Finnish Canoe Expedition Part 1

Two days, Seven Students, three canoes and a sea kayak. What do you have? You have a plan in the making. Apparently. This is the story of our original expedition plan only shortened.

I've always had a bit of an irrational fear of canoeing but it was a decision that I had to compromise on. No one mountain Biked and there was no snow for cross country skiing, so it was canoeing. With the gracious help of the wilderness guides, the boats were brought to the house, from which we would walk 200m to the lake side. Although this seems relatively short, it still proved difficult with the amount of stuff we had to take.

Finally after a lot of pulling, shoving and sweating we made it out onto the lake and were beginning our journey to our island destination. Paddling on flat water, I find is never fun and requires much more effort. However, the Finnish wildlife helped and put on a display quite like none other I'd ever seen. Gulls and terns swooped around the many tree clad islands, squawking and dive bombing us as we passed.

We pulled up on an island to find a local bird enthusiast. He beckoned Matt to take some pictures of the nests that littered the island. He didn't speak English but it was amazing at how a few hand gestures are understood between any human being.

Back on the lake again and we had a slog of a paddle into a fairly strong head wind. I was not happy, especially as I was sat in the front and would not be able to take breaks to rudder the canoe back into position. The clouds above me formed and deformed. Shapes which were indescribable, some which were. Animals and people. This cloud watching really allowed my mind to drift and forget that we still had about an hour's worth of paddling still to go.

On reaching the island I was amazed at how in the middle of it all we were. Seriously close to nature. I felt like an intruder. Our man made materials scattered over the rock. I wanted to tidy but doing so was futile. A lot was learnt from the island. How a young kestrel defended her eggs, how a pair of Canada geese would shreek if we got too close to their nest and how beetles would always find their way into the darkest depths of your sleeping bag.