{"id":22539,"date":"2016-07-08T18:49:32","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T17:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=22539"},"modified":"2021-07-25T20:24:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T19:24:48","slug":"into-the-arctic-santa-claus-village-rovaniemi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/into-the-arctic-santa-claus-village-rovaniemi\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Arctic, Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zagan the motorhome has finally, with no little reluctance, left the Hossa-Kylm\u00e4luoma camping<\/a> (came in at \u20ac18 a night without leccy, an absolute bargain), and has been steered (by Ju!) into the Arctic in Finland. We’re at the Santa Claus Village, free camping in the large car park with a bunch of other motorhomes from the league of nations (N66.54329,E25.84074<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Boom!

Boom! We’ve driven to the Arctic!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Santa

Santa Claus is knocking about here somewhere, although we think he clocked off at 6?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Plenty

Plenty reminders you’ve made it to the land of the Midnight Sun!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The Arctic Circle marker on the E75 in Finland<\/p><\/div>\n

The need for a rest had hit us a day or two before we arrived at Hossa-Kylm\u00e4luoma<\/a>, and the forested site proved to be just the tonic. Endless travel’s a rare privilege, which neither of us take for granted, but it can also be a test. I’m fairly sure Ju and I would make good candidates for a NASA study, as they try to suss out the effects of popping two people together into a small capsule for months on end! Taking time out from the continual need to find safe places to stay, communicate with people, hunt out stuff to look at and routes to drive is essential for us. Yep, we really needed a break, and we got it, and then some.<\/p>\n

\"We've

We’ve a shared love of fire, and Hossa-Kylm\u00e4luoma had unlimited firewood with lots of places to burn the stuff. Here we are cooking some of Finland’s favourite vegetable, the sausage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The Finns have almost unlimited nature available to them, and they know how to use it. Fishing was big at the site, as was lake-leaping, hiking, cycling, al-fresco eating, sauna, having fires… In winter it must be something else.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The sun would set just before 11pm, turning the lake into mercury<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Trees!

Trees! If you like trees (I do) then you’ll go ape for Finland<\/p><\/div>\n

Having failed to go starkers in the smoke sauna we visited a few days ago<\/a>, we got another opportunity at the campsite. Men and women took saunas separately here, but nevertheless, I’ve a decades-old body-image issue and the idea of being naked with strangers was a tough one for me to handle. Having met Steve and Glen a few weeks back, who have been naturists for years, and then having found out Richard and Jenny did the steam sauna in the buff, I finally manned up. Have to say, it was a non-event in the end, but a big mind-obstacle for me has been surmounted and I feel rather good as a result! Ju exhibited her birthday suit too, and we’d wrap towels in between roasting sessions and sit outside laughing about our experiences.<\/p>\n

\"Can't

Can’t get used to this!<\/p><\/div>\n

Last night we decided today was the day to get moving. Ju’s driven both of our Hymer motorhomes, but only for short stints. She’d wanted to drive, but since driving is nigh-on the only job I do in Team Zagan, I was a bit loathe to hand over the reigns. But hand ’em over I did, and today I got to pop my feet up while Ju hammered us around the tree-lined Finnish roads, tottering around semi-domesticated reindeer. Have a look-see:<\/p>\n