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Our Year of Adventure
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Location Date Oceania 1422662400 Asia 1421712000 Europe 
1421625600 South America 1418256000 -
Location Date Helsinki 1421625600 Kemi 1421452800 Venejarvi 1421366400 Rovaniemi 1420588800 Levi 1420502400 Sieppijarvi 1420416000 Akaslompolo
1420416000 Kolari 1420416000 -
Location Date Mon, 05 January 2015 1420494300 Sun, 04 January 2015 1420407780 Fri, 02 January 2015 1420216440 Thu, 01 January 2015 1420148520 Wed, 31 December 2014 1420062060 Tue, 30 December 2014 1419975660 Mon, 29 December 2014 1419889260 Sun, 28 December 2014 1419802800 Sat, 27 December 2014 1419716400 Fri, 26 December 2014 1419629880 Mon, 24 February 2014 1393284600 Thu, 20 February 2014 1392938460 Wed, 19 February 2014 1392851880 Mon, 17 February 2014
1392678660 Sun, 16 February 2014 1392592140
The alarm was set early, well, at least in time to watch dawn turn to day which is about 9am. The aim was to get a morning snowboarding. In all the haste, we arrived at the ski centre without jackets & money so back home and take two. When we eventually hit the slopes the visibility wasn't great but the snow was pristine & no queues at the lifts. We managed 6.75km in an hour and our legs were beginning to feel it - it's mostly T-bars here so there is no chance of a rest for the legs. We had some other plans anyway...
Volkswagon, the car manufacturer, were asking people to take one of their cars for a test drive...on ice...to see how the technology in their cars helped the driver in tricky situations. So who were we to say no to taking a 5 day old, Passat Alltrack 2.0TDi 4 Motion through it's paces on 70cm thick ice, sitting on top of a lake. After a quick demonstration of the technology and what to do on the course, by a road cop on a career break, it was straight behind the wheel. We got to go through a slalom course then practice emergency braking and steering to avoid obstacles, like reindeer on the road, at high speed on slippery ice and snow. They encouraged speed too - 60kph round the bends and 80kph on the straight although with such good acceleration, we took it over 100kph before jumping on the brakes. Braking hard is not as easy as it sounds - the requirement is to try to put your foot through the floor until the car comes to a complete stop, a bit strange especially on ice. It was all great fun, but at the same time a really good refresher on driving in the winter conditions.
David managed to work his way into the Äkäslompolo Sauna & Beer Tasting Club for the evening. There are a bunch of local men who get access to a sauna on the edge of lake for an hour every Monday evening - now you have to remember that lakes are pretty frozen at this time of year but they make sure there is access to water for 'refreshing' dips every so often to keep the body temperature down. David managed to get into the water four times, quite impressive given it was only 4 degrees celcius. After the hour, it was off to the Selvä Pyy pub (bit of ****** name because it's pronounced 'poo' :p ) for the beer tasting part of the evening.
Volkswagon, the car manufacturer, were asking people to take one of their cars for a test drive...on ice...to see how the technology in their cars helped the driver in tricky situations. So who were we to say no to taking a 5 day old, Passat Alltrack 2.0TDi 4 Motion through it's paces on 70cm thick ice, sitting on top of a lake. After a quick demonstration of the technology and what to do on the course, by a road cop on a career break, it was straight behind the wheel. We got to go through a slalom course then practice emergency braking and steering to avoid obstacles, like reindeer on the road, at high speed on slippery ice and snow. They encouraged speed too - 60kph round the bends and 80kph on the straight although with such good acceleration, we took it over 100kph before jumping on the brakes. Braking hard is not as easy as it sounds - the requirement is to try to put your foot through the floor until the car comes to a complete stop, a bit strange especially on ice. It was all great fun, but at the same time a really good refresher on driving in the winter conditions.
David managed to work his way into the Äkäslompolo Sauna & Beer Tasting Club for the evening. There are a bunch of local men who get access to a sauna on the edge of lake for an hour every Monday evening - now you have to remember that lakes are pretty frozen at this time of year but they make sure there is access to water for 'refreshing' dips every so often to keep the body temperature down. David managed to get into the water four times, quite impressive given it was only 4 degrees celcius. After the hour, it was off to the Selvä Pyy pub (bit of ****** name because it's pronounced 'poo' :p ) for the beer tasting part of the evening.
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