Finland in winter, Northern Lights

In July 2016 I went to Finland to see the Midnight Sun. In Feb 2017, I made my 2nd visit to Finland, this time for the Northern Lights. In June I was just below the Arctic Circle, in Feb I was way above it. The Arctic Circle in Finland is roughly 66° 32' N. The official home of Santa Claus, Rovaniemi, is also at this latitude. In Feb 2017 I was staying at Harriniva outside Muonio at 67° 56' N.

The yellow vertical line is the border of Sweden with Finland, this follows the Muonio river. We stayed outside Muonio. Muonio lies right by the river, with Sweden on the other side, and Norway is about 80 km to the north, with Russia to the east.

The Finnair plane was late arriving in Heathrow so we were late leaving and touched down in Helsinki just as the connecting flight was departing. So we were put up in a hotel near the airport and took an early morning flight to Kittila. It was quite interesting as the sun rose but as we flew further north the sun started to sink. I've never experienced this before at dawn. These 3 photos were taken within 5 mins and by the 3rd photo the sun is almost back below the horizon.

We flew to Kittila airport and then travelled the 80 km by road to Muonio.

We stayed at Harriniva. They lent us warm clothing, as in February we had temperatures ranging from - 11° to - 29° C. All dressed up for the cold -

I'm wearing 6 layers on top, 3 on my legs, 3 pairs of socks, special snow boots, 2 scarves, balaclava, thermal hat plus hood on the snowsuit, and thick mittens with wool gloves inside. I could hardly bend over to tie up boot laces or to pick up a mitten if I dropped it!

The first day the sun shone and it was beautiful

To the right is the river Muonio. It is wide and fast flowing and not completely frozen so it was dangerous to get too near

Looking over to Sweden -

I stepped off the path to take a photo of the trees and found myself in deep snow -

I've never liked white artificial Christmas trees that are sold in shops, but these trees were beautiful

That night, despite being tired after 2 days of travelling, we went out on snowmobiles to see the Northern Lights. It was the coldest night of our stay, - 29° C.

It was bitterly cold when taking photos as I had to take off mittens and gloves.

We were so lucky as at 10.40 pm the Northern Lights appeared. They weren't at their best but at least we got a chance to see them. I couldn't get any good photos with my camera and I was too cold to really bother, so I spent the time watching them for real and not through the camera lens.

When we got back at midnight it was - 23° C.

Next day we went husky sledging which was the hightlight for me. Had to dress up warm -

I'd visited a husky farm in July and been husky walking, so this was another chance to see experience these amazing dogs.

We had 2 people per sled, 1 driving and 1 sitting. Having got used to driving the sled I could relax a bit and it was a beautiful way to travel, although bitterly cold on the face.

As soon as we got back the dogs de-iced their paws

That afternoon we had free time so walked over to Sweden! The border control office was deserted.

Here I'm straddling the 2 countries

And you can see the river isn't frozen

We reach Sweden!

then walked back to Finland

James wearing the latest look - frost mascara

Next morning I went out to take photos before the activities started. The sky was quite dull, it looked like it was going to snow and during the day there were a few flakes falling, but nothing much.

We went to Torassieppi reindeer centre

Whilst waiting for our turn to go on the sleighs, we had a look at the old farmhouse

Then it was our turn for the sleigh ride

At the end of the ride our reindeer started eating snow

We then fed the reindeer with lichen

Then it was our turn for lunch............... yes, reindeer stew!!!

We had lunch in a kota

Walking back, Justin stepped off the path to take photos and disappeared up to his thighs

Our final night time activity was snowshoeing

Our guide Becky took her husky

Becky made a fire and we heated sausages on sticks. Unfortunately the Northern Lights weren't active that night, and it was cloudy and even the full moon was hiding.

Next morning we had an early start for our flights back to London. Kittila airport -

At Helsinki airport I checked out the free sleeping pods

Finally the last leg, Helsinki to London and as usual the plane was de-iced before take off

According to Wikipedia, Muonio is known as the municipality with the longest snow season in Finland.

See my next blog on the clean air of Muonio , one of the cleanest places on earth.

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© Liz Price
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