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Published: December 31st 2006
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 winter when the sun never actually makes it above the horizon and there is only about 5 hours of light a day. One thing is for sure- we would definitely be having a white Christmas!
The lead up to our departure was a little stressful with persistant fog settling over London town for two days prior causing British Airways to cancel all of its domestic flights and some other airlines also experiencing cancellations or severe delays. We arrived at the airport extra early for our 8.40am flight, checked in very quickly and were through security in no time. So far, so good. Unfortunately things went from good to bad. Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed by more than an hour which meant when we landed we had a mere
20 minutes to make it to the next terminal for our connecting flight to Stockholm. After a mad dash through the airport (all that sprint training came in handy!), a kind security guard letting us go to the front of the security queue, a slight delay as our duty free grog caused the security guard to question what we were doing with liquids in our carry on luggage, we got off with a warning and made it to the gate with mere minutes to spare. The airline presumed we were not coming so had cancelled our seats and told us they could get us on the flight, but we couldn't sit together. As luck had it we got seats together in business class however we were told our luggage would not make it on the flight with us. We had a connecting flight from Stockholm to Kiruna and were very stressed at the thought of arriving in the minus degree weather with nothing but the clothes on our backs: especially as we were booked to go on a snowmobile tour the next morning. Luckily after a very stressful flight we were served by a lovely helpful man at Stockholm airport
who told us we could catch our flight and KLM would send our luggage on a later flight that evening and deliver our bags to our hotel. Phew!
The rest of the day went smoothly and we arrived to the cold, dark and icy Kiruna in the early evening. As I had a cold and was not feeling very well we spent the night relaxing in our gorgeous little cabin (it seems everything is stylish in Sweden!). We did have a bit of excitement though with the discovery of two reindeer in a pen opposite our cabin, which made us grin like excited children, and we are sure we saw the faintest show from the northern lights - although it was a case of if you looked for long enough you could swear you were imagining it.
We were up early next morning for our tour and had a lovely candlelit buffet breakfast at the hotel as the sky grew ever so slightly lighter (I could get used to breakfast by candlelight). We were to spend the day on a snowmobile safari in search of moose and on the drive to our start point we had already seen
a reindeer and countless moose running away from the car on their funny spindly long legs. I have had a long standing obsession with the moose so it was so exciting to see them for real in the wild. We were dropped off at a little hut in the wilderness and geared up with some seriously warm gear including a furry hat and the most comfortable fur lined snow boots. Our guides were a young teenage boy and his 16yr old sister and after a whirlwind lesson in snowmobile driving we were off racing along the snow on a narrow tree lined path that ran beside a partially frozen creek. I was worried about how cold we would be but with our gear and the heated hand warmers for both driver and passenger (genuis!) on our vehicle we were toasty warm. The ride was great fun and every so often we would see an enormous moose or two scurrying off into the woods. We are usually jinxed with wildlife tours and spend hours hunting for animals to no avail so the plethora of wildlife on this trip was a real treat! We stopped at a quaint little hut beside a
frozen river for morning tea of hot drinks and a yummy local treat - a cinnamon bun. Next up we were supposed to go ice fishing but the weather had set in so it was off on the snowmobiles again instead. This time it was my turn to drive and my old ambition to be an F1 driver soon returned, poor Andrew was a little frightened I think and there was a close call with a tree, but it was only because of the thick snow, I promise! Lunch was a delicious red salmon (it is amazing how much better the fresh, wild variety tastes) which our guide barbequed on an undercover outdoor bbq out in the driving snow and some yummy handmade local bread. These were talented kids! After snowmobiling back to the hut we were driven back to Kiruna, spotting more moose and reindeer along the way. It was only 2 in the afternoon but the sky was already growing dark and by the time we reached town just after 3pm it was completely dark: although the polar night sky is more a deep, dark blue than pitch black.
We wandered arond town marvelling at how quiet
it was before making our way back to our accomodation, and this afternoon we were in luck. We had booked in to spend the night in an igloo but had recieved an email from the hotel the previous week to say that because the weather had been too warm the river were they get the ice to make the igloo from had not frozen enough for them to make our igloo in time - luckily for us someone had cancelled so we would be spending the night 'on ice'. The brochure had promised a glass window in the roof of the igloo where you could stare up at the night sky and the northern lights but it had been snowing so heavily all evening that the igloo was enclosed in a blanket of thick, powdery white snow. Nevertheless it was a fun experience to cuddle up in our cosy sleeping bags, drink warm lingonberry juice and go to sleep enclosed on all sides by huge blocks of ice. The silence meant we slept soundly until our alarm woke us at 8am and there was just time enough for a sauna and shower before we headed for another candlelit breakfast.
Christmas Eve is the day that the Swedes really celebrate Christmas so there was a lovely atmosphere in the air today as we kitted ourselves out with cross country skis and glided down to the tracks leading down from our hotel, stopping on the way to say good morning to our reindeer neighbours. It was a beautiful clear day and we skied through the forests surrounded by the pink and orange hues of a sunrise/sunset as the sun struggled to climb above the horizon, never quite making it. We were on a track near a biathlon club and teams of people scooted past us making our technique look clumsy and slow. But we did had fun and that is the main thing! Darkness was setting in and we didn't want to get lost on the trail so we headed back to our cabin for a warm drink and some christmassy food (mince pies, ginger bread cookies and shortbread - lucky we did all that skiing). Despite the dark and cold the Swedes love of the outdoors keeps them enjoying their beautiful environment well into the afternoon so we decided to join them and talk a moonlit walk along the trails
surrounding our cabin. The moon was amazingly bright and although only at half moon stage we could see the outline of its full circle. We stopped to experiment taking photos with our tripod but soon had to move along after our fingers and toes began to numb. We walked past a tour group drinking shots of vodka and then trying their hand at cross country skiing, straight down a very steep hill with very funny results! One girl ended up in a ditch with a face full of snow, but luckily saw the funny side of it. We borrowed a kicksled and had our own childish fun screaming down a snow covered track and feeling just like kids at Christmas (Andrew was once again victim to my driving). Unfortunately the powdery light snow was not conducive to either snowball fights or snowman making, although believe me we did try.
Out hotel had a very good restaurant and it seemed half of the town had gathered to enjoy their Christmas eve buffet. They had gone to a lot of trouble to make it perfect and every detail was thought of from the newly chopped and decorated Christmas tree at the
entrance to the candlelit path throught the snow to the restaurant. The dining room was gently lit by candlelight and an elaborate buffet full of gorgeous food was laid out. We ate reindeer pate, elk sausages, seafood salad, three of the five varieties of salmon on offer, followed by reindeer steaks, potatos, warm beetroot salad and meatballs and for desert cheesecake and various little sweets and chocolates. We had a lovely table right by the window and half way throught the main course Father Christmas arrived on his sleigh, driven of course by Rudolph. It was magic and I had to run out into the snow for a photo. It really was a perfect Christmas dinner helped by the friendly, happy staff who were only too willing to do anything for you. This summed up our experience of the Swedish locals perfectly. They were friendly, laid back, extremely helpful and set on doing a good job. Feeling very full and enthused by all the other people out enjoying the polar night we rugged up and went out on a circular walk around a mountain that the receptionist had told us about in search of the northern lights. It was a
beautiful romantic walk through houses lit up with christmas decorations and then out on a silent deserted mountain path with nothing but the sound of the snow crunching under our boots. Unfortunately the northern lights were not out glowing in all their glory but we are sure that we saw the faintest green glow in the distant sky. We were going to follow the Swedish tradition and open our Christmas presents on Christmas eve but we were so tired by the time we got home we decided to wait until the next day.
Up early on Christmas day we opened our presents in our pyjamas, including some that had been sent from Australia by our families and made phonecalls home. It was nice to hear them opening their presents and at least share a little bit in their day. Christmas never feels quite like Christmas away from home. We hurriedly finished our calls and made our way into town to catch the local bus to the Icehotel - unfortunately despite checking with two different hotels wires had been crossed somewhere and it turned out buses weren't running that day after all which resulted in a fairly expensive taxi ride,
but it was worth every cent. The Icehotel is a magical place set in an absolutely stunning natural paradise full of deep snow, thick green forests and sparkling frozen lakes. I once again remember seeing it on Getaway and thinking it was so remote that there is no way I would ever get there. The main reception is a lovely wooden hut with a great giftshop and a buzz excited tourists coming and going. We walked down through the standard cabins which were very quaint and had sculptures of local animals sitting on top of them, to the reindeer skin doors of the "cold reception". In through a set of electric doors you walk into a long room set in the middle with four majestic ice thrones surrounding an elaborate ice chandelier which hangs from the ceiling. Along the edges of the wall are other majestic sculptures. We took a tour with a fantastic young guide who showed us around some of the amazing suites which are individually designed by 'artists' (this term has to be used losley as some previous designers have been an acrobat, fashion designers etc) who are chosen from the thousands of concepts they recieve every
year (bearing in mind that the hotel melts and is rebuilt every year). My favourite was built in the shape of a turkish hammam with the bed set in what would be the bath. She also told us the story of how the hotel came into being, the development of the worldwide Icebar concept and took us to the back of the hotel where the ice is harvested from the Torne River. After a hot drink in the recption to thaw our hands, feet and noses (the hotel is kept at a constant -5 degrees!) we walked through the quaint little town of Jukkasjarvi to visit their famous 200 year old church. The town was deadly quiet with just a few families out strolling and it felt like a real frontier town perched on the edge of the frozen river and surrounded by forests. It was beautiful walking along the main street lined by candlelit house windows as the sky grew its familiar sunset pink and orange and daylight slowly faded away. We celebrated Christmas Day with lunch in the hotel restaurant (salmon, salads, reindeer stew and potatoes) followed by a vodka cocktail - Ice Flow - drunk from an
iceglass in the Absolute Icebar. It was a magnificent afternoon and the haunting music playing in the tomb like bar added to the atmosphere. By evening we were exhausted so we rode our kicksled to the service station (the only thing open in Kiruna) stocked up on bread and cheese and spent the evening in our cabin drinking a lovely bottle of red wine our friends Kent and Lyndall had brought us from Australia when they visited London earlier in the year. This was certainly a once in a lifetime trip and a Christmas Day which I will always remember with a smile on my face.
At 9am the next morning we were picked up by Kim, the guide who would take us on our overnight husky safari into the wilderness. We arrived at the kennels to the absolutely deafening sound of hundreds of excited dogs barking incessantly and bounding up and down unable to contain their excitement at the prospect of getting out for a run ( I wish I could feel the same way!). After once again kitting up in our ultra warm space suits we were taught the basics of driving a dogsled and helped to
harness up the dogs. The dogs were not the pretty Alaskan huskies which you see in photos but Siberian huskies which are more a mixed breed better at traveling longer distances. Before we knew it we were all on our own sledges hurtling down a hill trying madly to keep a foot on the brake and use our arms to balance the sledge. It was surprisingingly hard work and my arms were aching in minutes: I was sure that I would not be able to last the hours of driving which we had ahead of us. As we headed into a narow track through the forest the snow got deeper and the dogs slowed up. We got more comfortable on our vehicles, relaxed and started to enjoy the ride. We occasionally saw moose or a group of reindeer scuttling away from our path and stopped at the top of a rise to enjoy the view of the surrounding mountains and give our hard working dogs a snack. After a few hours in the forest we emerged onto a frozen river where the dogs got into a rythym and ran and ran. It was one of the most amazing things I
have ever experienced being out in the open with a distant view of the forested shorelines and the occasional mountain hut lit up in the twilight with smoke coming from the chimney reminding me of the warmth inside. The sky was glowing and the only sound to be heard was the galloping of the dogs feet as their strong little legs carried me lightly across the snow. Our guide had summed us up as fit and young and had decided we would take us on a longer, more demanding 45km route, which was fantastic but by the time we reached our hut in the forest my feet and fingers were painfully cold and my blood sugar had dropped due to our lack of lunch break. We had some hand and feet warmers with us so I put them in and endured the pain as the feeling slowly returned. After gobbling down some chocolate I felt human again and we parked our sleds and went inside to the warm hut. There was no electricity or running water so candlelight it was again. We had a late lunch of fruit soup, bread, cheese, peanuts and biscuits and warmed ourselves by the fire.
The afternoon seemed to pass very quickly and in the early evening we hopped into the boiling hot, steamy, wood fired sauna, sitting until we were too hot to bear it and then stood in the cold air until we had cooled down enough to return inside. Everyone knows the legend of the Scandanavian saunas and the rolling naked in the snow to cool yourself down: we didn't quite go that far but we did get into the spirit and rub snow on our legs, arms and shoulders and it was surprisingly refreshing! We had a lovely dinner of diced reindeer cooked in creme frieche and spices with mashed potato followed by chocolate moose and then once again braved the cold night to search for the northern lights. The sky was clear and full of thousands of bright stars: a sight we really have missed in London, but despite this there was no sign of anything more spectacular in the sky. After far too long standing in the cold we went inside in disgust and grabbed our toothbrushes to brush our teeth before bed. As luck would have it the moment we walked outside I saw a bright green glow
right in front of my eyes. We ran back into the cabin to get our camera and capture the evidence but the glow was gone before we knew it and it was off to bed for us.
I awoke tired and aching the next morning and the dogs were all looking very comfortable curled up on their piles of straw and not like they were too energetic to be running through the snow pulling a sleigh. They yawned and stretched like limbered athletes as Andrew cleared their mess and we prepared the sleighs to head back to base. By the time the dogs were harnessed up and ready to go their excitement had returned and the familiar barking and jumping along with it. We hurtled along another narrow mountain path through the forest and all too quickly could hear the barking of the other dogs at the kennel and knew we were just around the corner from finishing our amazing trip. It was really sad to finish and sad to leave the dogs, who I gave a big cuddle and tummy rub to before we helped back them into the trailer to return home with Kim. It is certainly
one of the most amazing things we have ever done and can highly recommend it to anyone to give it a go if you ever have the opportunity.
We spent our last afternoon in Kiruna learning about the local Sami culture at a small museum. Their experience with the white settlers of Sweden, Norway and Finland is very similar to that of the Australian aboriginals and the resulting problems they are now facing is only too familiar. It was very sad to read about the missionaries who were sent in to 'cure' them of their god worshipping and shamanic culture and I just hope that what is now left of their culture is preserved for future generations to learn about. We bought ourselves a few souveniers, had a final Chinese dinner at what seemed like the only decent restaurant in Kiruna town and said goodbye to the deserted streets and peaceful silence of this quaint but strange little town. Our necks once again strained skyward in the hope of catching a final glimpse of nature's amazing light show but unfortunately we were out of luck. Never mind, we can genuinely say that we experienced one of the best weeks
of our life and that the pristine wilderness, beautiful people, amazing wildlife and cheeky, cuddly dogs of Lappland will stay with us the rest of our lives.
Wishing you all a very happy new year and may we meet again in 2007.
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Ella
non-member comment
how jealous
Wow!! What an amazing Christmas. And the photos are SO gorgeous. I'm absolutely loving your writing too! Have gone backwards and read your journals so far... great stuff. Happy happy new year to you both. So happy to know such intrepid travellers. Big love x