It had been steadily getting warmer over the last few days and when we woke this morning it was up to -3c. That might still seem pretty cold to someone in the UK or New Zealand, but you have to bear in mind that it was -30c only just a few days ago, so for us it was really warm.

With the 'warm' weather, there was no excuses not to be a bit healthier today and get some fresh air so we decided to walk up to the ski centre with a kicksledge to make the return journey a bit quicker. We could have gone snowboarding, but it was going to be free from 7pm to midnight so we decided to go in the evening, instead of paying during the day. On the way there, we stopped by at Kellokas, the National Park Information Centre. They had a really good, interactive exhibition about the Äkäslompolo area through the ages, covering the people, their livelihoods and even their dialect.

When we set out for the ski centre, where we actually aimed to be was the ‘laavu’ (an open shelter as opposed to a ‘kota’ which is a closed shelter, both have fire pits) at the bottom of the children’s slope. It wasn’t for watching kids practise, it was to cook some sausages on the open fire. These shelters are great, they have huge piles of wood and the fire has usually been started already, all you need to do is just add logs to keep it going. They even have sticks that you can put your sausage on to cook it, if you don’t have your own, like David.

Once we had eaten the sausages and taken a few photos, we kicksledged back down the hill. Out of laziness, we had taken the closest kicksledge and it was the one without the seat so both of us were balancing on rails as we made our way down the hill. Whether the snow conditions were different or the hill wasn’t as steep, we were going at a much slower pace than the breakneck speed a couple of days ago.

We went into the supermarket to buy some more beer for the night ahead and something for breakfast tomorrow, but the queues were almost going to the back of the store and the store is enormous. Next door to the supermarket is Alko, which sells alcohol stronger than 5%ABV or something like that, so spirits, wines and stronger beer and cider. With virtually no queue, we were in and out in next to no time with a pack of beers. We’d worry about tomorrow’s breakfast later.

Back at the cabin, Maria made some coffee and dinner while David plugged in the car (car engines have heaters to stop them getting too cold), knocked of the dusting of snow and scraped the windows free of ice. Maria had made some tortilla pizzas for dinner with a lot of the leftovers in the fridge; they were delicious.

We went snowboarding for an hour after dinner. Every New Year’s Eve, it’s free between 7pm and midnight and it was surprisingly busy given that it was a bit windy. Even though the official temperature was a little below zero, with the wind whipping up the icy snow off the slopes, it actually made it feel really cold. We had on the same six layers we had worn when it was -15c the other day, but we still felt colder. It was nice to get a few runs in though and although it was ‘busy’, as usual, there still wasn’t a queue for the lifts.

Torsti had heated up the sauna while we were snowboarding so as soon as we got back to the cabin we were able to walk straight into the lovely warmth of the sauna room. It didn’t take long in the 60c heat to take the chill out our bones.

We were not long out the sauna when Torsti’s wife and son, Virpi and Matias arrived. Matias is only 9 years old and he has been studying English for the last 3 months at school and found it great to have David to practise his vocabulary with. It’s absolutely amazing how much he has learnt in such a short time at school and no doubt given a few years, he will be fluent.

A little later, while we were having drinks at cabin, Tarja, Tuula and Aki arrived from Kolari to see in the New Year with us in Äkäslompolo.

With everybody finished with the sauna, the sauna fire was needed for "Good Luck" tradition. Tin horseshoes are melted in a "spoon" in sauna fire; once they become liquid it’s poured into cold water where it will immediately harden again. The shape of the newly solidified tin is checked by shining a torch against it and the shadow on the wall will determine your future. There were some quite obscure shapes, which were ‘seen’ as reindeer horns and Virpi even saw herself on a hammock with her feet up. Maria had a Viking ship, which was interpreted as travelling. David’s new tin shape was undoubtedly a Vulture, using a shadow or just simply looking at, it was unmistakable. There was a bit of alarm at first, but David said there was more to the symbolism of a vulture than it being seen as a scavenger. He was very optimistic about this omen for the future.

The tin melting and deciphering had taken longer than we expected and it was 11:30pm. We intended to be down in the village, by the lake, where they were releasing Chinese Lanterns instead of the usual firework display. Maria and David took the ‘Sport’ kicksledge, the same one we had used earlier in the day. There was a difference now though. We were on a steeper hill and David had an open can of beer in his right hand. Balance was obviously a key issue and after a number of wobbles and scares as the sled careered towards the bottom of the road, David was finally flicked off and face planted (in front of a heap of people). The beer can must have broken the fall however, it was as flat as a pancake, and now empty, but thankfully only pride was hurt and we laughed as we made the rest of the way on foot.

There was a huge crowd down by the frozen lake and about 800 lanterns were sent up into air with good wishes. A bottle of bubbles was popped open by Tarja at midnight and was passed around our little group to welcome in 2015. There were some fireworks going off all around lake, being let off by residents in their yards.

With the lanterns far in the distance and the fireworks finished, we went to the Tower nightclub with Tarja, Aki and Tuula. Unusually David spent more time dancing than he did drinking and by 4am we decided it was time to retire and make our way home up the hill.