Canoe Trip

Saturday we went on a fabulous canoe outing with a group of 11 people... we took the canoes from in front of campus by the lake and paddled for about 2 1/2 hours to a small island called Kalasaari in the second largest lake in Finland. When we arrived we had to cut some logs into pieces to then be chopped for firewood and sauna. On the island there was a small sauna heated by a wood fire with windows looking right out on the lake and a dock with a ladder conveniently located for a dip into the water for the bravest of souls (since I remind you that there still was ice and snow in these here parts about a month ago)! A small veranda style building was nearby where there was a wonderful fire pit that we sat around as we ate a warm lunch and roasted bananas with chocolate.

The weather started off pretty poor - with scatters of rain and cold wind - but by the afternoon the sun came out and warmed everything up tremendously. After basking in the sun by the water, around 5pm we packed up the canoes and began our journey home. This time it was much more difficult of course having come one way already, chopped wood, eaten and taken a wonderful sauna - though extremely invigorated at the same time with the brief swimming sessions in the middle. The whole experience was just wonderful - a sure memory that will last me a lifetime!


More pictures can be found on my pbase site here