As usual on a campsite life has slowed down a bit. Out come the comfy outdoor chairs and there is a constant chorus of “would you like a cup of tea”. That’s the nice thing about campsites which you don’t really get with wildcamping. You can get out your table and chairs without fear of disapporoval or worse. Better still the weather so far in Finland has been outstanding. Blue skies and an air temperature of 20 to 22 degrees celsius, but in the still air of the forest it feels much hotter. The dogs were under Basil this morning and we had to move our chairs out of the sun.

People warned us about the dreaded midges in Finland. For those not familiar with northern climes, they are tiny little insects with the teeth of a great white shark, that live around lakes in northern summers. We get them in Scotland and they can test one’s patience to say the least – millions of the little bitey beggars swarming around you. So many they don’t give you a fair chance. Well so far we have not seen a single midge! I may have spoken too soon, but we are grateful for small mercies.

One insect that has made an appearance while we’ve been lazing around in our chairs has been something like what in England we call a horse fly. It looks like a very large house fly, but it’s got a bite like a horse! No, in reality I think they are called horse flies because they feed on horse’s blood, but it might be because of their ability to bite like a horse. I got bitten by a horse once in France and it’s the most painful bite I’ve ever had.

I digress, the horse flies have buzzed around us in very small number and occasionally made an annoying attack, but they are large and slow. When they start eating you they tend to lose focus and then BAM- they’re gone.

Today was going to be a walk day. So I went to reception and asked for advice. The proprietor suggested either a walk round the lake or a walk up one of Finland’s rare hills for a “lovely view”. No contest, we opted for the hill and the lovely view. I asked about bears and elks. She said she had never seen a bear, but they are in the area. In all her life walking in these forests, she had only ever seen one elk, so seeing an elk was highly unlikely.

Sarah, sensibly as it turns out, opted for long trousers. I, on the other hand, have not been out of shorts once since March and I was not changing for a little walk up a hill.

The walk was along a winter cross country skiing route, so navigation was easy. Just follow the lights! There is a cross country ski route from this campsite which goes 22km and in winter it is lit until 9pm every night. Since in the height of winter they only get about 4 hours daylight, I guess it makes sense.

Melek wishes they made skis for dogs

So we set off on our hike, walking slowly upwards. The views are easy to describe – trees. To be fair it was more interesting than that. There were lots of wild flowers and interesting butterflies to muse over. We even found a large amount of dark brown fur next to the track and speculated that it might be a bear’s. At one point we startled an owl which flew off through the the mixed birch pine forest. Consulting my books when I returned, its colouring and size mean it could only have been a Great Grey Owl. How exciting!

Proof there are lupins. Not the best display, we always see the best from Basil’s cab

We had not walked far before I realised my shorts had been a mistake. Not only were the horse flies attacking me but hundreds of mosquitoes. There are no mosquitoes on the campsite but as soon as the winged forest dwellers heard news of a human they came swarming. It was not too bad as long as we kept moving, but as soon as we stopped for refreshment or to give the dogs a drink, there were dozens on both legs. The result is that my calves are a mass of red dots, but luckily I don’t have a bad reaction to bites so they don’t itch.

Abandoned house in the forest

Sarah’s technique for her arms and face was to wave her hat like she was riding a bucking bronco in a rodeo. It kept the mossies off but it also caught Mabel in the face a few times.

Sarah searching for the “lovely view”

We finally reached the top of the hill, which turned out to be a dizzying 250 metres above sea level! There was a view of sorts, but it was firstly obscured by pine trees and secondly what view there was was of more trees, and possibly a small lake in the distance. It’s not really what we would call a view, but at least it got us out of our chairs for some exercise. Even I’ve managed my 10,000 steps today!

The best shot of “the view” I could get. I think that might be a lake in the distance – oh yes there are a few trees!

One final thing. The mix of campers has changed enormously since we entered Finland. There are very few foreigners. Even the Germans are thin on the ground. So far we’ve seen one German, one French and a Russian van but the vast majority are Finns. Today we have an Italian on site, but I think his satnav is worse than ours and he’s simply lost!