Day 12 - Thursday 17th July

This is like Heaven on Earth!

Gorgeous! That's the only way to describe the weather and the day overall today.
After breakfast, we headed straight to the Spa and swimming pool at Peurunka, a 25 minute journey along the country roads from here, via the town of Laukaa. Last year, we were unable to visit the spa for several days due to the roads around Laukaa being closed due to a risk of an explosion at the explosives factory close-by. So, it was nice to drive by the explosives factory without any problems this time around!
From the photos here though, there are some interesting sights along the road to Laukaa! Firstly, you pass by a bus stop with a long queue of scarecrows! Then a little further on, a Finnish blonde awaits visitors by her bike, outside a typical country house! We have seen both of these before, but didn't have the time to stop until today!

These show typical Finnish quirkiness at its best.  

The spa was quiet, and everyone enjoyed the swimming- Keith especially enjoyed the longest slide in the Nordic countries which is 130m long- and howled with pleasure each time he came down it.

Back home, after lunch we simply settled down to sunbathe and swim in the lake, which was stunningly warm and calm. The water was reflecting the clouds amazingly in the late afternoon, and I managed to get a few really cool shots of the reflections.

 I can't stop saying it- I love this place!

 Keith chilling out before another session of swimming!

 Sandy sunbathing!

Lily on the lake.

Another one of the reflections.

After dinner, we got the boat out and explored a bit of the lake, as we've been wondering just how many cottages there are along our part of the shore. There are quite a few, but it would appear that many are old and a bit run-down looking. This was done in two sessions- I wasn't at all sure it would be a good idea to have all five of us out at one time! Firstly Keith, Olivia and I went out, then Keith stayed and swam while Anna, Olivia and Sandy came with me. 

 Heading off on the first expedition!

 The chief oarsman.

 I'm not at all sure Sandy was 100% confident with Anna's rowing!

 He looks happier with Olivia leading!

Now it's my turn to relax!

Tomorrow, according to the forecast, the weather will be just like today, so we plan to top up our tans a bit more before we head off to Varkaus on Saturday to see our good friends Jyrki and Mari Ikonen.