons, so Rovaniemi now has the status.

Afterwards we strolled through the streets, went through one or two shops and then drove an hour towards Ranua. Completely secluded in the middle of the woods we found a place to stay. On the way there, Lukas slammed on the brakes so quickly and reversed a few metres that Sarah thought he had seen a special animal, like a wolf. But what Lukas saw with his eagle eyes were lots of bushes full of ripe cloudberries. As soon as we had parked the car, Lukas put on good clothes, put on his sexy net-hat and went picking berries. When he returned, he was surrounded by mosquitoes, but with a huge grin on his face. He proudly showed off his kuksa filled with orange berries. By the way, a kuksa is a traditional Finnish wooden cup.

Sun 23.07.2023

We don't have to tell you what the weather was like, do we? But just five minutes from where we stayed was the big Ranua Zoo, which is what we did that day. The zoo is home to arctic and far northern animals like reindeer, elk, brown bears, wolves, lynx, even polar bears and some owls. The enclosures of the animals were really large and they had plenty of space to retreat. The zoo also keeps some animals that were found injured and would no longer have survived in the wild (e.g. owls that could no longer fly). They also took part in a project in which every reindeer born in the zoo of the species 'wild forest reindeer', a subspecies of reindeer, was released into the wild.

That evening we went to a nice little campsite by a river. We already mentioned that Norway is a real paradise for campers. There are so many opportunities to shower, fill water, empty toilets and stand free. Finland has all of that, except showers. Here it is much more difficult or hardly possible to find a public shower without going to a swimming pool, an expensive sauna or a campsite.

Mon 24.07.2023

We have already driven 15,000 kilometres during our almost three-month journey. Sounds unbelievable! So far, the van has done wonderfully and reliably brought us to our thousand destinations. And to keep it that way, it was time for maintenance. For this we drove to the west coast to the city of Oulu.

But first we went to meet a man named Jouni, from whom we bought two stand-up paddles on the Internet. You haven't read that we used SUPs on our trip yet. So far, we've only been surfing once. But since we tried SUP in Slovenia last year, we kept talking about buying our own. And now we have done it in the hope that in the Land of a Thousand Lakes (as Finland is also called) we will definitely get the opportunity to use them.

Then we went to a kind of self-service garage, where we put the bus onto a lift and Lukas could do his work. And as it is the case with maintenance work, one or the other ailments appear: The oil pan was not completely sealed and one of the wheel bearings probably had enough of the bumpy roads. But for now, it should still be fine.

We didn't pay much attention to the city of Oulu itself and in the evening continued our way along the coastal road. Directly by the sea we found a wonderful place to stay. Side note: in Norway there are resting places with toilets every few kilometres. In Finland, you have parking lots, but there are no toilets, not even trash cans. But when you do have toilets, it's usually compost toilets.

Tue 25.07.2023

We drove 2.5 hours to the small town of Vaasa and spent the afternoon there. It was a nice place, very cosy and at the harbour we had really delicious ice cream. We had a quick look in one or two outdoor shops, because Sarah was looking for a pair of hiking trousers that are mosquito-proof, but we couldn't find any. Afterwards we found another jewel of an overnight place via the app Park4Night. In Vaasa itself, at another small harbour, there were a few parking places right by the water. We were happy to finally have sunshine again and enjoyed the great sunset.

Wed 26.07.2023

And we woke up in beautiful weather. We just enjoyed being in the sun, which is very comfortable, because we can open the rear doors. Then we went into town to a pharmacy. As we walked back to the bus, Sarah noticed something unpleasant: traces of oil. And it really came from our bus, on the ground under the oil pan a small pool formed in the 5 minutes that we were in the pharmacy. That cried out for action. First, we went to a Biltema, a big shop for all kinds of car parts (this doesn't exist in Switzerland) and then to an Opel garage. But they explained that the original gasket for the oil pan is no longer available. So, Lukas had to be inventive and tinker something himself. We drove to a big rest area, where Lukas sealed the oil pan as best as he could, while Sarah got the inside of the bus cleaned out.

After five hours, everything was done and the sealant was dry enough. Just in time, before the thunderstorm hit and it started to rain again. And because we were sweating and smelling of oil, we went back to a campsite, which usually has showers. This campsite was nicely situated on a beach by the sea, very familiar and small. As the sun was shining again, we brought out our mini grill and grilled some pork fillets. The small grill didn't heat so well, it took a little longer. Our Finnish neighbour noticed this and offered to use his grill. What a nice gesture.

Then it would have been time for a shower. The problem was, the only shower available was IN the sauna. And that was being used extensively by a Ukrainian family, and another man was already waiting to go to the sauna himself. That could have taken hours. A bit silly, but half as bad. So, the sink it was for tonight.

Thu 27.07.2023

Since we wanted to take a shower anyway, we went for a short swim in the sea after breakfast. This time the shower was also free. Afterwards we drove to the Kauhanevan-Pohjankankaan National Park, a rather large moorland area, and made a small hike there. It was a little over an hour, so we knew we could take a lot of time, and we did. The forest had beautiful coloured lichens, we saw mushrooms over and over again. We came to a lake, then we came to a swamp. The landscape here was really very varied and beautiful. We saw a lot of little blue dragonflies, a woodpecker, rubbing our fingers on fir trees to make them smell beautifully like forest. All in all, it was a beautiful place and we hardly met any other people.

Only a few minutes up the road from the National Park is the Nummijärvi, where the Nummirock Metal Festival takes place every year in June. All year round, however, the facilities are still put up: part of the main stage, ticket offices and signs for the different camps. We parked our bus, which by the way didn't lose a drop of oil, down by the lake, where the beach camp was supposed to be.

Fri 28.07.2023

A bit cross-country we drove towards Tampere. In Finland, as soon as you leave the main roads, you drive on reasonably good gravel roads. Arriving in Tampere we went to a car parts dealer to buy a new wheel bearing for the bus. In the meantime, a thunderstorm arrived and it started to rain again. We went shopping in the same area because we were running out of food. The store was absolutely huge. Sarah has never seen anything like this, and Luke compares it to stores in America. They're also open 24 hours here. They talk about climate change and food waste all the time, but if you're in a store that probably sells more yogurt than it has inhabitants, it's just hypocritical. The store had a total of 75 aisles!!

Afterwards we set off to a suburb where there is a self-service garage so that Lukas could install the new wheel bearing.

When the little aches and pains were mended from the bus, we drove five minutes to the nearest shopping area, because there was a laundromat there. While our laundry was getting cleaned, we ate dinner there and served ourselves at the Wi-Fi of the pizzeria. Also, this shop here was huge (we were not in there this time) and was open 24 hours. And it’s not a 15-minute drive from that in the afternoon. Tampere, by the way, has 250,000 inhabitants.

Sat 29.07.2023

On Saturday it rained all day. Even though it was pouring sometimes, we had a look at the town. We walked across the streets and ate a typical Scandinavian dish in the restaurant Harald. A Viking-style restaurant that we can really recommend. Tampere itself is a pretty old town, very open. It is also considered to be the sauna capital of the world with over 50 public saunas. Of course, we took advantage of that and went to the Rauhaniemi Folk Spa Sauna, which is located right on the huge lake Näsijärvi. Contrary to many beliefs, there does not seem to be a nude area in Saunas in Finland. At least we have not experienced that yet. Instead, you sit butt to butt next to each other, because the saunas are sometimes very crowded and also noisy, because the Finns like to talk while in the saunas, which is almost a no-go in Switzerland. Unfortunately, we can’t provide you with any Picture from Tampere, sorry….

In the evening we drove on to Hämennlinna and stopped there for the night. For the first time in a long time we went to a bar in the evening. In Ireland we had the opportunity to do this in every little town, in Scandinavia, especially in more remote regions, it was quite difficult.

Sun 30.07.2023 + Mon 31.07.2023

We arrived in Helsinki in beautiful and warm weather. We visited the city for two full days. For example, we took the ferry to the island of Suomenlinna, a fortress built in the 18th century and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also visited the Natural History Museum, which shows mainly animal skeletons and stuffed animals from all over the world, specially arranged according to origin and environment. We think the Museum has made this area very exciting and beautifully detailed. If you looked at a window, you found something new everywhere you looked. Take a look at a picture in the gallery and you can imagine it. By the way, we ate at the Harald Restaurant again, because we found it so good in Tampere. But we also indulged in pasta and Mexican food. We found Helsinki to be a great city, pretty clean, nice buildings, lots of life. After a few weeks in the wilderness of the far north it was nice to be in a bee house again and still we are looking forward to a few quiet days.