20 August

First day – and after thinking I was so tired, I woke at 0520 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I gave up at 0545 and went to check my email. I hadn’t been able to log out and just put the laptop to sleep, but my time mounted on and now I was out of time – and so couldn’t log on. My first experience of this, so I’ll have to find out why. Instead I wrote up yesterday’s blog, while it was fresh in my mind. I have to establish a routine and this will be harder as my time is currently running to someone else’s timetable.
At 0630 I showered and dressed for breakfast and then, after a false start of forgetting my Vegemite (how could I?), I ended up down for breakfast a few moments after 7 and there were already others there – but none from this tour. Breakfast offered a wide selection, including - many different types of bread, toasters, waffle irons – meat balls, bacon, baked beans, scrambled eggs – ham, herring and a few other meats – a wide range of at least five cereals – fresh fruit, yoghurt – tea, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, water. I started off with toast (and Vegemite of course) and worked my way through as much as I could, having regard to cholesterol and sugar levels. A lady from the group which was joining ours arrived and sat down with me. Over the next few minutes, more arrived – some from that group and some from those who were in last night. The group flew to Tokyo, then Copenhagen, then Helsinki and finally came up by train last night and arrived at 2300. They all know each other but I suppose it won’t take that long to work out who’s who. Wendy is their tour leader.
I went back to my room and found how to dial out from Finland (00) and tried to ring Fran, but of course got the answering machine as she had already left for work. I then sent a text message for Wendy, who wanted to get in touch with her husband. It’s interesting to see the spread of technology – a few are using mobile phones or phone cards while others get rung at the hotel desk, quite a few use email and others, normally like me, wouldn’t get in touch at all (too much to do!). I checked my email at the lobby laptop (none – no-one loves me!) and then put everything together in my room and was down for 0835 for the morning tour.
The bus was in at 0845 and we started getting on just after. I saw another on his own, who I had already seen when we got our rooms last night, and we agreed to share a seat. He is Keith, from Sydney, who had a typesetting/publishing company. We chatted a little, the last on the tour rolled up (just in the nick of time, at 0900) and we set off with our local guide.
After introductions, we got a little rundown on Finland, its geography and history and then the town of Rovanieme in particular. We stopped at a large Lutheran church, which had a war cemetery next to it. The church, like all the town, had been rebuilt after WW2 and had a noted history. At this stage it was drizzling. Back on the bus, we headed off to the winter sports area, even though the ski slides are still used in summer (slippery plastic). Then we headed through a suburb which is constructed with traditional guidelines – only certain colours and types of construction. It wasn’t too long before, at 1050, we were back at the hotel.
I picked up a town map, found out where the museum and McDonald’s were, and headed off on foot. I had already got my GPS out (remember that’s the hand-held Magellan unit, not the SatNav for the car) and marked the hotel, so I wouldn’t get lost while walking. I went down to the river, then followed it around towards the museum. Along the way was a family (mum, dad, one little girl, one dog and one very young puppy) and the puppy wasn’t too interested in walking. I found out it was only eight weeks old and they had only had it for a few days. I was impressed by the parents’ command of English. After saying goodbye to them, I came across a most remarkable area, with large troughs, what looked like a big processing table with a press and many frames. After accosting an older couple (again walking dogs) I found out it was where people could wash mats and hang them to dry.
I continued on and found myself seeing the museum but not being able to get to it. After a short-cut through undergrowth and a crossing of a highway, I found the front and was in. €12 later I was seeing the exhibits in the museum (although I only had to hand money over, I still got answered in English (the mark of “English Speaker” is still branded on my forehead).
There were many interesting bits and some excellent displays. The Northern Lights, where observers reclined on mattresses to watch, was a bit of a catch – too easy to suddenly fall asleep. I kept running into more people from the tour, even if I didn’t directly recognise them. I had a chat with an attendant about the relative dangers of moose in Finland and camels in Australia for traffic accidents – I think the moose win out!
I walked back to the hotel via McDonald’s and got some photos. I detoured through a supermarket to get something for lunch and emergency supplies for the next few days and ran into two girls from the tour. One was from Canada (Toronto) and was surprised that I knew about and had visited Port Hope. The other was from Kalgoorlie (originally Melbourne) and was working in mining. It seems planning for the next few days and getting a cheaper lunch was on a few minds. Then I saw some more just outside. I didn’t see any Australian fruit on the shelves.
I went back to the hotel (this is all within a few hundred metres, so it’s only about three minutes) and then couldn’t resist going to and having something in McDonald’s and photographing the interior (I figure if I buy something they can’t complain – but I didn’t see any WiFi signs!). On the way back it showered, so I called into another shopping centre (for a small town they sure have a lot of shops) and, after a look around, I tried to order at Hessburger, but the girl at the counter just said, “Do you want a chocolate milkshake?”, so I gave up and accepted it.
Outside, but on the first floor (second here) was a little playground, entirely roped in, with safety instructions in ENGLISH!
I gave up, went back and wrote up my diary, processed photos (I have flattened one set of batteries for four hundred photos) and wrote this blog. I have to be ready to go out for dinner at 1845 where I shall eat Bambi (after having killed her in France).
At 1830 I went down to the lobby, chatted with those there and at 1840 the bus arrived. By 1845 we were all on and, after a short drive we were at a hotel to have our dinner. I was sitting with the two teachers and there was a family from Sydney opposite. With a menu of wine or beer, sweet pumpkin soup with pine nuts, salmon or reindeer (and there is a picture of the reindeer dish in the pictures for today) and then chocolate cake with strawberry and cream (no typo, I did say strawberry) followed by tea or coffee, we all had an enjoyable evening. To finish it off we went to the roof and photographed the scenery, including the town, before being driven back to the hotel to sleep before Sergeant Schultz (sorry, Jerome) will wake us for a 0745 call to put our luggage out for 0800 and we depart at 0900. I have a long list to send Santa postcards too, so I might blow my credit limit this month!
Now to finish, upload this and the photos and then to sleep.