Wanderlust - 04.2020

FINLAND

wanderlust.co.uk April 2020 107

Fuelled by sugar and with all the GPS

routes programmed in, I set off on my

self-guided adventure to Nuuksio

National Park around 35km away.

I rode along the Finnish backroads

on gravel, negotiated easily by the

bike’s fat tyres, before merging onto

cycleways and passing multiple

apartment blocks. I crossed over

a wide highway where the cars were

snaggled in trac jams, while

I cruised past effortlessly on my bike.

Soon I found myself surrounded by

nothing but trees, with silver birch,

hazel and spruce creating a tunnel

through which I passed. As I was

ruminating on how accessible the

wilderness had been from Helsinki,

I popped out of it to re-join a road and

a short pedal uphill to my first night’s

sleep – an Igluhut at the southernmost

reindeer park in Finland.

Reindeerarenotordinarily found

thisfarsouthofthecountry – they

areLaplandnatives–but when

severalfarmscloseddown a few

yearsago,theownershere thought

thatitwouldbeagreat way of

offeringvisitorsasliceof the north

closetothecity.Andnow seven

oftheseantleredquadrupeds call

thisplacehome.

Oh deer!
(left to right)
A barrier guards the Russian
border in Finnish Lakeland;
one of the friendly residents
of Nuuksio Reindeer Park;
a male reindeer has shed his
velvet to reveal a “ine rack
underneath; Hawkhill Villa;
(previous page) a Eurasian
brown bear ⊲