The only route from Nordkapp is south, so that’s the way we’ll go. As we had driven north up through Norway and Sweden, why not drive south overlanding Finland all the way down to Helsinki? Sounds like a plan. On the way we did some husky-sledding, tried a ‘new’ type of skiing, hunted for gas, watched skate-racing, and drove Cuthbert over the sea!
Overlanding Finland – Winter Wonderland
Heading south from Nordkapp the scenery is initially a barren, treeless, open tundra, wind-swept white as far as you can see (which actually isn’t very far when the wind picks-up the surface ice particles and whips them into frozen clouds drifting across the road). After 130km we turned east towards Finland and Russia and the scenery began to change. Not so long ago, a loop here past Murmansk (Russia) would have been our chosen circuit to Finland. Sadly, the Ukraine war makes this a tricky option at the moment, so we take the direct border into Finland at Karigasniemi.
Once the tall pines are part of the scenery again, it’s pine tree, after pine tree, after pine tree, after pine tree (you get the idea). It reminds us very much of driving across Canada and Alaska (which we did an awful, awful lot of!). In summertime, this forest scenery can get a bit… well, let’s be honest… dull. Never-ending pine ‘walls’ either side of the road. But in winter, with the adornment of sparkling white ice and snow across the roads and trees, and the occasional moose or reindeer dotting the roadside, it’s a true Winter Wonderland. Yeah, of course, it’s chilly with minus OMG Celsius. But for us, the (far) below zero temperature outside is a more than fair trade-off for the stunning icy beauty we get to drive through on the way.
Overlanding Finland – in winter
Sami Finland
It’s not only the scenery here that reminds us of Canada. The indigenous culture of Lapland also seems quite familiar. The similar climates and the environments mean the Sami people here have developed cultures and a way of life very much along the lines of the indigenous communities of Canada. There are some wonderful museums across Lapland showcasing the fascinating background and cultures of the Sami people. We found the one at our first stop in Finland, Inari, very interesting.
Doggy Sled-tacular
A long, snowy, beautiful, icy drive south from Inari to Sirkka and we found our first ski resort of the trip. We wondered whether we had made a mistake not bringing our ski-gear with us, but were soon distracted by a much more interesting activity: husky sledding! We were soooooo excited to find Tundra Huskies, a wonderful family run Husky kennels offering self-drive sledding trips across the nearby frozen lake. It was something we had to skip in Canada due to covid restrictions at that time, so this was an opportunity we really were not going to miss!
We arrived to be allocated a sled for the two of us with five of the kennel’s 80 huskies attached up-front. The barking was cacophonous! The huskies were leaping in the air, leaping onto each other and champing at the bit… so much energy just waiting to be let-loose. I’m not sure who was more excited… us or them 😊 After we had boarded our sled and taken instructions on the driving, the dogs were unleased from their ties and off we went! Whoosh! How fast was it?? No idea. But it felt like warp-factor-snot!! It was a sunny day, but the temperature was around -15°C and the wind was bitterly, bitterly cold on the face once we got up to speed.
We took it in turns to ‘drive’ the sled, whilst the other sat on the front with reindeer-fur covers for warmth. The sled driving is just as easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy as it looks: the dogs know where they’re going, so there’s no real steering. And you have a spike-lever under your foot to dig into the ice if you want to brake. That’s it! (Click here for the little Insta-vid of our sled-riding).
Santa Land
Still heading south, our next destination is Rovaniemi. This is the town chosen by a certain Mr S. Claus to establish a global HQ for his annual toy distribution on 24/25 December. A whole themed zone has grown around Santa’s ‘official’ home-office and it’s a hugely popular destination for families, but of course… extremely commercial. We wandered the never-ending shops of souvenirs and Santa-memorabilia, but didn’t feel the urge to join the queue to meet the great man himself.
Cross-country
Rovaniemi is not only Santa HQ, it’s also a small ski resort. Not the most extensive or challenging of down-hill ski areas, the terrain is better suited to a ‘new’ (to us) kind of skiing: cross-country. We had noticed what a popular sport (or mode of local transport) this was with locals across Lapland. So we decided Finland would be a perfect place to have a bash. We booked a lesson, hired some kit and hit the snow. Hmmmm… unlike the husky sledding, this malarkey is teeny bit more tricky than it looks! We’d be telling big fat fibs if we said we took to it like naturals! But we had a great afternoon, enjoyed trying a new sport, and can certainly see why it’s so popular for locals in this environment. On balance… I think we’ll probably stick to the down-hill ski variety in future!
Sweden De-tour
After Rovaniemi we had a detour mission to Jokkmokk, over the border in Sweden. Jokkmokk wouldn’t ordinarily be worthy of a 400 km detour. But this week it just happens to be hosting the end of the Arctic Ice Ultra Race in which our nephew Jack Davey is competing: a gruelling run of 230km over five days in the Arctic Circle. It’s a phenomenal challenge that he is undertaking and we really want to be at the finish line to congratulate him when he crosses the finish line. Of the thirty nine runners, Jack came in at excellent 11th place overall. Given this was his first ever event, and he ran against other much more experienced racers, the achievement is even more impressive! We took pics and reported back to his super-proud Mum (Marcus’ sister, Alison) in UK.
Gas, gas, gas
Two things that are hard to prepare for winter overlanding in Scandinavia are fresh water supply, and re-filling of propane/gas (for heating/cooking).
In winter the outdoor water taps at fuel stations are, of course, turned-off and isolated for the freeze. A couple of years ago, back when we were in a deep Canadian covid winter, we used to fill our water tank at indoor truck-wash venues. But here in northern Scandinavia we haven’t seen any of these. So what about checking-in to a campsite for a night? Well there aren’t many of these open at this time of year either. Natural water sources are all frozen, so we can’t pump out of a stream, as we do in warmer climates. The up-shot is, we need some extremely careful water-use management for our time in the deep-freeze.
Finding propane/gas for heating and cooking has never been a problem for us over 10+ years of overlanding 51 countries. But in Finland, propane isn’t used much domestically. And there are no LPG vehicles, so there’s no LPG at fuel stations. They do have a bottle-swapping system that locals can sign-up to, but nowhere to take bottles for refill. As you might imagine, we’re getting through gas at quite a rate: with outside temperatures as low as -32°C, we really need the heating on 24/7 to prevent both us, and Cuthbert’s systems from freezing-up.
Depending on climate, our two 11kg gas bottles have typically lasted us anything between a few weeks and a few months (our longest was 6 months in Brazil/Guianas!!). Here in the extreme cold, they’re lasting us just two weeks! So after spending 10 days in northern Finland, we really were getting a bit critical on the gas-stocks. The detour to Jokkmokk, Sweden to congratulate Jack also allowed us to detour even further, down to Piteå to find a gas fill before heading back to Finland.
Driving on the Bothnian
Now… we’re sure you’re familiar with that long bit of water, north of the Baltic, between Sweden and Finland. But did you know it’s called the Bothnian Sea? We didn’t, until we got there. The Bothnian Sea freezes in winter. Thick, thick ice. Over a meter thick. So… we thought… it’s not everyday you get to drive ON the sea, is it? We’ve got to give it a go!
Ice-driving is allowed in designated areas where they monitor the ice quality/thickness and we found a route with a certified 7T limit. We saw one small car drive out there, but there were no other heavy vehicles around. Hmmm… Cuthbert’s 5.9T is comfortably under the limit and we trust that in this part of the world, they know their stuff when it comes to ice-testing. What could possibly go wrong? So we headed out, driving onto the sea. It’s a weird feeling knowing what’s underneath you, but once you’re out there, it looks pretty much like all the other ice-covered roads. Click here to see short Insta-vid.
More Ice Activities
Not surprisingly, most winter activities around here revolve around ice and snow. Mostly because there’s a lot of it. On the water-front at Luleå we spotted a speed-skate race. Lots of lycra-clad athletes whizzing around the ice-track created in the harbour – on the very spot that fills with yachts in the summer. Turns out, the competitors are all Dutch. The annual event used to be held in the Netherlands until 1994. Since then they’ve not had enough ice to be able to hold it at home. So they schlepp their stuff, 2,500km all the way up here for reliably frozen sea to compete on. Just another of the many little clues and practical consequences of climate change that we have seen over our years of travel.
Remember we mentioned how cross-country skiing is a popular mode of local transport in winter up here? Well another popular local scoot-about is the kick-sled. They’re such a super-convenient method of transport that in a few places, the local authority provides a small fleet for the public to borrow. Well, as they’d gone to the trouble of providing them, it would be rude not to give it a try wouldn’t it? (click here fore little Insta-vid that we had a lot of fun making!). We found they work really well with minimum kickage (yes, I just made up a word) required on shiny-hard ice. On a snowy or slightly thawing ice surface, a lot more kickage is required. But they’re certainly more fun than trying to walk on the ice!
Long Schlepp to Helsinki
Having finally left the Arctic Circle and covering the loooong schlepp, overlanding Finland all the way south to Helsinki, we realised that most of Finland’s attractions (at least at this time of the year) are in the north. We very much enjoyed our time in northern Finland and can highly recommend it for a winter get-away trip. But central Finland… errrm… well… there’s not so much to say really. It’s just 1,000km to be driven through to get to Helsinki.
Cold, grey day in Helsinki
Helsinki isn’t an unattractive city. In fact, as large cities go, it’s quite cool. But we really didn’t quite get the right season to visit. Early March is grey, drab and foggy. Cold enough to discourage from wandering, but warm enough for most of the snow to have almost melted. Streets are mostly snow-free… clear enough to lure you into a false sense of security… only then to be ambushed by the odd patch of residual ‘stealth’ ice, hanging around in shady corners, just waiting for an unsuspecting pedestrian to slide on 🤣.
Nevertheless, there’s still some lovely architecture to admire, some interesting museums and a never-ending choice of cafes and restaurants (some where you can have anything… as long as it’s reindeer).
From Helsinki… our next instalment is taking a ferry over the Baltic Sea to Cuthbert’s country number 54: Estonia!