Adventure Holidays in the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Europe, Peru & Mexico
Telephone: +44 (0)1822 880277 • E-mail martin@spirit-of-adventure.com
Telephone: +44 (0)1822 880277 • E-mail martin@spirit-of-adventure.com
Our aim was to explore part of the archipelago of southern Finland. This is a beautiful area of 40,000 islands with less than 200 inhabitants, it is a designated biosphere and an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is an ideal area for people with a limited paddling experience to participate in a real paddling adventure - and this is what we had!
The team met at Heathrow. Jane all smiles but a little nervous as she thought she was the only woman on the trip, Sam lean and raring to go, Bas rippling with muscles from his recent excursions to the gym and me (Sandy).
The adventure started as soon as we boarded our SAS flight to Turku via Stockholm. There was a major problem with the air traffic control and we remained stationary on the runway for over two hours with just one complementary orange juice! Our problem was firstly the connection from Stockholm to Turku. As expected when we eventually arrived in Stockholm 2½ hours late we missed our connection. SAS's solution was a hotel overnight, this was no good as we were paddling the next day! So we were transferred to Finnair who got us to Helsinki, too late for a connection to Turku - but at least we were in the right country! Unfortunately our bags were in a different country - believed to be somewhere between Stockholm and Moscow. However a two hour taxi ride eventually got us to our hotel on Nauvo in the archipelago around midnight (courtesy of SAS).
Sunday, over breakfast we met our Finnish hosts; Greg our kayaking guide (originally from the USA and married to a Finn) and Tuuli our nature guide from Helsinki University - they made a great team and Jane was very happy to have another woman on the trip!
Our bags had been located and were due at the hotel at about 16:00 - great news and Finnair gave us 400 Finmarks (about £40) to buy some clothing - t-shirts and sweatshirts all round! Our kayaks arrived at 14:00, our bags arrived at 16:00 and we were off on our adventure at 18:00. (Only fractionally delayed from our original schedule.) We took with us 4 single kayaks and 1 double, loaded with food, water, tents and everything we would need for the next 5 days.
On the first evening we paddled about 10Km to the north-east through small channels and passed uninhabited islands. We camped on a sheltered promontory and walked to the western side of the island to watch the sun set. It was quiet, calm and peaceful - we were well away from the hustle of modern life - fantastic!
For the next couple of days we explored the calm waters of the inner archipelago. Whatever the weather, you can always find calm water somewhere as the islands are close together. The islands are granite, worn smooth by the gentle lapping of the Baltic, the vegetation is lush and fragile, with juniper bushes and moss, there is an abundance of berries and mushrooms and we had freshly picked fungi with most meals. Gathering wild berries and fungi is a national pastime in Finland and Greg and Tuuli were experts. The Baltic is fed by numerous rivers from the north making it virtually saltless. When you wash your teeth you can only just taste the salt! It is probably not a good idea to drink the sea water, so we carried our own fresh water for drinking and cooking. The islands can only support small groups - no more than about 8 possibly 10 people at most, any more would destroy the natural ecosystem. We left nothing on the islands and buried our natural waste.
We awoke on Tuesday to gales, this made for exciting paddling for the first couple of hours before we saught shelter behind 'Lilltervo', a large island. We tried to circumnavigate this but the channel became more and more overgrown with reeds. Undeterred, Sam forged a route for about ½ a mile before even he found headway impossible. Having retraced our steps and found the original channel we continued around another island before arriving in a small bay to spend the night in a lodge. The sauna was flashed up and, after a couple of beers we relaxed in the warm glow of the sauna. The sauna process is part of the way of life in Finland, most Finns will go to sauna everyday. The temperature varies but is normally between 70 and 90 degrees and when you need to cool down you just take a dip in the Baltic- or in the winter in a hole in the ice! Unlike saunas in the UK, no clothes are worn, thus they are normally single sex unless it is only family or everybody is comfortable with a mixed sauna. After a days paddling I can thoroughly recommend a relaxing sauna and a beer to finish off the day.To really pamper ourselves, we had our meal cooked for us - smoked reindeer meat with all the trimmings - fantastic.
The forecast for the next couple of days was a quite good force 3 to 4 from the west, so we decided to explore into the middle archipelago where the islands are further apart and much more remote from the main land. Everybody was paddling well with Bas (with the rippling muscles) always way out in front giving himself a 'beasting'. He believed if he did not have sweat on his brow he was not paddling properly. We each had a day in-charge of the navigation. Some did really well, others (Sam) had no idea where we were from one minute to the next, but he was there just to enjoy the paddling.
We left the shelter of the inner island mid morning on Wednesday and had a hard few hours paddling to the west before reaching Stenskar, a remote fishing community. Here we bought some fish and then paddled about 1 km to our camping place, pitched our tents and smoked the fish. We hot-smoked the fish, which took about 45 minutes using juniper and alder. The fish was delicious. This was the only night we were troubled with mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can be a problem from about mid June to end of July although Sam seemed to be allergic to them and if anyone got bitten it was bound to be Sam. Jane enjoyed a slow start in the mornings and this morning her day was made when Bas took her some mint tea in bed!! - and this was meant to be an adventure! On Thursday morning weather was good but slightly blowy but the team elected to stay out in the outer islands instead of heading straight for shelter. The result was an exhilarating days paddle. There was a good swell running and a moderate sea, however by island hopping and careful route planning, we eventually entered sheltered waters and headed for our last port of call. This was an upmarket chalet with a classic wood burning sauna. The sauna revived us before an excellent meal of reindeer meat and typical Swedish fayre.
On Friday we embarked on a cycle ride back into the archipelago - it was great to stretch our legs and to use different muscles. We were hoping to see elk but were unlucky, however we did see some beautiful deer. In the afternoon we transferred to Turku and a hotel for the last night.
Turku is on the north side of the archipelago and a terminal for some ferries from Stockholm. It is clean and friendly and a good place to spend the last evening of the trip. We had an excellent meal and a few drinks to celebrate a great trip. The sensible one's among us were back in the hotel and in bed by 23:00, those less sensible got very little sleep and suffered the next day!
Greg and Tuuli were fantastic, Greg knows the archipelago like the back of his hand and is great company and Tuuli was only too eager to pass on her vast knowledge of the environment. These two made this into a brilliant trip.
Quotes:
Bas "I'm going to ask for a refund from the gym, I spent more on the gym than on this adventure and my arms still ache!".
Jane "Call me once breakfast is ready and can I have my mint tea in bed?".
Sam "5am is far too early to get back to a hotel!".