Kate and Bron's Diary for 2002-07-21

Stayed the night in Kaustinen

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From: "Bron Gondwana" <brong@brong.net>
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 04:42:08 +1000 (EST)
Got up about midday, which considering we didn't get to bed until 4am,
is perfectly reasonable. After a relaxed breakfast we returned to
Kaustinen to buy T-shirts (Kate and I both have Kaustinen Folk Music
Festival t-shirts now), and to talk to the sober versions of people we'd
seen the night before!

For lunch we were treated to new potatos and herrings, a traditional
Finnish meal. We've been trying lots of traditional meals here (most of
which involve fish, of course).

In the afternoon we went rowing on the nearby lake, which is rather
large, though shallow at the moment after the dry summer. Mikko and I
tried fishing, but didn't catch anything.

We found lots of raspberries growing in the bushes. Finland has the
Scandanavian concept of "Everyman's Rights", which means we are entitled
to eat the wild berries and camp on the land anywhere outside of the
farmers' private courtyard - not that it would have been a problem there
anyway, since the land belongs to Kati's relatives.

By the time we got back it was getting too late to drive back to Oulu
(about 3 hours travel), so we decided to spend another night in the big
comfortable summer house. Oh the suffering.'

We had a sauna, which was a little too hot - Kate decided she really
didn't enjoy it, but I liked it. Maybe a little cooler next time. This
was a real wood fired sauna, with a little bucket of water and a scoop
for throwing it onto the boiling rocks above the fire. Very traditional.

In all a very relaxing day.

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