Kayaking on the Icy Sea -- Finnish Archipelago

How do i start ?

Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Audrey the girl who love backpacking, traveling to the new places. In this time let me share my traveling journey in Finland, If i write it down it needs more than a week to read. So i will only share the main highlight of my traveling.

 I didn’t expect to be going back to Europe so soon, but in just a matter of days I’m heading back to Finland!

I always thought my second trip to Finland would be in the winter time – a visit to Santa and his reindeer, maybe a trip up to Lapland to see the Northern Lights – but life is full of surprises and it looks like I’ll get to experience yet another wonderful summer under the Midnight Sun. 

Just don’t fall in. Don’t fall in.

The waters were icy cold in defiance of summer as I dipped my feet into the Archipelago Sea and climbed into my kayak. I asked our guide, Benjamin, how many people tend to capsize, and his “oh, about one in ten” response didn’t do much to reassure me. There was no way I was taking a dip in the sea on this chilly summer day. 

 My first few minutes out at sea consisted of me giving myself a very serious pep talk while trying not to wobble over the dark waters.

“Just stay centered, don’t be stiff, breathe. You are in control of this. Now just don’t make any sudden movements.” 

Despite my lack of kayaking experience, I was very excited to be going on a full day island hopping adventure.The Finnish Archipelago is home to thousands of islands and small islets, so the best way to enjoy the scenery is by hitting the water and skirting around the string of forested islands. 

 One of the highlights of the excursion was spotting sheep. (Not quite the wildlife I was expecting!) We were greeting with melodic ‘baaahs’ by this flock who seemed undisturbed by our presence. They stared at us as we got of our kayaks to stretch our legs and then continued chewing on grass while they eyed their strange new guests.

The reasoning behind keeping the sheep on small islands is that they can graze freely, but unless they are planning to go for a swim, they can’t really wander off anywhere – and when was the last time you saw sheep going for a swim? 

The journey from the small seaside village of Kasnäs out to Högsåra was very leisurely. Even though we only travelled a grand distance of 4 kilometres to reach our destination, it took us just over 2 hours to get there – that’s almost double the regular pace. I’ll admit I was the one who lagged behind in the trio, but when you’re going to be kayaking for several hours in one day, the best thing you can do is find your rhythm and stick to it. Slow and steady was my motto. 

By the time we reached Högsåra, we were all famished and ready for lunch at Farmors Cafe – a family establishment that specializes in hearty home cooked meals and succulent desserts. We served ourselves platefulls until our stomachs were content and our bodies were…ready for a nap. It was hard pulling ourselves away from Högsåra’s idyllic setting knowing we still had a 2 hour journey back to where we had come from, but with the rain coming it was time to slide into our kayaks again. 

I am happy to say that aside from the light rain that drizzled over us on much of the journey back, I arrived back on land without capsizing, which is more than I can say for Sam over here. You see, just as we were pulling over to the shore, the boy lost his balance trying to climb out of the kayak and made a swan-like exit into the water…(Whew! So glad that wasn’t me.) 

see you on the next my traveling journey, Thanks a lot.....^_^