I have writers block. I’m stuck in a prolonged period of low self esteem which is making it tricky to find anything positive to write about. There’s actually a lot of positive stuff happening in my life right now, I’m just not feeling that great and I hate being disingenuous.
So I’m trying something new. I’m going write only about the good stuff and see what happens.
Here goes...
A few weeks ago, Dave and I fulfilled a 10 year dream; we went on holiday to Lapland. Many moons ago, Dave and I were trying for a baby, we‘d been trying for some time and we were getting quite distressed by the wait. Sick of life being on hold, we booked a spectacular holiday in lapland with husky sledging, snow mobiling and an overnight stay in the ice hotel. Then.... we got pregnant (yippee) so we cancelled the holiday!
We always planned to re-book that holiday at some point, probably when the kids were grown. In my post cancer world, waiting 10 years to fulfil a dream didn’t feel right, so I decided to book a re-run of that holiday as a surprise for Dave‘s 40th Birthday.
During February half term, we flew to Northern Finland, we were away from the kids for 5 whole days including travel. We missed them, phoned them and talked about them, but it was lovely to put our own needs first every day. Gulo Gulo resort was fabulous; friendly staff, beautiful surroundings, well equipped apartments and exciting activities with all the necessary equipment provided.
For our first activity, we took a fascinating tour of a family run reindeer farm, which gave a real insight into a completely different way of life. The tour included meeting lots of contented female reindeer and some cranky teenage boy reindeer. (Apparently life is hard for teenage boy reindeer, they‘re constantly on edge as they’re always fighting with each other and they think about sex so much that they forget to eat to the point of starvation! 🙄) We went on a sleigh ride and ate a rustic meal in a cozy little hut; it was a beautiful relaxing morning.
We were meant to take a snowmobile across the frozen lake to the reindeer farm, but the barmy 2 degree temperatures meant the surface snow on the lake had melted! The snowmobile lesson took place in the forest instead and it was exhilarating, Dave would have liked to go faster, but it was the perfect speed for me! The snowy forest made for a magical backdrop to the adventure.
We finished day one with a on-site disappointing first trip around the artic zoo, it was dusk and all the animals were asleep (and we were sleepy too from the long journey!) Luckily, unlimited entrance to the zoo was included and the next time we visited, everyone was much more awake and we saw some beautiful animals enjoying their spacious forest enclosures.
On the second night we stayed in a glass igloo, which was a unique experience! It was billed as a place where you can get away from it all and watch the Northern lights from bed. Well... there’s only one thing to do in these beautiful, couples only, lakeside apartments; while you wait for the northern lights to appear! The igloos, however, are not quite as the brochure implied. They are much more tightly packed together, tierd so the busy footpath and next row of appartments look down into your panoramic bedroom windows, and the curtains throughout the igloos STOP AT YOUR WAIST! Its fair to say “couple time” in these properties would take a fair dose of bravery! 😳
The Northern Lights unfortunately didn’t come out to play for us, but dinner in the restaurant was lovely and the chef was fabulous at catering for my food intolerance. I build a snowman and we made some lovely memories.
The husky ride the next day was awesome, the absolute highlight for both of us. I absolutely fell in love with the playful and affectionate dogs and I now seriously want a dog of my own.
Our final treat was a dawn tour of the zoo. We got to throw carrot and apple treats to the polar bears, who loved them like we love chocolate. Then we got up close and personal with the elusive artic fox in his enclosure. This was a fabulous finale moments before we got on the coach to the airport.
It was a very memorable holiday, jam packed with happy memories. It was lovely to have so much quality time with my husband. On the journey home I reflected on the previous February half term, which was spent mostly in hospital with a chemo induced infection and appreciated how much life has changed.
My next holiday is already booked, I’m heading to California to visit a friend in a few weeks time. Seize the day and all that!
I can’t wait. 😀