Back to nature

Last weekend was a hectic one.

The family woke up at around 8.30 am and we rushed through breakfast and attire changes so that we could reach the centre of Helsinki by 10 am. We arrived at the pick-up point at 10.15 and thankfully, the bus hadn't left yet.

About 40 minutes later, we arrived at Finland's Nuuksio National Park. No more sounds of traffic, just lapping waves on the shores of the lake and bantering of students.

I began the day with canoeing. My partner was a software developer from Switzerland and he related funny stories of his visit to Malaysia's Taman Negara. One night, he and his friends heard a loud crash on their zinc roof and everyone went rushing out. They'd thought a bomb had gone off but it was actually just a durian. He said he wouldn't have minded durian if it wasn't so pungent.

We canoed along one end of the lake, taking in the greenery and quaint summer cottages situated along the coast. Such peace and serenity.

After working out the arms, it was time to stretch the legs. We took a hike along rocky paths, which our guide said were formed as the glaciers receded after the Ice Ages. We climbed several hundred feet to look down at the pristine lake, 7 km across, beautiful.

This is my first time hiking in a coniferous forest, which I find a different experience from a tropical one. Humidity was low so I hardly perspired and we didn't encounter pests like mosquitoes or leeches. Instead of damp dead twigs and leaves, the forest floors at Nuuksio were carpeted by blueberry shrubs. There were blueberries everywhere. We didn't have lunch before the hike so many of us were kind of hungry. The berries provided some relief.

I guess I have some experience with berry picking this summer so I munched on them as I walked. Some of the other students were hesitant to eat the berries. We also spotted mushrooms along the way - mushroom season is on the way. Our guides said they were edible, if you were looking for special effects. Ah ha...

We finished the day with sauna and BBQ. The lake was open for swimming. It must have been exhilarating but I'm not a good swimmer, so I won't risk my life.

HG brought the kids to join me later in the afternoon. I saved some sausages and tortilla for them; I think they have gotten the hang of Finnish BBQ.

At some point, I want to bring our kids camping. We bought a tent from Ikea and placed it in the garden. They played in there for a while, but they moved out when the bugs moved in. Oh well, we tried.