Packing and layering

Quite a few people asked if we had enough clothes on our trip, with temperatures that got as low as minus 28. The answer is yes, (remember the bun fight that was the Aldi Ski Sale??) but it wasn't light travelling.

The hardest part was getting it all there and back because it was 32C when we left Melbourne and about the same when we returned. I actually wore my aprés boots and took my down parka on the plane (which I always like to do anyway as it's a wearable doona!) But I had to squeeze everything else into my bag.

I'm sure many of you are already all over it, but I cannot tell you how good packing cubes are, especially as the majority of my wardrobe is black. I typically have to dig every time to locate anything and often several times. Not any more!

See below. I'm a roller (not a folder) but you can sort all your stuff into different cubes - tops, bottoms, underwear, socks, hats, gloves, toiletries, etc. They also help squash things in.

For hand luggage, I just had a tote, but some travelling essentials for me are a reusable water bottle, a flask for coffee (fill up at the breakfast buffet!) and of course, decent headphones.

Footwear is a big space stealer so I kept mine to the bare minimum. In fact, I took my runners and active wear out at the last minute. There were some hotels with gyms, but really, who was I kidding?? I didn't miss them. I just had my aprés boots, thongs (for sauna, lagoon, etc) and hotel slippers.

I also popped in these brilliant possum skin booties I'd bought in New Zealand to line my ski boots. I got the idea in Japan where there was a pair of boots with rabbit fur lining. These went into my aprés boots and were amazing at keeping my sockless toes toasty. 

So, how cold? Well, when we went on the reindeer sleigh, I was wearing:

• High tech thermal leggings
• Fleece lined thermal leggings
• Normal leggings
• Thermal top
• Wolf fur vest (that I bought in Mongolia)
• A polar fleece hoodie
• The North Face down jacket (700 loft)
• Ski parker (also padded against the cold)
• Merino wool glove inners
• Insulated ski gloves
• Merino balaclava
• Thermal neck-warmer
• Big furry hat with pull-down ears borrowed from the resort for the activity

And over all that, we were given thermal suits (onesies). When I managed to get it on over all that, I was so hot I thought I'd expire, but once out in the snow and just a few minutes on the sleigh, I was comfortable.  

I probably could have travelled a little lighter, but as my friend Jane says, it's always easy in hindsight!!

Kiitos

That's Finnish for thank you.

It was described to us a 'mosquitoes' but without the 'mos'.

I was right in the swing of it when we had a transfer at the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort - that's where those fancy glass igloos are. Perhaps you've you've seen this pic (below) on FaceBook? They've been popping up regularly for a couple of years, inspiring our visit. 

Here's our pics, so you can see that it actually looks like the promo shot! 

 In fact, here's a pic of me, checking my phone in ours. 

They are as amazing as we'd hoped and very cosy. The beds have remotes so you can angle yourself up or down, like in hospital - I assume to get a better view of the Northern Lights, which presented themselves as a pale, but very distinct green streak across the sky. However, the choice of zebra bedspreads and a shaggy red rug was somewhat at odds with the Nordic surrounds.

If you are interested in going, ( I'd recommend it - and I don't get paid to blog!) know that you'll need to go through a travel agent, otherwise you'll need to book about a year in advance - blame FaceBook!

They also have very spacious cabins with a glass igloo attached - still with two beds. We spent a night in one of these as well and saw another, much stronger 'hairpin' of green light that after a while, produced a pale shadow replica of itself - a bit like a double rainbow. All from the comfort of bed (and thanks to our friends for alerting us!)

Here's the cabin - yes, it has a sauna as so many places we stayed did - and you get a great visual of the bedspreads and red rug in the igloo!

It was at this resort that we went on a reindeer sleigh - just two of us in each,  pulled by a single reindeer. It was magical. Lying back on reindeer hides (you need to let that go!), we went through the silent forest and out to a clearing in the night, lit only by the stars and a large area of green. 

Amazing, eh? In truth, although we were there, we didn't take this photo - you need a really good camera, a tripod, knowledge of what the heck you're doing and slow shutter speed. Frankly, an iPhone5 doesn't cut it. Thankfully, one of our fellow reindeer sleighers was happy to email us the shot of what we could see, but couldn't capture.

Anyway, back to the transfer.

The resort has two 'campuses' that are 5kms apart. Our glass igloos were one side, cabins the other, smoke sauna one side, snowmobiling the other - you get the idea - so there are a few transfers. 

On this particular transfer, I was kiitos-ing our driver for getting us all in and asking if we'd enjoyed our activity when he abruptly asked why I kept thanking him when he wasn't finished??

"Oh!" I said. "Is that a cultural thing? Do we wait until the end to say thank you?" 

Then I heard the rest of the gang, failing to contain their laughter.

'He said he's not Finnish - not finished!"

Easy mistake 😁

And finally, let me share this incredible shot, again taken by a fellow sleigher on the same night, who's just made contact and passed on his Insta account - jaw-dropping!