The Story

Just how did a girl from South Africa adjust to living in Finnish Lapland?

The circumstances around my landing in Finland is a story in itself but, in brief, resulted from marrying a Finn called Simo.

This all happened in 1999 when after eight years of operating tours from South Africa to Finnish Lapland, Simo and I relocated to a place called Simo (yes, same as his name by not named after him) situated half an hour from Kemi, located beside the sea in the southern end of Lapland. After two years, and for the sole purpose of creating an outdoor activity company, we relocated to Pyhätunturi about 160 kilometres north east of Rovaniemi. For the next ten years we operated our company, Lapland Magic, from this beautiful area of Lapland.

Understandably for me, it was not the easiest of transitions adjusting from the warmth of the sunny south to the snowy north and no amount of research or brief holiday visits could have prepared me for what was to come. You simply had to live it to experience it. But whilst the winters were long for a Southern Hemispherian, they brought with them a surreal and exquisite beauty.

No words can describe the feelings of peace and harmony created in winter: a sky filled with Northern Lights; the cosiness of a fire and flickering candles in a log cabin in the forest and the exhilaration of cooling off in an ice hole in the lake after a sauna. Then came Summer with 24 hours of light – when plants grew centimetres overnight, forests abounded with berries and mushrooms and the air was filled with the sound of nesting birds feeding their babies.

But let’s not forget Spring and Autumn wedged in between. I call spring the greedy season, greedy because it’s there, resting just beneath the snow waiting for its moment and the moment the snow begins to thaw, it leaps out bringing life and colour. From deep in the forests, the wildlife who’ve hibernated for the winter, slowly emerge from their secret places hungry for that first feed. The transformation is so sudden that no matter how many times I witness it, it still amazes me.

Autumn is more gentle, slowly transforming the landscape from myriads of green to as many shades of autumn. This is ‘ruska’ time for Finnish people and very popular for visiting Lapland.

Surrounded by such beauty and tranquillity it’s impossible not to feel privileged to have had the opportunity live in Lapland and although life’s now taken me to Australia, my passion for Finland is no less diminished. So, if you’re looking for the most unique and memorable holiday (whatever the time of the year)  and would like to speak to someone who has lived it, then I’d love to hear from you.

Claudia Pallaspuro