Then it was time to eat . King Crab is the most delicious crab I have ever eaten . What a great way to finish off our day .
Next day it was off to drive our own snowmobile . After dressing in a huge one piece padded suit complete with helmet , gloves and boots it was time for our five minute lesson before taking off on our own . It was quite difficult to control the accelerator with your thumb , forward and you go too fast and release , the snowmobile stops . But after all the hesitations it didn ’ t take too long before we were zooming along the frozen fjord . What a wonderful feeling that was as the freezing air reddened our cheeks and our grins of success beamed all over our faces . Faster and faster we went , racing each other along the smooth surface . Then it was time for the next test , up through the forest carefully steering and accelerating until we arrived at our afternoon tea stop . Then it was time to return to base . Exhilarated and happy we returned to our hotel for ‘ wine o ’ clock ’.
The next day it was cloudy and the fjord had thawed and became a deep dark grey with ripples gliding across the surface it was + 4- + 5 degrees and snow was melting everywhere . In the afternoon the sun glinted as were picked up to drive to tour the Snow Hotel , where gorgeous dog sled puppies were just so happy to be held and cuddled and Gabba the white reindeer ate reindeer lichen . The Snow Hotel is built from ice cut from the local lake in mid- December then the indoor walls are decorated with ice carvings of Nordic scenes and a Viking Ship forms an ice bar – quite spectacular . Every room has different carvings , Marilyn Munroe , penguins , polar bears , dolphins and mermaids to name a few . For those planning to stay the night they supply sleeping bag , woollen socks , balaclava and a sleeping bag liner , - not enough to keep me warm at night , and what if you needed to pop out during the night ?
The next day it was a long drive to Saariselka , Finland with the border just a little green hut and no one to check our entry . The countryside was flatter with more pine trees lovely lakes all covered in glistening white snow . As we drove along people were snowmobiling and a couple of reindeer were sighted in the woods . After checking into our hotel we wandered the village and had a drink in the pub with the locals and met a young man with his huskies and his 5 year old daughter , they were delightful .
After dinner we walked to the outskirts of the town to view the northern lights , it was a lovely clear night but only stars winked at us .
There was further exploration of the village the next day led us to the national park where a variety of activities were enjoyed . Snow shoeing , X-country skiing was most popular with many different trails to traverse . Then it was off to the Sami Museum where there were interesting displays of tools and all sorts of implements and traditional beautifully embroidered clothing .