http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Sweden , Norrbotten en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:44:55 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:44:55 BST Today is midsummers' eve the brightest day of the year. The sun just does not want to set up here in the north this time of the year. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/blog-289696.html Today has been a fantastic day with sunny weather some fishing and some paddling in my parents' ancient green canoe.Enjoy the pictures http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/blog-289360.html This morning right after breakfast I took Enrico walking up on Skirvo a small mountain near my parents' house. It's not a very high mountain only about 500 meters above sea level but you get a fabulous view from the edge of the cliff at the top. We walked and climbed up the southeast side of the mountain through old forest across the top and down the steep west side. It's quite hard work and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/blog-289031.html Today we went to see the mighty rapids at Storforsen in Pite river. It is such a magical place it is beautiful and powerful. It is the kind of place that tickles your imagination. Just look at the fantastic picturesI have spent the evening trying to erect my new tent outside on the lawn. Easier said then done. It turned out some of the equipment was faulty and the inner tent was not the same ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/blog-288588.html At 6.16 am on Sunday morning we arrived at lvsbyn train station after 13 hours on the train. I rather like train journeys and managed to sleep fairly well my tip always bring a pillow on a long train ride but I'm not too sure about Enrico. Anyway we sat next to a very nice girl from Massachusetts US who was travelling on her own. I don't think she had spoken to anybody in a while because http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/blog-288194.html Well itrsquos my last day with Hannah Malfoy Zaki and Tovak so feeling a bit subdued as I harnessed them up for the last time. The cabin last night was really nice with a fantastic view out of the window. Michael and Gurt from the team gave Torbin a rest and cooked fresh salmon from the lake for supper. It was delicious. As it had snowed during the night Linda used the snowmobile to make a pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-255536.html Now getting quite proficient at harnessing the team and even Tovok acknowledged me for the first time this morning when I came to harness him to the sled. Really starting to bond with the dogs their total devotion to pulling the sled is phenomenal you canrsquot help but respect them. Also you have to admire their knack of being able to pull something like 200Kgs and crap at the same time I co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-255518.html After feeding the dogs and eating breakfast it was time to summon up the courage to go for a Number 2. The toilet is of course outside and is basically a hole in the ground. Thatrsquos not really the problem itrsquos more the temperature in there. At 15 degrees and with the floor like an ice rink itrsquos not the place to take any reading material with you. When the cold air hits your bare http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-254849.html Awoke and helped prepare breakfast while the some of the others fed the dogs. We harnessed up the huskies and set off by about 10 Orsquoclock. Harnessing the huskies is quite a challenge as you have to make sure that you put the correct harness on each of the dogs and also ensure that you put the lead dog on first and take them off last at night as they keep the other dogs in order. If you put http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-254438.html Day 1After taking off like bat out of hell the huskies finally settled down to a steady trot as we initially travelled through a picturesque forest with its snow covered fir trees glistening in the sunshine and then down over a frozen lake. Snow started fall and it started to get colder in fact cold enough that I had trouble talking that is unusual for me. I had just started to relax when the dog http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-254086.html It was an ambition I'd had for many years so on the 21st February I embarked on an adventure to take a team of Huskies across the Arctic Circle. As there was no electicity never mind web access I had to save my experiences in a hand written notebook until my return.I arrived at the base camp after a flight via Stockholm to a small town called Kiruna located in northern Sweden well inside the arc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-252415.html When I was a little girl every Christmas Eve my Mum would read me lsquoThe Night Before Christmasrsquo. It was a lovely tale about Santa Claus accompanied by brightly colored pictures depicting his wooden house in Lappland with a snowy roof and candles glowing at the window. Santa would be beavering away in his cozy cabin to make lots of presents for every child in the world obviously with http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Jukkasjarvi/blog-227098.html Hej Hej min familj och kompisI got home from Kiruna yesterday and I am still exhausted. We were only there technically 2 nights. The other two nights were spent on 16 hour overnight trains getting there and then back. Try sleeping in a train seat not the best. It even affected my dreams. I had one that I was so bored on the train that I left and went to the beach where I was riding an ostrich an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-226825.html This has to be a short one because I am in a hotel obviously Im not staying here cos its missing a letter stealing free internet time BUT I had to write one from here because I am above the Arctic CircleYep really Its kind of cold theres some snow around like it snowed last night or something and its beeeaaauuutiful Absolutely AMAZING The train journey here was all lakes and mount http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-197426.html Off to NorwaynbspEurope raquonbspSweden raquonbspKiruna By ChipwoodJuly 1st 2007Untitled Hopped on the train this morning with the idea that I would stop and play golf a Abisko. I got off the train with my pack and walked a half a mile up hill eveything seems to be up hill from the train depot to the golf course. It was a beautiful day and I was excited at the thought of playing golf 2 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-183133.html Leanne thought we were going to London to enjoy a stage show 24 hours later she was engaged and in the sureal setting of the Ice Hotel 200km inside the arctic circle. A holiday to beat all holidays the most amazing place we have ever been to. At it coldest the temparature was a chilling 28F. DAY 1 We woke up at 530 on Monday morning we packed our bags and headed for central London to visit th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Jukkasjarvi/blog-167979.html We got up pretty early on the 24th and grabbed some breakfast. Since we were still pretty tired from the epic journey out we arranged for a late check out and went back to napOnce we had left the warm accomodations we went to the luggage hut and put all our belongings into a locker received the ohsofashionable snowsuits you see in the pictures below and immediately headed into the icehot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Jukkasjarvi/blog-115592.html Ever since I watched David Reyne appearing on Australian travel show Getaway standing next to a moose in the broad daylight at 3am I have dreamed of visiting Lappland the land of the midnight sun. Our Christmas adventure to far northern Sweden this year meant I was finally going to fulfill my dream but ironically I would be seeing the exact opposite of the midnight sun visiting in the depths of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-114293.html Okidoki in Kiruna now leaving for Stockholm. Then flying to Bankok on sunday and 36 hours later I arrive in NZ. It's like magicIm spending my time thinking doing living my new backpack that I got for my 25th bday. Im so happy about it it fits all my stuff and it's real nice to carry. Bergans Trollhetta Lady 75 liters get one u 2 I also got this great travelbag to put my backpack in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-77945.html I've been for a little trip before my big trip.Mum and me yes I go on holidays with mother... went to Stockholm and Copenhagen for a week just for the hell of it. Linda my childhood friend told me before we left take it easy now yes holiday with mum would be quite the rave wouldn't it On the contrary Linda went to the Kiruna festival and got very drunk. But not as drunk as my other http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Kiruna/blog-73111.html Okay so..this is a big deal although it is more important in some countries than others. In Sweden it starts with Melodifestivalen their country's round of it. Melodifestivalen's first rounds are held in cities around the country like Goteborg Stockholm Linkoping etc. So then the groups that win each of those compete in the final. The person that wins that gets to go to Eurovision. This ye http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-60723.html Okay so this just happened butI woke up early this morning. I go into the kitchen and do toast for breakfast. Johan comes in has breakfast we watch TV. He left to go to school. Well I'm sitting there watching TV since Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were on Oprah. Then the aiphone rings. For those that don't know the aiphone is a phone in our common room. Downstairs you can ring a bell in each p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-58316.html Pictures will come later I promise. Anyway this morning I woke up at 1 in the afternoon. I shuffled into the kitchen for breakfast only to meet Johan and Ingvar eating breakfast. So they watched some TV while I opened the refrigerator to find that my milk was GONE I may not have mentioned it before but we've had food plates glasses and silverware go missing. So I was like I know I had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Gammalstad/blog-54617.html Yes it's Easter Sunday. And let me tell you it was an interesting Easter for me. Probably the first one that I didn't go to church. I thought about attending the services here but I would not have understood a word. Anyhow so yesterday Mia came and got me and we went to her house. It's the cutest. It's a duplex. You walk in the door and there's an entryway. There's the laundry room and the bat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-53158.html Puppies at one of the kennel's supplying the ice hotel. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Jukkasjarvi/blog-52707.html Time to talk about my volunteering since it is a rather big part of what I end up doing here most of the time. Okay soacross the street from where I live is the school. It's a middle school which means it comes before Gymnasium which is Swedish High School. I basically go into the English classes and help kids speak with them have discussions with them and let them hear what a native speake http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-52173.html Allright last night there was a party across the street in Vaderleden. It was dubbed the pink and black party since two friends of mine were having birthdays and one loves black while the other loves pink. Emilee is the French girl that loves black while Yan the Korean girl loves pink. Anyway so I convinced Johan to go with me to the party. Lukas Stewart Hector and a bunch of others were http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-51567.html Okayso before coming here I had never experienced hockey. Funny huh They have the Tampa Bay Lightning who are Stanley Cup winners and the Knoxville Ice Bears and I had never done hockey. The closest I had ever come was probably watching The Mighty Ducks. Well I come here and let the fact slip and Johan decides he's going to rectify it. So here we go. First he took me to his game. The school http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-51355.html Okay okay so I am bad at updating sometimes. So here's a post to let you know what I was doing when I wasn't updating. I went sledding. They have a hill here called malmberget. It's a lot of fun. I did get myself covered in snow though but no worries. Lukas and I had a snowball fight too. I ended up covered in snow that time too.Another thing it seems like almost every weekend there is some s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Norrbotten/Lulea/blog-50752.html