We disembarked from the Nordkapp at Kirkenes (pronounced Kick-en-ness), and had an overnight stay in the Scandic Arctic Hotel. During the day we ventured out and had a browse and lunch in the small shopping centre there. Kirkenes was severely bombed during World War Two, and so all buildings are what I would call 'utilitarian' style.
After breakfast just as it was getting light at 11.45am, we were picked up in a mini-bus - along with 3 other Aussies - and were driven about 4 hours over the border to Finland and deposited in the dark at Hotel Kultahovi at Inari. This is a 'traditional' Lapland hotel where we stayed for 2 nights.
Still no sign of snow, however it was very, very cold outdoors.
Next morning when it finally lightened up with took a walk around this small spread-out town.
There is an extremely good SIIDA Museum there giving a very good display and detail of the original Sami people who lived this far up in the Arctic Circle.
Inari is a very small and remote village although the admin centre for the region, but I think the SIIDA Museum is the major attraction.
Walking back it was fun to find the iced up puddles and pretend to ice-skate.
Darkness fell very early so the afternoon was spent reading by the hotel fire.
Dinner on our last night at this traditional hotel was Sauteed Reindeer with mash, pickled cucumber and lingonberry jam. We think this might be the national dish! Delicious.
Picked up by bus next morning we
were driven by very comfortable public bus (with free wi-fi!) down to Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort where we were to have an overnight stay in a glass igloo.
The main reception area is amazing built of large logs like a gigantic log cabin. Very impressive.
We got settled in our igloo, then rugged up again for a walk down to the main reception/dining room for a really lovely dinner.
Mindful of my allergy to shellfish, they kindly provided me with a chicken dish rather than the salmon with seafood/shellfish sauce.
After dinner we joined a 'Hunting the Aurora' horse-drawn carriage along with 5 others, out into the darkness to search for the Northern Lights. Very fortunate we were, as almost as soon as we reached the high area shelter - with a fire and hot drinks - the sky began to colour up with pale green movements. This continued for about an hour before we headed back down to the resort and tramped back along the frosty road to our igloo. The spectacle was impossible to photograph without nigh-on professional cameras, so we just enjoyed the experience.
In our igloo - nicely warm and with adjustable beds, we had the most comfortable position to watch the Northern Lights accompanied by the very beautiful Solveig's Song from Peer Gynt playing softly on my tablet. Just magic.
Woke several times during the night to see if the Lights were still around, but the sky had clouded over and when we walked down to breakfast there had been a very light snow fall. The first we had experienced. We have continually been apologised to by the Finns/Laplanders for no snow. They say it is three weeks late this year. Just our luck.
All too soon we had to leave our cosy igloo, and join another local bus for the trip down to Rovaniemi - the main city situated right on the border of the Arctic Circle. We knew we were getting back to civilisation (!), when we saw the Maccas/KFC/Subway signs. More on Rovaniemi and our visit to Santa Claus Village in the next post.
After breakfast just as it was getting light at 11.45am, we were picked up in a mini-bus - along with 3 other Aussies - and were driven about 4 hours over the border to Finland and deposited in the dark at Hotel Kultahovi at Inari. This is a 'traditional' Lapland hotel where we stayed for 2 nights.
Still no sign of snow, however it was very, very cold outdoors.
Next morning when it finally lightened up with took a walk around this small spread-out town.
There is an extremely good SIIDA Museum there giving a very good display and detail of the original Sami people who lived this far up in the Arctic Circle.
Inari is a very small and remote village although the admin centre for the region, but I think the SIIDA Museum is the major attraction.
Walking back it was fun to find the iced up puddles and pretend to ice-skate.
Darkness fell very early so the afternoon was spent reading by the hotel fire.
Dinner on our last night at this traditional hotel was Sauteed Reindeer with mash, pickled cucumber and lingonberry jam. We think this might be the national dish! Delicious.
Picked up by bus next morning we
were driven by very comfortable public bus (with free wi-fi!) down to Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort where we were to have an overnight stay in a glass igloo.
The main reception area is amazing built of large logs like a gigantic log cabin. Very impressive.
We got settled in our igloo, then rugged up again for a walk down to the main reception/dining room for a really lovely dinner.
After dinner we joined a 'Hunting the Aurora' horse-drawn carriage along with 5 others, out into the darkness to search for the Northern Lights. Very fortunate we were, as almost as soon as we reached the high area shelter - with a fire and hot drinks - the sky began to colour up with pale green movements. This continued for about an hour before we headed back down to the resort and tramped back along the frosty road to our igloo. The spectacle was impossible to photograph without nigh-on professional cameras, so we just enjoyed the experience.
In our igloo - nicely warm and with adjustable beds, we had the most comfortable position to watch the Northern Lights accompanied by the very beautiful Solveig's Song from Peer Gynt playing softly on my tablet. Just magic.
Woke several times during the night to see if the Lights were still around, but the sky had clouded over and when we walked down to breakfast there had been a very light snow fall. The first we had experienced. We have continually been apologised to by the Finns/Laplanders for no snow. They say it is three weeks late this year. Just our luck.
All too soon we had to leave our cosy igloo, and join another local bus for the trip down to Rovaniemi - the main city situated right on the border of the Arctic Circle. We knew we were getting back to civilisation (!), when we saw the Maccas/KFC/Subway signs. More on Rovaniemi and our visit to Santa Claus Village in the next post.
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