"When are you coming to see our home in Hetta?" my daughter, Anna, would regularly ask. She and Pasi, her Finnish husband, had bought the house early in 2005 and they have done a lot of decorating and renovating since then. As I was waiting for a knee operation, I said I would go when it was all over. Finally, the date was fixed for Sunday, 2nd September, 2007.
Whatever way one travels, it takes time to reach Hetta in the north-west of Finland, but Anna decided to book for her Dad, herself, my old school pal, Hazel, and myself by air to Tromsø, in northern Norway and to make the journey to and from Hetta an exciting part of the trip. Pasi met us in his people-carrier and drove us to our first stop. We reached Hetta late afternoon on the 3rd. Pasi's parents, Vuokko and Teuvo, who had travelled from Karelia to be with us and entertain us while the younger folk attended to their work, came out to greet us warmly and soon we were sitting down to a real Finnish meal prepared by Vuokko, including 'Karelian pie'.
After a tour of the house and immediate vicinity, we went for a walk in the woods that are part of the property. The town of Hetta is about 2.5 km from the house, while the distance to the nearest neighbour in the opposite direction is at least 2.5 km. What a welcome break from our road at home, choc-a-bloc every day with strangers parking their cars for free!
Next day we set off to visit a strip of land that Teuvo and Vuokko have bought. They plan to build their second home there. We trudged through marshland, and over berry-covered shrubs, sometimes sinking, ankle-deep, into wet bog water, till we eventually emerged on a hillside, leading down to the shore of a large lake. There is no road as yet into the land, and they will have to wait till the lake has frozen over for vehicles to drive in with building materials.
Anna and Pasi estimated how long it would take us to trek there, but we were far quicker than they assumed we would be. A stiff, cold breeze blew in from the lake, as we waited for them to paddle three canoes across so that we could return by boat. Eventually, we noticed tiny dots appear on the far shore, and we followed their progress. As they reached the middle of the lake, we distinguished Anna in one boat, and Pasi in another, as he towed the third one. On landing, they produced flasks of hot coffee, which we drank while huddled under the shelter of a tree on the hillside.
"The red boat is rather rickety and insecure", announced Anna. "I will return in it. Who will volunteer to paddle with me?"
Mum's hand shot up! The oldest and the youngest would go in the least safe craft.
Then Anna produced the life-jackets, and Teuvo and Vuokko were soon on the water, followed by Anna and me, and, finally, Pasi with Mike and Hazel.
It was a fair distance across that large expanse of water, and at times the wind whipped the sea into rough waves, making paddling doubly difficult, as the waves and the wind combined to threaten our craft with capsizing. I trusted my daughter, as I knew she is one of Britain's top female paddlers. That didn't mean I wasn't scared. The look of joy on my face, captured on film, as I scrambled out of the boat on the far shore, tells it all. There were moments of sheer euphoria as we paddled in the vast silence with the only sound being the swish of the water under our paddles. Memories of school days came flooding back, snippets from 'the Wind in the Willows' and the poem 'Hiawatha'. I began to listen to 'the whispering of the pine trees' and 'the lapping of the water' and the phrase, 'messing about in boats' came to mind. A serene sense of peace and solitude then descended. We were truly in the wilderness, far from modern civilisation. Best of all, we didn't get a ducking!
Back home Pasi soon had a log fire roaring up the chimney. Teuvo later taught me how to stack the logs before peeling off a strip of dry bark, and using just one match to set it alight and place it in the space amid the logs. One night I lit the fire by myself, but soon everyone was rushing in, asking what was going on. The whole house was smoke-filled. I hadn't known there was a flue that should have been opened!
Did we miss out on any luxuries? We didn't.
"Who would like a sauna?"" offered Anna.
Once again, Mum's hand alone shot up. The sauna was switched on and I donned my swimsuit, but when I realised I was alone, I discarded the swimsuit and did it the Finnish way. As the temperature rose and I ladled water on to the hot coals, clouds of steam enveloped my body. My breath paused with the shock of the intense heat and I felt overcome and ready to faint. Then I practised deep breathing and went on ladling water, closing my eyes as the steam grew ever hotter. Anna came to the door and said she thought that was enough. It was my cue to emerge and wend my way to the shower. The subsequent sense of well-being made the experience worthwhile.
Next day we went to the town and shopped in the supermarket before visiting the souvenir shops. Although the original Lapp inhabitants have more or less integrated with the Finns, their ancient culture is preserved. We saw two women in the supermarket, dressed in colourful, traditional costume, and much of the merchandise on sale in the craft shops is local Lapp handiwork. We were astonished at the variety of food in the supermarket, given that the population is so sparse.
We then visited the Enontekio Fell Nature Reserve and Museum. There we studied the history and culture of the native inhabitants. It was sad to read about the children being sent away to boarding-schools where, separated from their families, they learned to speak only Finnish, and so, during holidays back home, their parents and grandparents, who spoke only their native Sami tongue, could no longer communicate with them.
Coffee and gateaux in the café were a welcome treat before we set out into the forest to follow some of the nature trails. We took it in turns to read the map and lead the way. I am no orienteer but it was a challenge to work out the route. We came upon a little shelter, with a welcoming log-fire blazing in the centre and a group of tourists drinking coffee. It was obviously a stop organised by a touring company for their clients. They offered us coffee but we declined, being grateful for the break and the opportunity to take pictures. Anna and Pasi had joined us on the walk. We branched off on different routes and ended up on what was described as the deer walk, where lines of planks were laid over the marshy land. The only coaches we saw were at nature reserves.
In the evening we sat and watched television. The American programmes had sound in English but sub-titles in Finnish.
On the fourth day we went by car with Teuvo and Vuokko to the starting-point for a long walk across a ridge between two lakes. We spotted some reindeer and a red squirrel that put on a comic performance for our benefit as he ran up a pine tree and then hopped from branch to branch and from tree to tree. We noticed lots of anthills and a foxhole, and we found the white feather of a grouse, all bearing witness to the hidden wild life of the forest. The pine trees had a black, bearded growth that will provide food for the reindeer when the ground lies deep under snow. Winter's winds will knock it to the ground when other sources of food are covered. We noticed interesting varieties of fungi, some of which are edible for humans. They provide nourishment for the reindeer. Siberian pines and spruce abound here, trees well adapted to bear the weight of the winter's snows. A surviving mosquito bit me in the neck, and the bite irritated me for a week.
That night a session of river kayaking was available, and, once again, there was only one volunteer. We set off for the river, Pasi carrying the yellow kayak and paddle while Anna brought the life-jacket. It was a remote, lonely spot where we scrambled down to the river bank, while cameras clicked from the bridge above. Pushing off from the side, I was asking myself why I always walked open-eyed into these situations. I was fairly scared till I got into my stride, but then the peace and beauty of the surroundings enveloped me. Remembering Anna's warning that there were rapids further on, I reluctantly turned back after I had paddled well away from the others. Age is no barrier to one's enjoyment of the wilderness. Next time the rapids will beckon. A long soak in a Jacuzzi was a prelude to bed-time that night. What luxury!
On our final night in Hetta we walked up the woods to where Pasi had set up a target for shooting practice. He brought a rifle and a revolver with him and gave us lessons and demonstrations, before asking, 'Who would like to have a go?'
Yes. I stepped forward and he gave me thick ear-muffs to wear. Then I raised the rifle, released the catch, took aim and fired, repeating the exercise five times. For someone who had never till then handled even a toy gun, hitting four out of five wasnt bad! The revolver was different. The recoil took me by surprise. This was just another experience in what turned out to be a most exciting adventure holiday.
Friday arrived and we had done our packing, ready to move out on the first leg of our homeward journey. While Anna and Pasi finished off some work, the rest of us went off to follow the trail from the school through the forest. We started at the school wall that has been transformed into a climbing wall. Then, along the route we came upon various challenges to encourage young people to enjoy the outdoors, equipment involving climbing, crawling, balancing and so on. Bearing in mind the time we were to leave Hetta, we knew how far we could go, so after about 10 km we turned back. There was time to visit Hetta church, a beautiful edifice built on an elevation with the help of American Lutherans. What interested us most was a copy of the death mask of Martin Luther in the vestry, one of three in the world. Nearby is a cemetery in natural surroundings, part of which is a War cemetery. The graves are set among natural growth of shrubs and trees, a feature being lanterns on the graves, many of them lighting.
Back at the house we found everything aboard the van, and it wasn't long before we were on the road once again. Vuokko and Teuvo accompanied us to Tromso and they would stay on with Pasi for a few more days. They don't speak English and we don't speak Finnish, but we communicated well with them.
It had been a wonderful holiday, but we could have done with a longer stay. I would like to do part, if not all, of the 55 km Pallas- Hetta trek, breaking the journey by staying in huts along the route. We had thought of doing the first 20km of the trek, as far as the first hut, but there wasn't time. Being inexperienced, we would need to go with seasoned trekkers, but it is a challenge that will still be there when we go again. I would also like to climb Saana, the sacred mountain, and to shoot the rapids. Anna invited us back for the Christmas Santa programmes that she and Pasi were helping Transun develop in this wilderness area, and I accepted and I travelled from Manchester to enontekio and spent a week helping with, snowmobiling, huskies, Santa's ride, reindeer sleigh rides and snow-shoeing. It was in complete contrast to our autumn visit.