The last update (day 9) is completely at the bottom. In order to be complete, I have just added all previous updates. DAY 1 : Hello Everybody around the world (since this mail starts in Finland but even ends in Australia, USA,...) The first day is almost over.. We just had our first drivers' meeting. And we are with 10 different nationalities. You can't believe how happy everybody is that the Raid has finally started. The atmosphere is super. Today it will be a short update, because not too much happened today and we all are still getting aquainted. I believe almost everybody has arrived and especially for the lonely (partying) wifes at home : everybody is still behaving correctly (eg Karsten, Bernt,...). One very difficult point however : the weather. Until now, it hasn't been really cold. Only a few degrees minus. Result : very slippery roads, but as a starter it counts. Of course one never knows what will happen the next days. We still have still are at least 700 km from the Polar circle... Right now we are in Vehu, in the middle of nowhere. Such a small village that even hasn't any shops... It is the birthpolace of Veikko (one of the organisers). It has started snowing, curious how the roads will show up tommorow. Anyway, my sauna is calling, more (and better news tommorow). Tante Rik ssf Special messages : - Henning & Bernd have driven at least 30km with a total flat tire... - I, myself, had already al broken tacho cable (the cable to the speedo meter) - Gert-Jan & Nadine, Beate, Manfred & Birgit, Loek & Jeanette : we are missing you !!!!!! - Greetings to all Raiders of Raid Oz from Anke & Andreas. - Lorraine : nobody is at my place during the Raid (Tante Rik) - Gommaire : thanks for all the help DAY 2 Here we are again, First of all, I believe not everybody has received the first mail, and as such, it has been included again at the bottom of this mail. Yesterday evening has ended in a incredible way : a sauna in a small cabin at the side of a frozen lake in which a hole had been made. I believe the ice was at least 20 to 30 cm thick (At the moment you are in the freezing water, one doesn't take the time for exact measurements...). Such a sauna normally only happens in the movies. Once we are in Naruska, there will again be the possibility of jumping in the lake through a man made hole... The sausages afterwards, fired by ourselves on a stick above a open campfire was the finishing touch. I also forgot to mention the more than good food in Vehu : moose (shot by the local people last November/December) with vegetables and potatoes. delicious!!! This morning, we had to get up quite early and drove on to Kajaani. Until about 80km from Kajaani, we always took quite small roads resulting in not only very beautiful sights & seeings, but also in some scary moments : Finland is not as flat as some of you may think and there were a lot of hills of which some had very steep slopes (at both sides). You have to remain your speed, otherwise you won't reach the top, but on the other hand you don't know what there is on the other side of the top. Don't think now that we took these slopes at 200 km/h, 50 to 60 km/h will do (the 2CV won't go faster because too high slope percentage), but even then it can be scary. Certainly at the moment you go over the top : it gives, for a fraction of a second, the feeling of flying. During the Raid, we also get warm welcomes at a lot of places. Today we stopped a bed & breakfast place in Viitasaari. The owners are members of the Finnish 2CV club. They have a very nice house at the side of the lake and the restaurant (of one may call it that way) just looks like your & mine living room so to speak. Books, small (very old) objects, old pictures on the wall,... they made it very cosy and you feel immediately at home. I didn't know such places actually existed. Of course the lake of Viitasaari is completely frozen and in order to avoid driving around the lake, there is an official real road over the lake for all vehicles below 2500 kg (or was it 2000 kg). Very strange. I don'thave a detailed map, but I wonder if it is on any map. Maybe with the opening period mentioned as with the closing period of mountain passes. Tonight we arrived well in Kijaani, where we sleep in a quite nice hotel. As from tomorrow we enter the reindeer, moose and wolf area. For one or other reason, the wolves do even come inside the city of Kijaani. This normally never happens, and thus it is a quite big item for the locals, whom are afraid for there kids. Already some dogs didn't survive the encounter with the wolves. Due to the warmer weather, we'll also have to pay more attention for the reindeer. They haven't got the finest idea of how dangerous a road can be for them and how dangerous an accident can be for us. If it is very cold, the reindeer stay in the woods because it is always a few degrees warmer than on the roads (e.g. no wind). Also salt is sprayed on a lot of roads and the reindeer love the taste of this salt... Do I need more to tell you? On car level, everything went fine today except some flat tires and the broken windshield of Columbo. He still had to drive about 90 km with the broken thing. Luckily, it stayed in the rubber and as a precaution, it was completely taped with duct tape on exception of two "shooting holes" to look through. (It has been replaced by now). Today there was an extra long update, since tomorrow and after tomorrow there won't be one. We will be in Naruska. This place is even more "middle of nowhere". Even the GSM won't work there and for Finland that is a real big exception. Going to and coming from Naruska is a route of about 300 km without any shop, gas station,... and even less people. It is an old border patrol house from the time that the border with Russia was 10 km further west than it is now. In Naruska, we will also have the festivities for those who will have passed (by that time) the Polar Circle for the first time... I'll keep you up to date, Tante Rik ssf PS: There is no use in replying to these e-mails since I can't read them. If you want to react, please send you messages to rikveerle@stuvex.be, but keep in mind that they will only be read after the Raid when we are back home. DAY 3 & 4 Hello, yesterday we have arrived in Naruska. It was not so frightening anymore as it was 4 years ago, probably because we knew what was (or was not) to follow and because it was not so cold. The temperature is about minus seven degrees and it is a little bit snowing. I thought the GSM wouldn't function over here, but time never stands still... Although you can use it only outside. The road to Naruska was quite fun : again the small roads full of hills with steep slopes. On the way we visited the field of silent people. A enormous field in which about 800 scarecrows were put down. Not that kind of hay scarecrows, but more like dressed puppets. The task/trick was to ski between them on what I can best describe as old langlauf skis. Of course, our boots weren't adjusted to the bindings, neither had we any technique nor experience, resulting in multiple curses and swears because the skis came off (Those of you that have some alpine ski experience know that is very difficult to get skis back on in deep snow). Further down the road we did a unplanned visit to a stone factory (for very special stone). There is a stone pit and then in the factory they treat it so that it can be used for sauna's, stoves, ovens,... Since the factory was in the middle of nowhere, and since there isn't anybody around, there was no security. We could enter the factory, passed through the production chefs bureau right into the production area. Quite interesting to see how this stone is cut in slices (with a huge circle saw), cut in different shapes and finally polished. The stone itself is rather soft : it was cut in the different shapes by a rather thin water jet. The stone is used for stoves, sauna's,... because it is a very good insulator, but also keeps warm for a very long time. At the other hand it is quite porous, but it doesn't fall to pieces because of frost (quite interesting). The last stop before Naruska was in a Pub in Salla. This pub has the longest name of all pubs in Finland (and I believe it is also the longest name for a pub in the world) :"Âteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi Baari". Don't ask me what it means, but it if you can pronounce it, you certainly deserve a price (only for the non Finnish speaking people). From this bar, we had to stop only once for reindeer on the road, other cars however had to stop very often. Very strange when you are driving in the dark (with all the extra sets of lights on). And don't think that these animals will go away when they see you. First they run along with you (directly in front or along of the car) for about 100 to 500 meters and then they suddenly jump into the woods... There was only one car with a problem : the Swedish team with the very old AK250 had a problem with the dynamo (the car is so old that it still has a dynamo and not a alternator). At the end, it showed only to be polluted contacts, and the problem was solved very quickly. Further, also Serge had a minor problem with the carburator (a bad o-ring), but also that has been solved. Today, we had a non-driving day at Naruska. Since we crossed the polar circle yesterday, this had to celebrated with a "initiation fish eating course" for those who participate for the first time. The fish is called Sörströmung, tinned herring and a delicacy in Sweden. For us it stinks, tastes very bad and thus I have seen the most "ugly" faces today. Even my wife Veerle put on some faces I have never seen before (and I can assure you, I don't want to see them again). Further on we held a reindeer race between the different countries. There are actually reindeer specially trained for races. Behind the animal a sled is mounted and then it starts. The results : 1st Finland (Ylli), 2nd Holland, 3rd Sweden. It was very amusing because everybody was waiting at the finishing line, but the reindeer were every time afraid of all the people. Each time they jumped of the road and ran into the forest with sled and rider and everything. The owners of the reindeer made then the pursuit with the snow scooter. In order to give you a idea of how far the animal ran : one time, it took more than 10 minutes before snow scooters, reindeer, Serge and Peter (from France & Germany) appeared again from the woods... As the Olympic Games are going on in Salt Lake City, Nicole from Germany/Finland organises this raid the Alternative Raid Laponie Games. Every day there is another test for each team. Today is was petanque with balloons filled with water. Try that when it freezes minus ten..... And last but not least there was a surprise for two couples who recently got married : Harriet & Peter Saalmink and Veerle & myself. We got a special diner in a igloo they specially built for us. Very thoughtful of the Raid Laponie Committee. Thank you very much!! Right now there is a party going on, so I'm going to leave you. Tomorrow we will be driving more than 500 km North to the Finnish-Norway border. See you there... Tante Rik PS1: I can't get a good connection with my mobile inside the building, I will have to send the message tomorrow PS2 :Special Messages : - To Happy Ents : Greetings from the Russia Border. We are enjoying long roads, fresh snow, sauna, reindeer meat & - races and olut. Karsten & Mika (Michael) - Ik sterf van de koude poten, koop alvast nieuwe schoenen voor me, groetjes Goos (Translation : I'm dying of cold feet, please buy me already some new shoes) - Dear Marielle, have a nice holiday in Egypt and be careful. Love & kisses from Jerven - Rose-Anne, prachtig landschap, alles ok & ik wens U een goed voorbereiding voor de meeting in Mormont, kusjes Serge. (Translation : Beautiful scenery, everything ok and I wish you a nice preparation for the camp in Mormont) - Naruskasta lapin lumiset terveiset toivottaa pirkko ja ylli (Translation : snowy Lapland, greetings from Naruska by Pirkko & Ylli) DAY 5 Today I have been working on a 2CV (not mine) and as such it is too late now to write the daily report, but tomorrow there will be a double size mail again. Tante Rik Special Message : - Gert-Jan Kip : hé ouwe, gefeliciteerd met je 50ste lente, we zullen een (duur) biertje op je drinken! (Translation : Hello old fellow, congratulations with your 50th birthday, we will drink an (expensive) beer on your health) DAY 6 Hello everybody, I know you all have been waiting for more news, but we have been in such "middle of the nowhere" places, that the mobile phone didn't work, at least inside the buildings .... Therefore you have to read from the bottom to the top. So we are continuing our story in Naruska : Veerle & I decided to sleep outside in a (heated) tent. Veikko did this already the first night, but he had only one problem : he couldn't argue with anybody on who had to keep the stove on going... Therefore we promised to solve his problem and sleep with him in the tent. This was very nice : on the frozen ground was a tent bash and on top of that a reindeer skin and then we in our sleeping bags. The reindeer skin is a perfect insulator (must be since these animals can live outside even at -50°C). Keeping the small stove lit was not a big problem, but having to go to the toilet was. We had a great party, where Anna (Henkkas daughter) gave a wonderful singing performance while other raiders were playing guitar (Ylli), drums (Matti & his codriver),..., and where we also drank some beer and cider. Of course, in order to prevent the "leaving the sleeping bag" scenario in the middle of the night, I did what I had to do before I entered the tent, but clearly it was not good enough... I swore to myself that I would not participate in the "leaving the sleeping bag" scenario and as such, I slept quite bad that night. The outside temperature during the night must have been below -10°C, because when we got up, it was -10°C. And to avoid any confusion : "heated tent" just means keeping the frost outside of the tent, so it was probably only about +1°C inside. Last but not least : a reindeer skin is very very soft. It can perfectly withstand the comparison with the classic camping mattress, but is a much better insulator. The next day we drove on to Naatamo. On the way we stopped for a very nice polar light exposition. It was giving in a special built hut and given by an employee of the Meteorological Institute of Finland which we visited later on (www.fmi.fi : here can see among others the actual weather and polar light situation). There we were witness of the daily "letting go" of a weather balloon. Not exciting, but very interesting, certainly if you are interested in the prediction of the weather. Veikko also arranged me the module they hang underneath the balloon. This module registers temperature, humidity, pressure and wind direction up to a height of 25 km (reference : a Boeing 747 flies at an altitude of 11 km). Further more we got a very good exposé from a fellow 2CV driver who works at the institute on a special satellite project. This satellite will be brought in space by the Arianne 5 rocket on March 1st (or was it 2nd). Lets all knock some wood that the launch goes well, since Osmo Aulamo has been working on this project since the mid eighties. If the launch doesn't succeed, it would be a disaster... (Osmo has been working on only one instrument, and there are more than a dozen on board...) After having a soup in a genuine gold miners village, we drove on too Naatamo in the dark. This is a special experience : with the extra sets of head lights, there is no problem to see the street (up to 50 to 100 meter down the road), but also the trees are lit up and because of the artificial light they don't have any real colour anymore. On arrival, we have been working on the 2CV if Serge and Siggi. The engine still didn't run as it should. We found out that right outlet valve couldn't close. Probably the valve is burned. A new cylinder head has been ordered and will be delivered in Hetta. If necessary we will change it there. Also the carburator problem hasn't been solved completely. Anyway, there is a problem, but nothing so serious that the car will break down(we hope). More 2CV news : Thomas from Austria planted his car in a snow mountain has has bended his chassis. Today, we drove on to Norway. First we drove to the Russian border at Kirkiness. The border exists of two old, but still functional fences. It seems to come right out of a movie... On the way to the border, we stopped at the side of the road that a lorry could pass us, but unfortunately, we got stuck on the icy road. When we tried to drive on, nothing more than spining wheels... After a few trials, we had to carry out the ultimate trick : Veerle had to stand on the front bumper so that the front wheels have a better grip. This worked perfectly, but since we were going up hill, Veerle has to stay on the bumper until we reached the top, which was about 500 meter further. The cars that were passing us in the other direction, almost all ended in the ditch and I don't have to tell you why of course... Veerle survived it perfectly, except that her backside was completely frozen... (outside temperature : -7°C) Anyway, after our border visit we drove on to Vardo, the most North point of the Raid. When we were driving up there, a storm was developing, but more on that later. Vardo is very known for its giants crabs. They can have a width of more than 1 meter between the tips of the legs. They originally come from Kamtsjatska (or how do you write this?) but were set free by the Russians at Murmansk about 30 years ago. The crabs were a very expensive delicacy (and still are), but there were not enough of them at Kamtsjatska . By letting them free in Murmansk, the Russians believed to generate much more of these crabs and as such also much more foreign currencies. The only problem was that the crabs don't have any enemies here and are destroying all other sea life and migrate everywhere. They have been spotted up to south of Tromso at the other side of Norway... Since it is not the season to spot these crabs on the beaches, the only crab I have seen is the one that is now in my stomach (or at least the legs of this beast). Coming back from Vardo, the storm had reached it full strength : a lot of snow and very strong winds. Several times, we couldn't even see the front of our car. Mix this with some "slip sliding' away" and you understand that it was not only big fun, but also a bit dangerous. Thomas from Austria (again!) got of the road. He was driving the third car in a convoy of 4. They were all driving up to the wind, that disappeared completely in a fraction of a second. Not adapting fast enough, combined with a very slippery road, made Thomas spin around and end in the ditch. Once in the ditch, he turned over 2 times and ended at his side. Luckily there was no damage at all except a flat rear tire. With six persons the 2CV was towed out of the field and just continued its road. Of course & luckily, Thomas was ok : not one scratch. Other 2CV news : Eric from Holland broke his gearbox by trying to drive backwards while he was stuck in the snow, but it could be repaired and thus : no problem. To finish : the weather was very different today : from sunny in the morning to storm in the evening and polar light this night. I have to stop now, because Ylli is trying to learn Veerle to count from 1 to 10 in Finish and this going completely the wrong way : a lot of noise and laughing and the others try to sleep here.... See you all soon, Tante Rik Special Messages : - Hallo Ute, wir freuen uns schon auf die Pute. Anke & Andreas (Translastion : Hello ute, we are looking forward for that fantastic turkey) - Hallo mama Els, de warme pyama heeft meer dan zijn dienst bewezen in de tent. Veerle (Translation : Hallo mama Els, the warm pyama has proven its effectifness) - Hello Raid Commitée, we are waiting for the drivers meeting, all Raid Laponie Raiders!! Andreas - Inge schön viele SMS geschickt, hast du welche erhalten? Ist in GS alles ok? Ist etwas von Arbeitsambt gekommen? Tina. (Translation : Inge, I have sent a lot of SMS, did you receive them, everything ok? Any news from the "Arbeitsambt" ?) - My dear, lots of kisses & hugs from Lasse - Klaas-Jelle Bakker & Willie Hoekstra & de rest : alles is goed, maar Kwakkie is kwijt. We kunnen hem nergens vinden. Klaske & Gerjo. (Translation : everyting ok, but we lost Kwakkie, we can't find him anywhere.) DAY 7 & 8 Hello Everybody, Here is next update... Let's start yesterday, although there is not too much to tell you. We left quite early and drove in one time to Hetta Entokio. Of course we had to stop a few times for refuelling, but those stops were neglectably short. The weather was very nice : we left at -16.5°C with a deep blue sky. This was the first day that the sky was clear, all the other days the sky has been completely covered... Anyway, after we left in Navarangeboten (or something like that), the temperature got higher up to about -10°C and then fell down up to -27.8°C. However, this temperature was not constant at all, it was depending on our location : down in the valley or on top of the mountain/hill. The most strange thing was, that this temperature in- & decreases each time happened in less than a (few) minute(s)... The first 200 km, the landscape was very beautiful. The sun helped a lot of course, but their was much variety. The second part (also about 200km), was quite boring to me (Veerle doesn't agree on this). It was very desolate, always the same and quite "hilly" (if you understand what I mean). Maybe I didn't like it because it was not pleasant to drive. By that time, the weather also turned : windy, sky completely covered again and the beginning of a snow storm. We were just in time in Hetta, but a lot of people got right in the middle of this storm... The evening was very calm, probably because of the rather heavy party the night before. All 2CV's made it without any problem. One sad point however : Peter Saalmink tried to get to the North Cape, but the road was closed right before his eyes. (The others (2 cars) who passed only ten minutes earlier had more luck and got through...) Today, it was a very nice day : blue sky, not too cold (about -8°C) and no driving. It started a bit sad however : today my best friend Tom (together with his wife Marijke) emigrated to Sanghai,China for his work. I called him this morning to say good bye just before his mobile phone was shut off by the mobile phone company and only a few hours before they took their flight. Too bad I couldn't be there, but we all wish you the best : May the Force be with You!!! After breakfast, some snow scooters were rented for try-outs on the lake, a very cool experience. It is not as easy as it looks, certainly what the turning is concerned, although it should be easier for those who know how to handle a motor cycle (the technique is about the same). On the lakes, there are, what I call "highways". These are like streets since they are used all the time by the local people to cross the lake. They must be very lucky in winter time : now on the snow scooter it only takes a few minutes, in summertime by car, it must take at least 30 to 60 minutes since you have to drive all around the lake (which is very big). Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that on these so-called highways, it snow is very compact & hard and as such you can "scooter" much faster. The top speed I made was 110 km/h, almost the same maximum speed as my 2CV.... Very impressive. During & after this scootering, we also could fry some sausages above a wood fire. It was as if we were with the boy-scouts again : you look for a wooden stick in the woods, you put you sausage on top of it and hold it above the fire. The fire itself was inside a tipi or wigwam, which protects you from the wind and made it cosy. Tonight there will be the SuperFinn Party and those who came along for the first time will then be member of the SSSF : Secret Society of Super Finns. Of course I can't tell you what that exactly means, since it wouldn't be a secret anymore... Also the 2 teams that went to the North Cape, achieved their goal. It has been very difficult, but it's better that they tell you the story. You'll find it underneath. Oh yes, some other things which I always forgot to tell you. Finland, and also Norway, are normal countries but do have some very strange inhabitants (at least what the North is concerned). When we were driving for hours on end and hadn't seen a house or any other man made thing (except for the road of course), there were people walking : sometimes alone, sometimes a couple.... Very strange : where did they come from and where were they going to? Certainly if you know that they are just walking on the actual road, by daylight but also at night, at ease and at temperatures of -15°C with strong winds... The same is through for where they live : one can drive 2 to 3 hours and then suddenly see a house where actually people are living (smoke comming out of the chimney, lights burning inside,...), afterwards, having driven 2 to 3 hours again, you'll see the next house(s). Talking about living in the middle of nowhere. There is one golden rule then : don't forget anything from the supermarket! Something else very strange is the biking. Everywhere it is so slippery that you have to pay attention how and where you walk, but at the same time, people are passing you by on their bike. Maybe the tires are also studded, but this biking is something I didn't see on previous Raid Laponies. They certainly are crazy... See you, Tante Rik Special messages : - Wij zullen 2 dagen vroeger thuis komen, we hebben de boot kunnen herboeken Tante Rik & Veerle (Translation : we will be home 2 days earlier. We were able to reschedule the boot). - Gert-Jan, Arne, Sloten & Gerhard Kapusta didn't receive the mails. I haven't got their @-addresses, but since it are SuperFinns, you should have them. Can you please forward the updates to them? Thanks, Tante Rik - Tom & Marijke : veel succes in China, Tante Rik, Veerle, Siggi (Translation : Good luck in China) - Hoi luitjes, gaan zo meteen even in de zweetkamer, deze avond SuperFinn Party. groetjes, Eric & Aniek. (Translation : hello folks, in a moment we are going into the sauna, this evening SuperFinn Party, regards : Eric & Aniek) Special report from the North Cape Drivers (written by themselves) : On a Snow Scooter or to North Cape? Only North to North Cape of course!! Wednesday 13th of February. At a fuel station, Koen, informed by the police, told us that the only possibility to reach North Cape, will be next day, together with a Volvo convoy for whom the road has especially been cleared (for the launch of a new type 4x4 Volvo)! About 12 hours later, we see the first Volvo. During a stop, it seems that we are some kind of a circus attraction to these people. Within in a few kilometres, all Volvo's do pass us and as such we are wobbling in our 2CV's at the end of the convoy. Finally, we reach the tunnel that will bring us to the island on which the North Cape is situated. Only 20 more kilometres to go... We thought that we could do it easily in less than half an hour...until we left the tunnel. The wind was screaming, visibility halved, and all heat that was still in our cars was sucked out. Then it even got worse : our windows froze in- & outside, visibility nihil... Still 19.5 km to go, the weather turns from bad to worse, have we lost the Volvos? Yes, No, Yes, No,... Driving up the mounting at 10 km/h, the silhouette of a stranded Volvo loomed up. We have to stop, what now? Getting out of the car? No Way?! But heavily tucked in, snow masks on, we leave the 2CV and try to help the Volvos back on the road. Once we got out of the car, the wind picks up to wind-force 10 and we are almost blown away ourselves. 5 minutes of helping askes 10 minutes defrosting in the car. After one hour, all the Volvos are back on the road, now we... In a few minutes time, the wind creates such high snow dunes that our wheels don't have any grip anymore at all. Still 19km to go... We decide to drive a little bit backwards and try to pass the dunes with a run-up. Out of nothing a giant snowplough appears, it stops, we don't. The driver tries to make us clear, with huge gestures, that it is too dangerous to go on. But as we had just taken off, we didn't want to stop anymore. A little bit further we did have to stop again because of zero visibility. The only solution was one person in the car and one person in front of the car as some kind of a guide. Half an hour later, having done 50 meter, visibility improved being protected by the flank of a mountain. We could get on at a reasonable speed. Still 18 km to go... 10 km down the road, turning around the mountain : no protection nor visibility anymore. Within a minute we were the toy of Nature again (visibility : less than 2.5 meter). The co-driver keeps an eye to the side to check that the snow wall doesn't come to close and that we stay in the middle of the 3 meter wide road. Scared to death we were, still 500 meters to go, visibility less than one meter... Every 10 meters we got off the road, but finally one hour later we saw the parked Volvos. !!!!!! WE ARE ON NORTH CAPE !!!!!! To keep a long story short : the way back was even worse. So bad that we actually had to stop. Thus we stayed on the island in a very cosy hotel. The day after the storm got down and finally we could join the rest of the group in Hetta. (But only because of the snowploughs in front of us). This trip, we will never forget... and never do again!!! Team 11 : Marcel Voogt & Bas Dessens Team 19 : Marcel Brouwer & Jeroen du Mortier DAY 9 Hello you all, Here we are for the last time. I know it is a little bit late, but yesterday we had a extremely harsh program : getting up at 5am and driving 600 km to Helsinki to get on the boat to Germany. Once on board, the boat almost immediately left for Travemunde (we were a little bit late...) and by the time this e-mail would have been ready for sending, there wouldn't have been a quality GSM connection anymore.... Now have to wait until we are close to the Swedish coast (we will pass Gotland, the only other possibility for GSM connection, in the middle of the night...). I also have to excuse myself to the Dutch people : they gave me 4 special messages, but they are still in the car and because of safety reasons, it is forbidden to go to the car deck while we are on sea. Nevertheless, I do remember some of them : "Greetings to my very dear wife (sorry I didn't do this before) Bart" & "The boys are much more beautiful over here than in Egypt, Marcel". Anyway, we'll start the update now. We continue where we left : at the SuperFinn Party. First everybody got his SuperFinn certificate and as such, those that participated to the Raid for the first time are allowed to put "sf" behind their name as from that moment, the others can add one "s". Thus, from now on it will be Veerle sf and Tante Rik sssf... During the evening we also had a very cool lottery, an auction and the famous "Enough Drink". For this "Enough Drink", everybody had to bring a bottle of their home country worst drink. With all these drinks, Henkka fabricated the enough drink, a very strange kind of liquor. Since one small glass is more than enough, I don't have to explain more... Afterwards the party began and don't ask me when it came to an end, but it certainly was much too late... For the drive to Oulunsalo, one could take the high way or the small roads. We chose for the last and it certainly was not a bad choice : we did the most toughest 50 km of the whole Raid Laponie. Fresh 5cm high virgin snow on the roads, no difference in colour between the road and the sky resulting in very poor visibility, all this combined with the beginning of a snow storm (Jukka & Veikko came about 1 hour behind us and were in the middle of this storm) and a very "humpy and bumpy" road. Once back in civilisation, we stopped in an Alko store. In Finland, the selling of high alcoholic beverages is only allowed in special government stores, called Alko. I have never seen such a wide variety of liquors in such huge quantities... A little bit further down the road, we went to a restaurant and waited for Jukka & Veikko so that we could go on together. Once on the road again, we almost got caught in a very serious accident. Origin : rain, slipperiness, a misjudgement of myself and also of Veikko (as I learned later on). Luckily however, nothing happened, but when we stopped, only then we experienced how slippery the road was. The phenomena is called "black ice" : the ice layer on the road is so thick and slippery that you could actually do some ice skating on it. During all the thousands of kilometres I have driven in Lapland (about 10.000 by now), I have never experienced something like this and it is certainly not comparable to rain on icy roads at home. We have very good special snow tires, but at the beginning of the Raid I decided to put on spike tires anyway, independently of the extra cost and independently of the fact that good snow tires are normally more than enough (a lot of people did & do the raid on snow tires). The spike tire decision certainly saved our lives. Maybe a lesson for all other future non-spike tire drivers... After this incident, we decided to do much more small roads than planned for. These roads are much less used, not salted and thus much safer to drive. On these last roads in Lapland, we had a lot of fun : we saw some reindeer, did some belly games & snow diving, enjoyed a wonderful landscape (combination of sun, snow, trees, ...) and took some wonderful pictures. I can't explain the belly game, just ask Jukka & Veikko about it, but snow diving is exactly the same as diving into a swimming pool, but instead of diving into water, you dive in virgin snow... Crossing the Pole Circle again (down South) was a depressing feeling : the end of so much pleasure and adventures. Once arrived in Oulunsalo, we were offered a delicious fish soup by the local 2CV club (many thanks), had the last Drivers Meeting (Ajajakoukos or something like that in Raid Laponie language (= Finish)), said goodbye to everybody.... Right now, we are on the FinnHansa somewhere in the middle of the Baltic Sea on our way back home... I, together with all other SuperFinn Raiders, wish to the thank the sponsors, but much more Jukka, Henkka & Veikko for the wonderful Raid Laponie (the 9th already) they have organised. THANK YOU VERY MUCH Tante Rik sssf & Veerle sf