Another great day from Muotkan Maja. Snowmobile safari and a Reindeer farm. These machines are massive and powerful, so this had the potential to be very similar to “that jet ski experience”. However I am older and wiser, and I trust my husband implicitly – I declined to drive, not even a taster I an “easy bit”. As such we both enjoyed it tremendously, and we didn’t ruin it for the other family who were with us. I still got to kit out like Lady Lewis Hamilton – a great thrill!
Ok – we had the maddest reindeer that was uncontrollable – Steven had to wind the rope round his leg to pull its head back in an attempt to slow it down (that’s what you are supposed to do!). It was trying to gouge the couple I front of us, who couldn’t go as fast as us. Whilst our concern was their safety, their concern was our safety – in pulling this reindeer’s rope, our sledge was hurtling on its side against the walls of the track! To be honest it was really funny, and thankfully Steven has some of it on video – but you’ll have to wait till I’m home as I can’t post it from an iPad. We were taught how to lasso a reindeer – guess who succeeded first time and who failed miserably;-). We learnt about Sami culture and how to look after our reindeer and we are now the proud owners of our own Reindeer driving licence, valid for 5 years.
We had about 1.5 – 2 hours snowmobiling around going to the farm. What a great guide Piia was. Friendly and knowledgeable and her only concerns were our safety and that we had an amazing time. She succeeded.
Snowmobile drive to aurora camp tonight – and it was awesome. I felt as if we were in Narnia. The snow was lit by the stars and the snow on the trees, with the animal tracks sporadically breaking up the sheets of white – magical. A lovely log cabin with a roaring fire, fantastic company, hot drinks and biscuits. What more could we ask for!
The lights appeared, not as plentiful or expansive as our first 2 nights but the colours were more varied. We saw a total arc from the north, across above us to the south – just like a rainbow. It was very thin, but colourful. I couldn’t get it all in one photo, but I’ve got bits. To be honest we just lay in the snow looking upwards – we’ve never seen such a dark sky with so many crystal clear stars. Fantastic experience