SEEING the Northern Lights is up there on my bucket list with skydiving and seeing West Ham win the Prem – no matter how unlikely that last one might be. So when I was invited to Finnish Lapland to see the phenomenon I jumped at the chance. Then they said I’d be going bear watching too and I jumped again — this time with sheer terror. I was heading to the wilderness of Kuusamo, in the north of Finland. Autumn is said to be one of the best times to visit and I was not disappointed. Lapland is gearing up for the business end of the year, so Santa himself was waiting to meet us at the airport, which was kitted out with festive decorations. I told him all I wanted for Christmas was to see the Northern Lights and not get eaten by bears. On the short drive to our hotel, it was incredible to see how the change in season brings out the spectacular orange, yellow and gold colours of the luscious landscape. And, looking out over the vast lake beside the Hotel Club Kuusamon Tropiikki, the peaceful silence was a tonic to someone used to the non-stop noise of city life. Meet the coldest football club in the world With a busy weekend ahead, I got my head down before rising early to venture out white-water rafting with Ruka Safaris the next day. Once in our waterproofs, we set off down the river. The first rapid was… [Read full story]
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