I picked Chris up from Todmorden and we set off smartly, stopping at Lancaster services for supplies from M&S and coffees, Tebay services for more supplies, Penrith for diesel and Keswick for an anorak and a head torch for Chris to add to her collection. We ate our M&S salads in the car park. She had butternut squash and I had a beetroot and mint one, they were very tasty.
We parked in Bowness Knot car park and then walked the 7 miles to Black Sail youth hostel which really does feel remote as that’s the only way to get there although the YHA does have a Land Rover which trundles up and down with duvet covers and bottles of beer. We were in a room on the left of the main room with 4 bunk beds in it. Chris very kindly took the top bunk as I was worried that if it was hot, the heat would rise which would probably melt me as I’m currently having thermostat problems. We made up our beds. There was one other occupant. We made our dinner of boiled mixed veg, rice and LWIF meatballs. C didn’t feel so well so I had some of hers too then yummy Simnel cake I had made. We drank Jennings’ Cocker Hoop and Snecklifter. I liked the Cocker Hoop better. Early to bed.
Old YHA Land Rover at Black SailEnnerdale WaterOn the road to Black Sail
Wednesday 23rd April
C snored and I sneezed but the woman we shared with from Birmingham was very forgiving or at least too polite to say we had kept her awake. I haven’t really slept for 3 weeks since my internal thermostat decided to go on the blink and give me the experience of random hot sweats at any time. The only good thing is that they don’t last very long but I do long to sleep through an entire night without either sneezing or sweating.
We had breakfast of yoghurt jam and granola pots. We tidied up and set off for Pillar. It soon became clear that Chris really wasn’t going to be able to go very far uphill so we changed our plans and walked a little further towards the head of the valley and then back to Bowness Knot along the south side of the river. This was a lovely walk going through different types of woodland. On the way we had pork pies for our lunch. We had planned to walk up Pillar and across to Steeple and down to Ennerdale YH but the walk we did do was still very pretty with the river burbling away.
Back at the car we went for a drive round to Wasdale and stopped at the Wasdale Head Inn for a pot of tea and shared a piece of cake.
Then drove back across the moor road to Ennerdale Bridge and stopped at the Fox and Hounds for supper. C had Cumberland sausage and mash and veg and gravy and I had sea bass and chips and veg and homemade tartare sauce. Washed down with Jennings beer on tap. The food was ok but not totally top notch. My fish was overdone.
We then drove back to Ennerdale YH for the night. I had asked by email if we could park here for last night while we walked to Black Sail but got a reply that we couldn’t. I then found that the woman from Birmingham had done so and she hadn’t even been staying there, Ggrrr! When I get time I will write a letter. However this reminded me that they never replied when the man in charge of Bryn Gwynant broke the noise curfew he was supposed to be implementing by playing rock music so loud it woke me up. Anyway it was lovely to shower and drink Moretti beer.
I watched the manager reverse the brand new YHA Land Rover in the dark towards the gate posts. Probably best to learn how to do this in the daylight IMHO!! I think it was unscathed but looked a close shave.
Early morning at Black SailChris at Black SailHead of the valleyIt was this big!Mad woman on bridgeThe heronEnnerdale WaterWasdale in the gloom
Thursday 24th April
We had a leisurely yoghurt breakfast again and then set off to drive across the mountain Whinlatter Pass to Keswick’s west side. We parked up and walked up Catbells. Chris found this hard work but I’m very grateful to her that she stuck with it and helped me reach my 61st Wainwright. After all her efforts, we went into Keswick and had some food in the Square Orange cafe. C had a ciabatta and I had 2 tapas, a sort of omelette and some fresh tomato on bruschetta. Very delicious and a nice relaxing cafe.
Then we drove home.
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Mountain Rescue bears Ted and Wally on CatbellsTowards Skiddaw from CatbellsChris with Derwent Water after exertions on Catbells
There are 2 places called Kirkland within about 40 miles of each other, one is to the west of the M6 and one to the east. The one I was headed for is near Penrith. Unfortunately I didn’t check where I’d programmed my sat nav to take me and although I did know I was going just east of Penrith, somehow I was so absorbed in listening to Bag of Bones written and read by Stephen King that I barely noticed that I’d passed Penrith.
Once I’d actually arrived at Kirkland number 2, I was about 2 and a bit hours later than I’d intended to be so this had to mean cutting my walk time back a bit. The original idea was for a circular walk taking in Cross Fell and back to the hamlet. I parked near the church and made my way up the fell. Straight away there is a sign mentioning that the path is part of Pennine Journey, this is a reference to Alfred Wainwright’s book of the same name. AW made his journey at the end of August/beginning of September 1939. He makes scant reference to world events and that’s understandable given his surroundings. He takes off to walk a good chunk of the Pennines as far up as Hadrian’s Wall clad in what I would say sounds like inappropriate clothing and footwear. There are accounts of the hob nails coming up through the boots. He only has one handkerchief and is suffering from a cold [this reminds me of Victoria Wood sketch where the prospective medical student is being interviewed and is asked “what do you think Othello was suffering from?” to which she brightly answers “he might have been suffering from a cold”!] Despite the time of year, the weather is awful and he gets it all. The most annoying scene in the book is when AW turns up at a farmhouse where a flood has taken place. Instead of offering to help out, all AW does is demand cups of tea from a woman who clearly has enough on her plate already. This narration did not endear me to AW but his walk probably did inspire and helped to lead to the formation of the Pennine Way in the 1960s.
My walk was just a fragment of AW’s. The route up the flank of Cross Fell is mostly along the Corpse Road. I felt really sorry for the poor people and more likely the poor horses who would have had to carry coffins up this track, the track is good in a lot of places particularly as far as the old mine workings but where it disappears it goes into deep bog. I managed to keep out of this and navigated my way through it but it wasn’t very delightful.
Although Cross Fell is high at 893 metres, it never feels as if you are climbing up a mountain, there are no steep sections, everything rises gently. It took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach the top. The top is a very broad plateau and on a lovely day would give views to Scotland, all the Lake District and so on. On a not very lovely day, it was just very cold (still some snow lying about) and very windy. I saw 7 people on my travels, 2 pairs of geezers, and 3 fell runners.
At the top I wolfed down the remains of my lunch and decided to return the way I had come, this was my compromise due to the reduced amount of time at my disposal. The weather was coming in and I found I didn’t really like Cross Fell very much, it had felt like a battle to get up it and so all I wanted to do was to get down.
I got back to the car in a record 1 hour and 40 mins which was nearly half the time it had taken me to get up. Partly this was because there were lots of long grassy sections which were virtually rock free and gently sloping, this enabled me to run for as long as they lasted so although I’m not a fell runner by any means and doing this with big boots and rucksack was not ideal, it was great fun and very liberating. I’ve run 3 times a week for a year and it feels like it’s really paid off and I was impressed with my stamina. I managed to avoid the bog on the way back down by sticking more rigidly to the Corpse Road. So even though it’s not quite long enough to qualify as a QMD, I would still say this was one as it was challenging, involved some navigational techniques and I learnt some things about myself.
Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.
This is Kirkland FellCross FellIt’s a standard, I love these, looking towards ScotlandGolf ball on Great Dun Fell
We arrived in Llanfechain after a visit to Sainsbury in Oswestry. After getting settled in we set off for the circuit from the cottage.
We went to the Lime Kiln in Porth-y-Waen. C had a Swiss burger and I had plaice with a sort of hot salad. It was very nice.
Sun 16th
We parked up just north of Trefonen and walked a chunk of Offa’s Dyke. Fabulous day warm and sunny. C did very well with some quite steep sections. Back for chicken and pasta. Watched half of Skyfall.
A quick bit of whittling as Offa passed by
The actual ditch
Mon 17th
We got up early to whizz into Welshpool to the brand new renal unit for C’s holiday dialysis session. As I drove off to whizz up a hill my wing mirror glass fell off and I suddenly became unable to drive my car. I couldn’t even parallel park!! I went to Oswestry and got a replacement glass at Halfords. By the time I’d sorted all this out I didn’t have enough time to do any hill whizzing so instead I went back to Welshpool for coffee and a chocolate brownie. I picked Carol up and we went off to Rhydycroesau. We walked a bit of a Ron’s Ramble which I shortened for C who had not been feeling so good. Watched the rest of Skyfall.
Before I saw this hut from this angle I said “if this was in Finland it would be a compost loo!”
Tues 18th
It was wet so I started off with a run of the circuit from the house. Then to Oswestry for a mooch including coffee and cake in Booka which is a really great independant bookshop. Then back to Rhydycroesau to eat our lunch and to walk around the lanes above Llangedwyn. Back to the cottage and out again to drive to Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog which is across a small mountain on mountain lanes. The Hand has an AA rosette but the food wasn’t that exciting although lots of it. C had beef lasagne and I had veg crumble which came with bread and chips. Then we were overcharged but they apologised for this. Lovely drive back along the lanes in the moonlight with the big orb shining brightly through the trees.
There are quite a lot of memorials where the war went on beyond 11/11/18
I’ve got a thing about lines of trees on skylines
Weds 19th
We had a lazy start then drove up to Lake Vrynwy top end wanting to do an anti clockwise circuit but the road was blocked for tree clearing. We’ve seen so many trees blown over. We walked a bit on some forestry tracks but found we couldn’t even get past the tree blocks without a lot of difficulty. There had also been considerable landslip and more downed trees further on if we did pass the first lot. Retraced our steps and went up the road instead practicing some relocation and measuring techniques. Back for Welsh dragon sausages, baked beans, boiled spuds (no masher) and mushroom and tomato mix. Ever so sophisticated dining at home. Watched The Butler DVD kindly provided by our hostess. I got distracted by American pronunciation of Cecil (thought it was seesaw) and the lack of 2 whole presidents (Ford and Carter).
Thurs 20th
We came home but first called in on our landlady Nicky in her new home which is a white cottage near the river. She showed us some of her photos. I can’t help liking that she knew/knows Warhol, Hockney, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Mick Jagger. I’ve been trying to read Patti Smith’s autobio since I saw her playing at Burnley Mechanics last year but it’s very poorly written so I only pick it up (it’s on my phone) when I’m filling time and I’m a bit bored. Nicky says Patti has used some artistic licence about the early days! I need to read the book a bit more but this is something to do with Patti and Robert not being able to afford the Chelsea Hotel. This is an article about Nicky and her friends: http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2012/08/21/how-i-met-andy-nicky-weymouth-and-the-team-of-bohemians/
Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.
Chris and I met up in the cafe at the station and took on liquid supplies. We walked the route I’d done in September for the Walk and Ride festival. This is the 5th time I’ve done this route or a variant of it and it still pleases.
The first section is a good warm up climb to the mobile phone mast through deciduous woodland. Then a short second climb across agricultural land sometimes with cows but not this day. Along Pinnacle Lane, past the goats and then up another short steep section at Kilnshaw Farm to reach the moor.
How many goats?
We stopped for a break and then crossed the moor without incident, finding a direct path to Broadhead Clough Nature Reserve, just by following a “rough” bearing and the relatively obvious path. Oh well, things clearly change underfoot according to the season.
The nature reserve is managed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and is a delight, completely unspoilt and just lovely.
We tracked along the edge of the wood, some new signage and fences have been put up which help to cross what was a quite tricky boggy section. Through the next wood and then down a coniferous wood to Daisy Bank. Down the stream and then onto the hard track which took us to Wood Top and back down to the station.
A lovely walk in springlike weather with the best of company.
Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.
The photos in this post are a mixture of mine and Chris’s.
Sat 1st February
Chris picked me up and drove us to Gatwick stopping a couple of times on the way. Nice easy journey. Arrived at Sofitel, (perhaps a new venture for my dear cousin Sophy?!) We were met by a somewhat morose doorman in a long coat and a driver who took Chris’s car away. Mr Grumpy took us to reception in the grand atrium. Our room was fine and looked onto the central courtyard. We put the Prosecco in the fridge and wandered over the indoor walkway to the terminal to look at the shops which were a bit rubbish and to buy our breakfast in M&S.
An aperitif and then prepaid dinner in the hotel. We both had pasta mains, mine with funghi and Chris’s with carbonara, washed down with big glasses of Sauvignon. Nice young man from South Africa served us, very excited as he has not yet seen snow and was hoping it would come.
Back for après drinks. Read a bit and tried to sleep.
Sun 2nd February
She snored and I sneezed and we both had terrible indigestion which I blame on the pasta.
At 3.20 we had to wake up fully to check out so that we could then check in at 4.10. All was fine and for once I didn’t get a good work over at security.
As we took our seats on the plane in a set of 3, I asked the girl on the end if she was with Exodus too and she said yes. She made no further remarks, so I thought she must be shy. I offered her a boiled sweet which she took but still didn’t say anything except thanks. And then another but still nothing. I was starting to think she was a bit lacking and wondering about a whole week in her company. As we landed I gave her another sweet. She thanked me and that was it, off we went. We didn’t land on snow, the runway had been cleared, a minor worry I’d had. Kuusamo is a tiny airport, ours was the only plane there. We were met by Bjorn aka Teddy. 25 of us onto a coach but not my sweet eating companion!
We set off and were immediately driving through forest on snow with no other cars hardly. Some more on the main road but not many. Past the turn into the town, past the ski resort of Ruka which is tiny and has the only big hill in the vicinity. The snow deepened as we went into the national park and the roads narrowed. Before long we got to Basecamp Oulanka (u not pronounced). Lunch of sweet potato soup and black bread. Pancake pudding. Very good. Then we were issued with equipment in a very hot room, we got 3 layers of legs and 3 of tops, boots, rucksack, sit mat, 2 pairs gloves, mittens and a hat. Later a headlamp and a flask. This took a long time. We had been given a double room and not a twin and this was not what we wanted or had paid for. The Basecamp staff sorted us out so that we had a double room each and they did this quickly but it was an Exodus cock up. We had to wait while my new double room was readied. I don’t know how those sharing a double room managed to fit 2 lots of the kit we’d just been given into one cupboard.
Bjorn gave us a long and complicated briefing for the week and we worked out what we wanted to do.
Unpacked, then dinner at 7 pm of salad and elk stew with potato. Choc cake for pud. We shared it.
At 8.30 went to Chris’s cabin for tea (her) and hot choc (me) with rum.
At 9 Carol rang, just coming off the machine so I rang her at 10, really flagging, so tired had lost ability to speak, only 8 pm at home.
Mon 3rd February
Slept for hours and hours. Woke at 8.15. Breakfast of muesli and yoghurt, black bread, ham, cheese and salad. Coffee comes out of kettle on hot plate. Berry juice, water, tea and coffee available all the time in the big room.
Issued with snow shoes and walking poles. Out to the lake where we put them on, much easier design than when I last did this. Game of frisbee to warm up and gain confidence in running with them on. Into the forest. Walk on toes to go up and bounce like a trotting horse to go down (well that was my way of doing it). Also down slope on bum. Hugged a tree to hear the silence and feel the stillness. Went to viewpoint over frozen river, the rapids not frozen. Dipper dipping. To the mill and back to base.
Lunch of salmon and dill soup and black bread.
Some time later Chris and I went out on self guided walk on the Little Bear trail. The bears are currently hibernating. Went across suspended wobbly bridge over rapid river and later another bridge across frozen river, we heard it lapping underneath.
We went to a forest hut with lots of logs complete with hefty axe and saw. Also an outdoor compost loo which I made use of. Then back in the nearly dark. Sunset is at 3.30 but could still see when we got back at 4.45. Likewise I could see before sunrise at 9 this morning.
Change and then to the hot tub. Shower first. Hot tub not hot enough. Bit slippy on getting out onto ice. Eloise went for snow roll from hot tub (how brave) and came back in which possibly lowered the temperature!! Out and quick hot shower then back for shower in room but I picked a bad time as everyone was doing this so the water went off in the middle of hair conditioning but it all came right eventually.
G&T in Chris’s cabin. Dinner of chicken, veg and rice with curry sauce followed by salad. Pud was cake for Jenny’s birthday so she got up to blow out her candle and then Gary got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She said yes. Not a dry eye in the place!
Back to my cabin for tea and hot choc with rum.
Tues 4th February
Didn’t sleep so well, itching and scratching and still too hot so turned the heating off which didn’t make much difference. Into plush minibus to Riisitunturi park about 45 mins away, stopping to drop off one lot of dog sledders and pick up another lot who have to exchange the 4th layer of clothing which is ski pants and coats. I’m sure they haven’t divided us up size wise so not sure how this works. The park has a small 380 m hill where the snow clumps very heavily on the trees and makes strange shapes out of them. Very like those in Stephen King’s The Shining which I’ve just read or Narnia if you prefer less scary.
Norra led us along with Tessa, a Finn and Lisa, a volunteer (I think) from the UK. Norra says she does feel Scandinavian which I asked because of an online conversation I’d had with one of my relations. Great walk although misty so no views but mysterious and quite magical despite having to join in the games for Exodus’ 40th birthday. We have a slightly disappointing packed lunch of fruit juice, energy bar, raisins, sandwich made by us and a heavy sweet bun.
Back at Basecamp we start to make a Sami drum out of reindeer skin. It is intricate and absorbing work and a bit like being back at school although Bjorn is a kind teacher.
We then go off for dinner in the dark in a shelter with a big fire pit. We have elk with mashed potato, pickled gherkins and lingonberry jam. Also juice. Then we make pancakes. By this time I feel I’m coming down with a cold. We go back and finish the actual drum making. Back to Chris’s cabin for hot choc and rum.
Weds 5th February
Woke up in the night feeling gruesome but on waking this morning I have a cold but feel OK.
We drive off with Anneka back to Riisintunturi wearing even more clothes to meet Lauri at the husky farm, he is a gentle giant Laplander. I have the first team behind him, Chris behind me and then the other 4 plus Lauri’s handsome but silent colleague. I have a team of 4, Chris has 6. We set off after instruction at quite a lick. The dogs crap on the go so it’s important to brake for this, brake for downhill slopes, brake when the one in front stops. My dogs were quite good and I would have liked them to go a bit faster, they went quite slowly on the flat stretches and then fast down hills. Cornering was fab. We went up through the snow covered trees into the park. Very exhilarating for 10 km. Lauri has 60 dogs and knows them all, they all know their names. They got a gravy drink at the end and eat in the evening. 500 g mix of meat and biscuit.
Back to Basecamp. Fish soup for lunch which I quite liked despite not being big on fish. Spicy bun for pud.
Bjorn gave us kick sleighs to play with which got us used to falling over and not having any control over direction.
Issue of shoes and skis.
On the lake we first practised moving around on skis, then scootering on one leg then the other leg then bringing it together. Bjorn is very long and thin and showed us the desired movements in slow motion which was a most amazing sight with the length of his legs!
We tried a few goes but when Bjorn suggested the round the lake trip Chris decided to go home. We went over to a settlement and then Bjorn brought us back across a short slice of lake rather than the whole enormous thing. We did about 3 km and I only fell off right at the finish line. It was nearly dark so we went into the wood with our headlamps on. We walked up a little slope and tried to go down it. Pippa was very good at all of it. Jonathan succeeded with some minor wobbles and I veered off to the left and had to fall over to avoid the trees!
Dinner of veg lasagna and salad and apple cake with vanilla sauce.
Finished off our drums. Rang home a bit late.
Rum in my cabin.
Northerly Angel
Thurs 6th February
Set off just after 10.30 and snow shoed by ourselves to the frozen waterfall and could see Castle Rock. Very glad we hadn’t paid an extra charge to walk this in a group. It was a lovely walk but perfectly manageable on our own. We ate some nuts and choc but the Picnic bar for Chris was rock hard and my water bottle froze. Got back to Basecamp for a clothing change and then onto the minibus taxi with Eileen and Jack to go to Ruka which is small tacky looking ski resort to pick up those who had been doing snowmobiling and skiing there. As we waited I looked out the window and the skiers appeared as if they were in mid air.
Then to the reindeer farm, which was quite high and much, much colder, I put on all my layers (5) which was only just enough.
Mika took us to see 2 reindeer and the sleigh. Chris and I got in and our reindeer was hooked in and off we went on a very small circuit at a very gracious pace, more stop than go and the complete opposite of the huskies. Everyone had a twirl round doing this.
Then we went into the female reindeer pen to feed them moss which looked more like lichen. They liked this alright. Mika showed us to a little barn with a blazing fire. We took our boots off and put our feet on reindeer skins. It was very dark in the shed and smoky. First Mika gave us reindeer sausages already cooked to warm on the fire. Delicious and good with mustard. Then a cup of kettle coffee and a pastry made by his partner Satu’s mother. Needed spices or at least sugar. He told us the work of the reindeer farmer’s year which is hard and how reindeer farming operates in a commune type system. Then he sold us some crafts and the bus came to take us back to Ruka. We picked up the rest who had waited nearly half an hour in the cold for us. Back to Basecamp. Dinner of rainbow trout, mixed roast veg. Salad. Ice cream and berry sauce.
We sat around with the rest of the group in the evening for a change.
Back to Chris’s cabin for rum.
Fri 7th February
Terrible night with nose dripping all night meaning I had to blow it about every 15 mins. Finally managed about 3 hours unbroken sleep. Chris also hadn’t slept well.
We decided not to build a quinsee and joined the snow shoe group plus 2 other couples who had opted out. Norra led us on the whole of the Little Bear trail. Fabulous walk through the forests and across frozen lakes. 10 km in 5.5 hours total which is not bad on snow shoes with lots of stops for drinks and photos. We stopped at a woodshed for lunch. Chris and I had made a small sandwich from the black bread and I had an egg which we added to our copious supplies of sweet things. We didn’t pay for a packed lunch as we didn’t feel it was worth the price. Norra quickly lit a fire using firelighters and matches she had brought and wood from the shed which the government provides for free. Some toasted their sandwiches. On the return section we went up 252 steps which was hard work as they were mostly snow covered but some had been reduced to ice so the bear claw part of the snow shoe was very necessary.
Back for hot choc and a doughnut. Then we went to the hot tub for C and sauna for me. So hot I couldn’t put my feet down.
I have had 4 showers today!
Dinner of elk stew with rice and barley, salad and quark pud with fruit basically a creamy fruity dish and v good.
To my shed for rum and hot drink and early to bed to sleep more and get better.
Little Bear Trail
Chris and Paul252nd step
The man in the merino mask
Sat 8th February
Dog day.
Early start but our taxi was late. Drove for quite a while to Jaksamontiewhere Lauri, Marika and the 60 dogs live. First we togged up in their home which was quite old fashioned Scandi bling and reminded me of the B&B in Koenigstein. I got to model an all in one snowmobile padded boiler suit suitable for Everest. We met some husky puppies. Then to our sleds. The solo sledders set off first with another quiet handsome man then Lauri, then us, me in the sled with Chris driving then 3 more doubles behind us. I was wrapped up with a duvet and a reindeer skin on top. We set off at the usual cracking pace through the forest and on up into Riisitunturi park. I was glad for all my 5 layers top and 3 bottom. Chris was a good driver. She had to push the 8 dogs up a hill and pulled a muscle in her groin doing this. At halfway to lunch we stopped for a drink and swopped over. Our dogs were pretty good although one seemed constipated and we had frequent stops to deal with his poo non events.
A complete stop for lunch at a forest shelter. The soloists had arrived some 20 mins before and helped to carry the pots and pans and light the fire. We sat on our reindeer skins, used the compost loo and warmed up. Lunch was a long, slow drawn out affair. First elk stew with lots of cheese in it. Then bread with cheese on it. Then hot berry desert with cheese sounds bad but it was very, very good. Then coffee mixed with a splash of water in the dessert cup. Back into the sleds, this time with a thicker longer reindeer skin over me, sorry to whoever got my little one instead. I took some videos as we went along on our 8 dog open sleigh. At one stop John and Eileen’s 2 front dogs came up alongside me. The nearest sniffed and licked my reindeer and then ripped a huge chunk out of it. I tried to stop him and Lauri said doggo mustn’t eat anything but he started growling at me so I gave up on this thankless task.
We swopped over again putting the headlamps on and skated back to Lauri’s dog farm. Very magical whizzing through the snow by torchlight all spread out.
Back to Basecamp for shower, return all the kit, dinner of salmon and fried potatoes, salad, sort of Bakewell tart pudding. Paid our bills. Bjorn gave us a slide show of what it’s like there in the summer and a film of our week which he will send us.
To Chris’s room for a last hot rum, then packing then sleep.
Checked out, last breakfast and Bjorn took us to the mill to convene with silence, stillness and nature.
Bus arrived and Bjorn said we had arrived as guests and left as friends which felt very true despite the cynics!
Lisa with her broken arm said goodbye as not allowed to fly. Any excuse to stay longer.
To tiny airport, one tiny other plane there. Smooth procedures, no nagging about weight allowances, my case now lighter. Chris’s heavier. Eloise had 2 v small bags, I must look into lighter packing and holdalls.
Some small shopping and a coffee and onto plane.
I loved Finland, the food, the plumbing, the peace, the quiet, the wilderness, the people. And for Carol I did not see one single piece of litter all week.
