Well it took most of the day, but finally we arrived at Inari in northern Finnish Lapland. We’re now above the Arctic Circle – during the polar night – which only ends on 6 January (the day after we leave). This mean only 4 hours of “daylight” a day – though the sun never actually rises. It’s actually 4 hours of twilight. By the time we arrived – around 3:30pm – it was entirely dark. This is our cabin just back from frozen Lake Inari. Temperature was -18 degrees celsius which scared us – but it was remarkably manageable .
We had brought plenty of cold weather gear with us, but the temperatures here demand that you go to the next level.
– catwalk fashion in finish lapland –
As part of the cost of our stay, the resort provided us with the use of heavy duty snow gear, including super protective boots, arctic overalls and ultra padded mittens. Later on, we would also be provided with snow helmets. In the days to come we would realise that they were essential, but the rigmarole of putting on and taking off each time we stepped in and out of the cabin became almost unbearable – at least to us Australians!
Having arrived late, there was only time only to get fitted out in our new – and as you can see, very fashionable – wardrobe. We then set off for a short walk on the ice lake as we tried to adjust to all the padding and the thick snow beneath our feet. We had finally encountered snow and LOTS of it! BRILLIANT!
We later learned that the snowfall has been unseasonably heavy this year. Normally there would only be about 10cm of snow – but we would be lucky enough to experience about 50-80cm !
