Forest feasts, wilderness camping, a husky lodge and a mishap.
For dinner, on our last night in the spaceship, we were taken to a camp by a beautiful river where we dined on moose hash served on a bit of tree. Yum. Afterwards, we climbed up the ladder for a cosy night in the UFO. The tree houses are in a very peaceful bit of forest, away from everything. To get to them involves a bit if a hike away from the main house, all adding to the sense of remoteness. In the morning, as we were going to breakfast, we spied Stanley Buick parked next to the mirror cube, looking splendid. Paddy had got special permission to drive his car up -something that is usually forbidden. I thought it would be fantastic to have a photograph of the beautiful Bristol in amongst the tree houses and thought I would sneak it up quietly and take some pics. It all went a bit wrong though.
The Bristol needs to warm up a bit before being at her best. More of an owl than a lark. I had to make large revving noises, to stop from stalling as I drove it up into the woods, somewhat spoiling the peace and tranquility, and positioned it as close to the spaceship as I could. I managed to get some wonderful photographs. Rear visibility is a bit poor anyway, but it doesn't totally explain what happened next.
Rather than making terrible revving noises and further disturbing the peace, I though that I would reverse by rolling down the hill a bit before making a strategic turn through the trees. I felt a bump. My heart stopped. I had reversed in to the high tensile wire that was attatched to a rock, holding the suspended house in place. I was stuck.
Paddy and Tania were savouring their last morning in the tree houses, when it shook, violently., Tania though it might be something to do with the strange burning loo! Paddy came rushing out shouting "It's a rosette"! Then he went into more practical mode. It actually looked, and felt, to me anyway, much worse than it was. But, I was still stuck. Visions of the headline "British grandmother destroys world famous tree house" flashed through my mind.
Paddy immediately tried to get hold of Charlie to come up with Zulu to tow me off the rock. He wasn't answering his phone. I ran to his tree house but no answer came there. Chris and Mark, in the red house; rather bizarrely called the blue cone, came out and, ever helpful, hatched a plan to create a ramp from logs to drive the car off. All the while we were trying to keep it a secret so that the owners did not find out.
I tried, several times to call Adrian who eventually answered. As I suspected, he was having breakfast with Chalie. I told Adrian to ask Charlie, very discreetly, to get up the the tree houses immediately with Zulu without alerting anyone else. The cavalry came in the firm of a white Defender and superman Charlie immediately had a plan to save the day. He pulled in front of the Bristol, attatched the winch and pulled me off the rock. At this point Duncan appeared in his Defender disappointed that he was unable to use his winch for the first time. So much for no one knowing.
No harm what so ever was done the the wire, actually. Thank The Lord. I brushed off the few flecks of red paint and it was as good as new. It took a while for me to regain my equilibrium though. I have no photographic evidence as I was in too much shock to even think about a camera. Trust me, it was a very low point. I went down to the main house where everyone was gathered for breakfast. I was desperate that it wasn't being talked about for the owners to hear. Everyone knew something was up though. I just said wait until we are 100 Kms up the road and you will find out. I was still shaking. I will repeat though absolutely no damage was done to the cable or the house. Thee was some minor damage to the Bristol's lovely arse, but that's all. What a start to the day.
We drove on north, stopping in Jokkmokk, the centre of the Sami culture in Arctic Sweden. A splendid museum tour, with a Sami guide, was enjoyed by us all. We bashed on until we arrived at the melting ice hotel, where we were to leave our cars before disappearing into the woods to go wilderness camping.
I must say that the ice hotel was a massive disappointment, even allowing for the season. It's in the middle of what feels like an industrial estate, next to a busy road. We all vowed that to go and stay in it would be a lesson in disappointment. Avoid.
We, on the other hand, did go to the true wilderness. We were meant to go down the river on rafts to reach it, but there was still too much ice on the river and it would have been dangerous. So, a 45 minute bus journey, along a gravel road and then a 2 km walk through the woods, brought us to the waters edge, a makeshift walkway was made with a few pallets, over the deepest part of the water and we waded across to our lovely camp.
Inevitably, I was awarded the "WTF" rosette for services to reversing. It was lovely sitting around the camp fire, eating moose stew, before repairing to the girls dormitory where sleeping bags were laid out for us. In the morning, the pallet arrangement didn't work and so we all got wet walking across the river for the hike back through the woods to the bus.
Another 430 Kms north, leaving Sweden, having lunch In Finland, crossing into Norway through haunting scenery brought us to the extraordinary "Engholms Husky Lodge". Sven Engholms, a noted husky racer, has created a quite extraordinary place. He has personally buit several wood cabins amongst the trees, in the most beautiful style imaginable, for guests, who usually come in winter for dog sleighing trips, to stay. The attention to detail in them is unbelievable. Every item is hand crafted from wood, or other natural products and is in complete harmony with nature.
The dogs are remarkably quiet. I had expected mad barking, but no, they are at one with nature too. We were served dinner in a tiny wood cabin, sitting around a fire, whilst Sven fascinated us with stories of working with the dogs and how he came to build his stunning lodges.
Tomorrow: Norkapp,the top of the world.
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