Good morning :)
It's 6:22am and I have found the sun!! I'm stood on my own, on a rock looking out to sea on the beach. The water is crystal clear and still, the sun is shining in bright blue sky...... at last! :)
Update - Hello! We're nearly there!!! I'm now in Lapland having crossed into Finland and losing in hour of my life. We're driving through the forest surrounded by suicidal reindeers on the road on our way to see Father Christmas!! I have my Christmas playlist playing through the coach.... #excited!
Good morning... It's now Thursday 6th August and I've just got on the bus :) Today we're heading south again further towards Helsinki. Yesterday I met the 'real' Father Christmas! Or at least that's what I thought!.....
When we arrived at Santa Claus Village it was a bit of an anti climax... No snow, no ice, no stars in the sky, no igloos and no present piles. I'm not sure what I was expecting but a shop next to a main road isn't exactly the picture painted in my head as a child. Anyway... we went inside and I was third up. There was something special about meeting the 'real' Father Christmas and I was well impressed when he asked if Jussi Jaaskelainen still played for Bolton. I took a selfie with him and then moved out from the magical room into the gift shop and outside to the main road. Not being happy with my experience I decided to hunt a little further a field in Santa Claus Village.
I met reindeer in a small enclosure for a small €5 and then crossed back over the Arctic Circle line. It was then I spotted a big house with a huge sign on it saying, 'Santa is here!' Now this just confused me because everyone knows that there is only one man that is the real Father Christmas and he lives in Lapland. Meeting the odd old guy in the Market Place or the Caretaker dressing up at school is perfectly acceptable in Bolton to keep the dream alive, but when in Lapland I expected the real deal and the one and only! However, that was not the case!
I ventured into 'Santa's Main Office' to find yet another arrow, another walk way and another Father Christmas. I dutifully queued up and went in for my special one to one time. After thanking him for my train set in 1998, my Nokia 3310 in 2001, my PS3 in 2004 and lots more I told him a little about me. He was impressed I was off to teach in Dubai and he assured me he would still be able to find me to deliver lots of presents from home! ;) I then had another photo before leaving and going back into the commercial money making part of his house/workshop that seems to have been omitted from childhood stories around the world! Reflecting on my time with the big man, no matter how old I am it was a special experience. For a split second when I was sat talking to him a part of me actually contemplated that the whole thing is actually real! And... how lucky must I have been to meet twin Father Christmas'!
During my visit I also sent a few postcards to special children in my life that they should receive in around 141 days! We then had to rush back to the coach as we were only given 45mins to explore after a 10 hour drive.... Don't even go there, but we weren't impressed!
When we arrived at our camp it was a lot warmer than up north and time for shorts and flip flops again :) I put some washing on and decided to investigate the current childhood crushing fiasco of Lapland having an extra Father Christmas! I spoke to the girl on reception who informed me that currently there is civil war amongst the Elves, Locals and Business Men in this magical land! The shop near the road has just been built with the 'real' Father Christmas in it, much to the disgust of the original 'real' Father Christmas around the corner! This whole issue actually crushed the dreams of some people on the tour as they were annoyed to have not met the 'real' Father Christmas but I didn't feel too bad as I had met both! The only difference in experience was that the Business Men had undercut the Elves price of photos by 50% as their photo package was €20 and not €40!
Last night Chad, the chef, was able to treat us to steak for tea as we are no longer in expensive Norway. We enjoyed a great meal and then I spent time repacking my now clean clothes in my rucksack and having a few drinks with the guys. To be brutally honest I'm a little fed up of this tour now as I'm over the group situation where we travel from one campsite to another. Although a great experience I feel there would be more to see in town hostels rather than on a campsite. But, last night was our last night on a campsite and our next few nights are in hotels in larger cities. I'm looking forward to a few good nights out in Helsinki and Tallinn and then exploring Estonia and Latvia on my own. It's also starting to sink in that in just over 2 weeks I'll be starting my new life in Dubai, nerves are growing but excitement is building!
For the rest of this monster driving day I'm going to enjoy the view of the forest that is called Finland and listen to my iPod. In other news my Year 6 Leavers DVD reached an amazing 1000 views yesterday which I am well chuffed about!
Goodbye for now :)
Tom x