I have been meaning to write this blog for a while but Christmas got in the way... In October my mate Wayne, myself and two friends Joel & Beth took a canoe trip to the Saimaa region of Finland, which is the biggest freshwater lake system in Europe. Think of the Swedish lake on steroids. We flew into Helsinki on some cheap Norwegian flights, with a extra bag full of camp stuff & cooking pots. Then it was a 2 1/2 hour trip North East of Helsinki in a rental car up to the lakes, which were 20 minutes from the nearest to of Mikkeli where we picked up a weeks supplies. We stayed in cabin on the first night and picked up the canoes the next morning:
We then set off to explore this massive lake system. We were in the local National Park, which has a series of camping sites spread across it. These all contained some kind of shelter, a loo and a wood store complete with Saw and Axe. It's a shame we can not have such facilities in this country without idiots running it for everyone. Here are a few pics of the shelters:
It is amazing how like Canada it is up there, as it looks exactly like the Ontario landscape when I did a trip on the French River a few years ago. Here is a view from a hill we climbed that shows what the lake system looks like.
We spent a blissful week just paddling from one campsite to another doing around 10 to 12K a day, just taking our time in the beautiful sunshine. Here are some more pictures:
The local park symbol, with a reminder that there are freshwater seals around; we were lucky enough to see one swim by one evening.
Some pics of canoes:
The cabin we stayed in:
My tent on my favourite camp, on a spit with a beach on both sides. Heaven.
I knew it was going to be good but we had a really good week out on the water that felt like 2 weeks away. It really does look & feel like Canada, complete with the lakeside cottages, but is less than half the price of a trip over the Atlantic. We are planning our next trip for later this year already. Hope you like.
We then set off to explore this massive lake system. We were in the local National Park, which has a series of camping sites spread across it. These all contained some kind of shelter, a loo and a wood store complete with Saw and Axe. It's a shame we can not have such facilities in this country without idiots running it for everyone. Here are a few pics of the shelters:
It is amazing how like Canada it is up there, as it looks exactly like the Ontario landscape when I did a trip on the French River a few years ago. Here is a view from a hill we climbed that shows what the lake system looks like.
We spent a blissful week just paddling from one campsite to another doing around 10 to 12K a day, just taking our time in the beautiful sunshine. Here are some more pictures:
The local park symbol, with a reminder that there are freshwater seals around; we were lucky enough to see one swim by one evening.
Some pics of canoes:
The cabin we stayed in:
My tent on my favourite camp, on a spit with a beach on both sides. Heaven.
I knew it was going to be good but we had a really good week out on the water that felt like 2 weeks away. It really does look & feel like Canada, complete with the lakeside cottages, but is less than half the price of a trip over the Atlantic. We are planning our next trip for later this year already. Hope you like.
Last edited:
