Camping Finnish-style

Last weekend a group of about 25 of us from Evtek went camping in Nuuksio national park. Now, I've already been there before back in the summer with people from the EILC, but only for the day and I was looking forward to this trip as I'd get a chance to experience proper Finnish-style camping!

Taking the early morning bus to Nuuksio

After getting off the bus at the wrong stop and having to walk 2km back down the road, we headed into the park where our tutors who had arrived by car met us with all the camping gear. They had 'appropriated' two large military-style tents, complete with stoves to heat the insides. We had to carry all this equipment deep into the forest, climbing up and down steep hills and over rocks.

Putting up the tent

We split into two groups and set about assembling the tents. Ours went up almost immediately and we were already sitting by the campfire admiring our handiwork while the others struggled to get theirs up.

King of the lake!

With the tents up we indulged in some much-needed sunbathing by the lake before heading back to camp to prepare the firewood for the two stoves and the camp fire. Having never used an axe before, I have discovered it to be the manliest experience one can have.

Cutting wood the boring way

Inevitably, it turned into a heated (and frankly dangerous) competition between the men on who could chop the biggest piece of wood. Of course the Finns, as products of their military service, had their own way...

Finn + beer + massive knife = ultimate wood chopper

After enough wood was collected we headed into the forest to go bear hunting. Well, not exactly. The tutors had hidden Karhu (bear) beer around the nearby area and the first to find them all could win a prize and get to keep the beer. Of course my beer-dar (like a radar but...you get the idea) came in great handy and my team triumphed, winning us a shot of Salmiakki, a Finnish national drink, and mintu. Both tasted a bit strange, with the former made of liquorice (which I don't like) and the latter tasting like minty toothpaste.

The winning team with our prize

Rather alarmingly-early we all settled round the camp fire to begin drinking and eating (in that order). Some people had carried entire crates of beer with them into the forest, while others settled for strong spirits. Unfortunately the total darkness of the forest and large amount of alcohol resulted in people regularly falling over rocks as soon as they stepped away from the fire.

Night time in Nuuksio

At some point in the night we all stumbled toward the nicely-heated tents and headed to sleep (or passed out in many cases). In the morning as we prepared breakfast around the fire I noticed that the Finns, still nursing a hangover, were drinking beer for breakfast and to be honest, I wasn't actually that surprised. I guess I'm getting used to the Finnish way of life!

Breakfast around the camp fire

With the tents packed up and our rubbish rather dangerously thrown on the camp fire, we began the long march back to the bus stop with all the equipment feeling strangely heavier than when we came, but maybe that was down to the booze and 3 hours of sleep.

And that's my first experience of camping in Finland!