Balkans done and dusted, we packed our bags and headed north. Like, reaaaaaally north. Not gonna lie, it was a rough start. Our flight out of Dubrovnik was at 6am, and the only bus that would get us to the airport in time left at 3:50 am. Plus, to save money on checked baggage, we combined both of our packs into a big reusable plastic bag (saved us about 50 euros in luggage fees) but carrying the huge bundle was so awkward. Here’s me walking it down a Croatian road at an ungodly hour. At least the airport was quiet, and because we were traveling within Schengen, no border control to worry about. It ended up being relatively smooth sailing though, and by about 10 am I had fulfilled a lifelong dream.
As a kid named Finn, it’s pretty sick that there’s literally a country named after you. A land of your people. So when we touched down in Helsinki, Finland, baby Finn was definitely punching the air. I was punching the air for other reasons though. Firstly, after the Balkan June heat, the Finnish temperatures were so much more pleasant. Secondly, there was a supermarket in the airport, complete with a microwave to heat up frozen meals on the spot! Felt awesome buying a frozen burrito and immediately nuking it on aisle 4, it was probably the cheapest meal I’ve ever had in the grand scheme of airport food. Last, but definitely not least, we were reunited with old mate Sam and Ellimaija, our gracious Finnish hosts.
We hopped in the little Opel, and headed off for Turku, where the two of them were looking after Elli’s mum’s apartment. Basic Finland geography lesson – the three main cities in Finland, Helsinki, Tampere an Turku, form a triangle in the southern part of the country, each one is about 2 hours drive from the others. Turku is a neat little city.


We spent the first day napping to recover from our early start, and then headed out for a walk in the evening. I say evening cause the sun was still well up, but it was actually about 10 pm. I guess it probably doesn’t have such a huge effect on daily life once you get used to it, but it definitely totally changed the vibe of the place. Everything just gets bathed in this incredible warm glow that lasts for hours, it makes all the colours pop and everything feels peaceful and serene. It’s quiet too, cause all the non-tourists are at home getting ready for bed instead of galloping through the parks. We went for a free ride on the Föri, a little barge that goes back and forth across the river along a chain, instead of a bridge. Then we made a fool of ourselves by trying to buy a beer in the supermarket past 9pm, when the law prevents alcohol purchases. Overall, a great introduction to Finland as a whole. Though there were obviously plenty of differences, it felt very similar in many ways to the Europe I’m used to, especially Hamburg. The architecture, the systems overall, the people and their attitudes. After a while in southern Europe, it was nice to get back to familiar territory.
Next morning – viking time. Turns out Turku was holding its annual medieval market, so we hit the main street to find stalls lining it the whole way down. There was all sorts on offer, medieval style clothes and other handicrafts, wooden swords and crossbows, tarot readings, mead and so much more. Being a nordic country, there was a definite viking spin to the whole thing too. All the vendors were dressed up in the full medieval peasant get ups, we genuinely could have been in a little village from 1000 years ago. My favourite stall was a blacksmith display, where a man was actively working various little trinkets for sale on a coal forge. We chatted to him for a while, and he gave us a really cool run down on viking forging process and inlaying decorative patterns. Definitely something I’d love to get into properly someday. As cool as everything was though, we were struck with another case of the povos, and couldn’t afford to buy anything. I was particularly sad we couldn’t afford any of the food, as it all looked and smelled incredible, but everything started at about 15 euro, and only went up. We were obviously expecting that, being in one of the most notoriously expensive parts of the world, but it still hurt walking past the freshly smoked salmon portion that only cost a cool 30 euro.




Later that day, we indulged in another major part of nordic culture as Sam and Elli took us on our first proper Finnish sauna experience. I went in quite skeptical, I hadn’t been a huge fan of the 35 degrees down south, so 75-100 degrees in a wet room before taking a freezing plunge didn’t sound too appealing right off the bat. How wrong I was. We started in the ‘Granny Sauna’ as a warm up, and to be completely honest, 80 degrees really doesn’t feel that hot when you’re expecting it and ready. Obviously it’s hot, and every time one of the locals tosses another cup of water over the rocks a fresh wave of steam rolls over you. You’re sweaty immediately, and it gets a bit hard to breathe when it gets too hot, but otherwise, it does feel really, really pleasant. It’s like a big, warm, wet blanky over everything. After a solid roasting, you head outside and jump in the lake. Then it’s the same in reverse, it’s definitely cold, but only in a way that cools off the skin, washes off the sweat and wakes you right up. Feels absolutely awesome. Then it’s back in the sauna, the full strength one this time, for a proper broiling. Repeat. We spent the entire evening bouncing between the various saunas at this place, including a tent one in the garden, which a local sauna goblin pushed us to our limit with constant steam bombs. The whole process is so relaxing and fun, it’s reallly hard to even think about anything else. Just sweat and then cannonball into the lake. The cherry on the top was the sunset over the beautiful lake and forest. I was starting to get the picture on why Finn’s are consistently ranked the happiest people on earth. I’m definitely a sauna convert.


We were so fortunate to have friends in Finland, cause it went our schedule was packed with activities. After sleeping like log post sauna, we headed to Tampere, to check out Sam and Elli’s own pad, which was nice to see where our friends were posted up, plus Elli had organised for us to spend the day at her sisters pottery studio. Somehow we had lucked into a very cheap workshop getting taught to throw bowls and cups on a wheel, and then a bunch of time just mucking around with clay. The throwing was way harder than it looks. Just getting it in the centre of the wheel is a process in itself, and that’s before you even start actually shaping anything. There’s drawing it up, then making a hole, then widening and shaping. You’ve gotta make sure you keep all the sides evenly thick, and that you don’t make it too thin that it collapses. It’s tough, but I somehow managed to get a servicable little cup and bowl by the end of it.


So far, Finland had been a blast, but the best was still to come. Another perk of having local friends – Elli’s family has a little cottage by the water in a town called Luvia that we were graciously allowed to hang out at for a few days. How good! We packed the fishing rods, games, and a whole lot of food for a big feast. It was about an hour and a half’s drive from Tampere, and we arrived to a super quaint little cottage, complete with a sauna and little deck for fishing. The quintessential Finnish experience. Maybe you’ve heard of a game called Finnish Cottage Simulator – it looked remarkably similar. We had 3 nights in the bach and I loved every second. There’s kinda too much to get into, but we woke up late each day before spending our time as proper Finns should in summer. Fishing was a highlight, was my first proper chance since leaving NZ, so I was so keen for a dangle. We only caught small perch, but every second cast was a hit on small softbaits and spinners, and we had a hoot casting into all the little corners of the channel in front of the house. We even tried cooking a few, they’ve got nothing on a nice snapper, but it’s hard to beat freshly caught fish right?



We cooked up the food we’d brought from the supermarket into a huge midnight midsummer feast. We decided to treat ourselves a bit since we were doing the cooking, and loaded up on salmon, bacon potato salad, fresh veges and more, before sitting down to enjoy it arounf a candle lit table with some mixed drinks. Does it really get any better? Plus, while Sam and I were traumatising the local coarse fish population, the girls had been making flower crowns for everyone with wild flowers we’d picked up along the road side, which really completed the vibe. It doesn’t really get more midsummer than that (apart from actually being, yknow, midsummer, which was a week earlier but who’s counting?).



Was such a wholesome time spent reading, enjoying the sauna, roasting marshmallows and playing games, including Millku, a finnish lawn classic (Milly’s a weapon). Already dreaming of the next opportunity to go back. And that kinda wraps up our time in Finland. We spent one more night back in Turku before Sam and Elli drove us back to the airport in Helsinki for our next scandinavian adventure. To Sam and Elli: Thanks for such an incredible time! We had such a blast and love you guys to pieces, hopefully we can come back soon!

See you in the next one,
Finn (Perch Wrangler)
One thought on “Finn’s Lads in Finland”
Looks and sounds like great fun! The green large leaved clump in front of the cottage in the foreground looks very much like a ‘Chatham island forget-me-not’…..