I'm Dreaming of a White (-20C) Christmas: PER-SIN-HELx-RVN-HELx-PKGx-HKG-PER

[Paddy55]

Great, great trip report.
Thank you very much

 

[Grooba]

You sir, have some of the luckiest kids in the world! What an awesome story they have to tell their friends that they actually went to see Santa at his place! Great report jukebox333.

 

[jukebox333]

You sir, have some of the luckiest kids in the world! What an awesome story they have to tell their friends that they actually went to see Santa at his place! Great report jukebox333.

Thanks very much Vec (and everyone else).

I think I am actually the lucky one; I have three kids who have had to tolerate moving around quite a bit in their young lives, and so have become quite seasoned travellers - so a holiday like this was very special for them, but also was not the nightmare it might have been. I'm also lucky to have found AFF. and looked at advice by the likes of Serfty, Cove and so many others who have lead the way in how to maximise generation of FF points. This was by no means an inexpensive trip, but it would have been impossible if I'd had to fork out in full even for 5x Y airfares to the top of the world. The other thing is, like many people in this forum, "travel" is my thing - I don't drive a fancy car, and don't have too many expensive vices. Mrs J is so frugal, at times I need to check her lineage to see if she isn't a McJ... But the saving, and the planning, is worth it when it all comes together.

 

[smit0847]

That photo of Santa leading your daughter through the snow is absolutely adorable. This is something they will never forget!

What time did it get light and dark there? I'll be in Iceland in July this year - should be quite different - Im told it doesnt actually get dark at all!

 

[Grooba]

Thanks very much Vec (and everyone else).

I think I am actually the lucky one; I have three kids who have had to tolerate moving around quite a bit in their young lives, and so have become quite seasoned travellers - so a holiday like this was very special for them, but also was not the nightmare it might have been. I'm also lucky to have found AFF. and looked at advice by the likes of Serfty, Cove and so many others who have lead the way in how to maximise generation of FF points. This was by no means an inexpensive trip, but it would have been impossible if I'd had to fork out in full even for 5x Y airfares to the top of the world. The other thing is, like many people in this forum, "travel" is my thing - I don't drive a fancy car, and don't have too many expensive vices. Mrs J is so frugal, at times I need to check her lineage to see if she isn't a McJ... But the saving, and the planning, is worth it when it all comes together.

Absolutely you are lucky also, I guess my comment was from the perspective of a child and how awesome it would be at school and to listen to other kids stories about their Christmas's, then when it gets to their turn they start out with something like "well we also saw Santa, but we went to his house up at the north pole... ", I'd pay good money to be a fly on the wall in that classroom.

You're right about this community, most of the people around here are more than happy to assist and get new folk into the swing of things, I was exactly that person a few years ago. Now I just can't get enough travel, and with a healthy points balance I'm just now starting to put them to good use, up the pointy end of course. Never would I be (and I'd say many of us here) in the position I am now without the help of this forum and it's members.

Your report really is up there with the best from my POV for uniqueness and because I'm envious of you and your family!!!

 

[jukebox333]

That photo of Santa leading your daughter through the snow is absolutely adorable. This is something they will never forget!

What time did it get light and dark there? I'll be in Iceland in July this year - should be quite different - Im told it doesnt actually get dark at all!

Hi Smit - the weather page for Levi I used noted "The sun will not rise today" for the duration of our visit! But around 10am it grew brighter, peaking at noon, and then was dark again by 2pm. But the snowfields and town is well lit, and so people could get around their daily lives. I'll do an amalgamated post from one of our rest days soon, and you'll see it's pretty darn dark at 9:30am when we hit the toboggan slopes - and not too many other were up then. But we tended to go back inside after 4pm - when the sun went down, the temp dropped, and the kids were pretty knackered - it is quite physical walking around in the snow with all those clothes on, and while the adrenaline kept them going, we all crashed pretty hard each night!

July is, excuse the pun, the polar opposite - midnight sun, and all that. Lots of sandflies and midgies in Lapland, too, apparently. Google earth streetview was shot in late spring I think - it is a completely different world without all that snow.... but the people we met were brilliant. Even tour operators that had every right to be jaded by the end stream of tourists seemed to be genuinely stoked that we would come all the way from Australia. There are times I forget how much good-will currency our nationality carries - trips like this remind me how lucky I am to be born an Aussie. For whatever reason - Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin, Hugh Jackman I don't know - but even up in Lapland, announcing you are an Aussie brings a warm smile and a friendly greeting. It is an amazing feeling when that happens.

 

[jukebox333]

If you were not travelling with a mob of kids, staying in the village in Levi would be an option. There are hundreds of seasonal apartments from 2 to 8 beds. There's three supermarkets, and a dozen or so restaurants. Eating out in a ski resort comes at a premium price, which is expected. The Levi website has links to both accommodation and food (I'll post a list of useful links at the end of this report for reference).

Each morning, when we drove into the village, this was the view of the ski slope:



The slope is lit from 8am to 9pm or so, but the ski bus to take the serious skiers up the hill did not seem to leave before 9am, so the slope was always quiet at the start of the day. But in the afternoon and evening, it was well used. This slope is one of three or four that are on Levi Fell - there are a series of t-bars, chairlifts and gondolas that also get people up the mountain.


This is the main village - its a pedestrian only path that winds around the shops and cafes.


ZeroPoint and the main ski slop are right across the road.


This is the Christmas Handicraft Market that is open in December.

It was snowing that day, but you can see it got bright as we walked around. On snowy days, the temp rose to around -5C, and it was quite comfortable to be out and about. It was only when the winds blew, or the sky cleared up, that the cold became an issue. Because all the snow was fresh, dry, powder, we weren't able tick one of the "must do" boxes: make a snowman. The snow just does not stick together!

 

[jukebox333]

On one of our "non activity" days, after a couple of hours tobogganing, we drove up the road that leads to the top of Levi Fell.



It has been snowing all night, and the trees were frosted with blown snow.



Up the top, a dozen or so cars were parked in the white landscape - people skiing for the day - it was quite surreal, as the atmosphere was almost alien.



The clouds broke long enough for us to be able to look out off the plateau, across the Lapland countryside. The view above was taken just before 1pm, but there was no sign of the sun.

 

[jukebox333]

When I booked our Santa encounter, I did not realise it was a full blown Snowmobile Safari. I had also booked one of those, and it turned out to be with a different operator, Perhesafarit, and the day we went, it snowed the whole way, making it a very different experience - seeing where you were going was harder, but it was nowhere near as cold.

These guys had thier office next to the supermarket, so we parked up and got suited out - a lot easier the second time around.



It made for an interesting comparision, as the second operator had better snowmobiles (they went faster, and had much lighter throttles) and the clothing they supplied felt much better, too.



Our guide was Tomas, from Frankfurt, and when it came to the hot-chocolate-and-bun pit stop, we has really chatty when he found out were were from Perth - he'd been in Mt Helena (east of Perth) in November.


With Aurora Safaris, the kids got towed in a little cart behind each parent. With Perhesafarit, a big pod that accomodated 4 kids was towed by the leader. Miss 6 tells me this was much warmer!



Despite the ride being almost identical (the second one was a couple of Km longer, as we rode from the centre of Levi), I certainly enjoyed the second one more. And I think if we'd had a sunny day and blue sky (in March, say?) it would be 10/10. As it was, we all came away having enjoyed the excursion, and felt liek the people at Perhesafarit looked after us well.



More Lapland wilderness awesomeness!

 

[jukebox333]

So way back at the start of the thread, I mentioned my part of the bargain was to try and see the Aurora Borialis (Northern Lights). In the last twelve months I spent a lot of time reading about these things, and learnign the best way to maximise my chance of seeing them. The short answer is - you are at nature's mercy, and she can be fickle.

2013 is supposed to be at the peak of the 12-15 year cycle of sunspots that generate magnetic disturbances responsible for creating Aurora. A change influx increased the Kp value, and that means your likihood of seeing something increases. Above 3 and things look good. Above 5 and they get awesome. Of course you then need clear skies, or the party will just go on without you, behind the clouds.

I found two or three excellent sites that give real time data on magnetic activity - which was the real need for WiFi access. I could happily have lived without email for 11 days. but I needed to know if it was worth getting out in the cold at 11pm to see a display.

Unfortunately, the week we arrived in Lpaland, there was not a sunspot in sight. That did not bode well.

The first clear night, the Kp was less than 1. I used Google earth to pick a spot north of town, looking across a lake wher eit would be dark, but we stayed in, as there were no indications of activity. Three nights later we bundled the troops in to the car at 9pm and stayed out till 11pm. Nothing.

Then, two nights later, it looked clear, and although the Kp was still only 1. the prediction was that there would be visible activity in our latitudes. So at 8:45pm we went out, this time to a rest area about 2km north of town. We parked the car and left the engine running, and waited. And waited.

Just after 10pm I saw an area of the sky turn grey - almost looking like a cloud formed. I pointed to it and told Mrs J to watch. In the next 10 minutes the grey patch broadened, and turned a pale green hue. I took some photos using the dashboard to steady the camera, and in the playback could see the green on an Aurora;



The shape danced across the sky and disappeared after another 10 minutes. A few minutes later, and arc formed across the horizon;



I had bought the laptop with me, so was able to watch the prediction and so could see we would be passed the peak by midnight.

We stayed the full three hours and whilst we did not get any displays of emotional moving signifigance, I came away know that I'd finally seen an Aurora, and that as it was so totally out of my control, the small one I did see would have to do... this time!

 

[jukebox333]

The log cabin we stayed in was called Viprakka-5. There are 8 Viprakkas in the street, four duplex log cabins built to cater for winter visitors. Most but not all are available for rent.



This is the main downstairs area - big open room with fireplace, lounges, TV, stereo.



The lounge is open to the kitchen where a wooden picnic table can seat 8 for meals.



Kitchen is all electric. Downstairs, the cabin has under floor heating, and heaters against the walls on timers, that keeps the whole place toasty warm. We slept in summer pyjamas, and it was shorts and tee shirts inside.



Bedrooms are very compact - two single beds in each of four rooms. This is the downstairs bedroom. Two cupboards in each room for clothing to be hung up.



The upstairs is like a loft - great for the kids. The rooms have low ceilings in part - it kinda dictates where your feet go! You pay to hire the linen, and also a cleaning fee on departure in peak times. We had all this, plus the rental, rolled up into our charge to keep it simple.

Normally the accommodation in Levi at peak times is 7 days hire, Saturday PM to Saturday AM. We wanted Xmas and New Year, and paid extra for that, and I suspect got it as we booked in April - closer to December, it way be harder to get the owners to agree to an mid week departure. But I'm glad we took the full 11 days - we were only just getting into a rythym by day 7 - the last four days were out best ones.

 

[jukebox333]

Second last day. We'd done Huskys, met Santa, driven snowmobiles... ah, what about a reindeer ride? Can't leave without one of those!

A coach came and picked us up from the tourist centre and we drove 10km south and then turned off the road and drove another 5km into the forest. The morning was calm and no snow - so again, had turned brutally cold.

We got to the reindeer farm, and the lady from KätkätunturinErä ja Luonto who was running the show, Petra, gave as a lecture on how these are wild animals, scared of humans, and can be dangergerous, can run fast, if your sledge gets pulled off the tracks DO NOT GET OUT (because you will scare the reindeer even more) and be quiet and calm....

She scanned the group of 30 or so people... and eyeballed me: "You! I think I will need your help on the way home, is that okay?" Well I wasn't going to let th side down, so I nodded from beneath my beanie, scarf, and snood...



So having been told to expect a ride behind a relative of Black Caviar, you can imagine how I felt when we plodded along the 3km to the ice lake! The animal we had needed to be "HUP!'d" and "HIP!"'d and flicked with the reins the whole way there.



If there was an upside, it was that I had plenty of time to take photos. But within 30 minutes, I was started to get cold. But nothing would make our slovenly beast break into anything more than a loiter....



We finally got to Wolf Lake, where hot juice and a fire awaited us. Some excursions offered the chance to do ice fishing here. I think it's one thing to come back from offshore WA empty handed, but to sit around a hole in the ice and freeze your gonads off and catch nothing was too much for me to consider! I just took a photo...



And so to the ride back. Apparently some of the reindeer are not up to a 3km round trip, so I was going to join Petra, the guide, in her sledge and my family would be in another. This turned out to be quite a fateful decsion. Petra looked at me like I was a maniac when I had my camera in my lap: "You will need both hand to help me brake" I didn't argue, but after the decidely leisurely stroll I had up to the lake, how much work was I going to need to do on the way back? I didn't get too much time to consider that thought, as Petra had unleashed the beast hitched to our sledge and it took off like someone had shoved a rocket fair up it's bum! This thing didn't just trot, it was galloping like an animal possesed, snow was getting thrown up and all over us. Petra tried to calm it down and for about 30 seconds it seemed to slow to a canter, then was off again VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Petra shouted at be "Okay, get ready to pull hard!" I looked up and saw what looked like a hard 90 degree bend - if we did not slow down, the sled would tip over. "OKAY, PULL!" So I grabbed the rope on my side, and she grabbed the rope on hers. As we got closer and closer, I realised it wasn't a bend at all - it was a gate. Closed! Despite our best efforts, this out of control animal thundered up to the gate, and stopped itself with it's head and chest wedged hard up against the fence by the weight of our sled that followed it in. My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. Now I knew why she needed help - the damn thing was crazy.

She apologized profusely and explined to me that they had be letting this reindeer take people until there were a couple of "incidents" last season where it crashed through the gate, and so they were trying to break it back in. She talked it down, tied it up, and we paused to wait for the rest of the teams. We waited quite a while before the next three groups came in... but no sign of my family. Then a young Russian girl came in on her own... where was her partner? Fell off ? Got off to help someone?

It turned out, the reindeer Mrs J and kids had was a serial tailgater, and had got so close to the one in front, its harness got caught up. So, trying to help, Mr Russian, two sledges in front, stopped his and got out. At that point, his reindeer took fright and tore off down the path leaving him stranded, and seeing that, and the Russian walking towards him, Mrs J's beast wanted out of the game, so left the ploughed trail, and tore off 500m into the snowy undergrowth, covering Mrs J and the three already freezing kids with 6" of powder snow from the low handing branches.

Fortunately, the team had a snowmobile driven by a trainer following, but it took him 15 minutes to calm the 4WD reindeer and get it back where it needed to be. Petra fairly ripped the Russian guy a new one when she heard the story from the back guardsman - and apologised profusely to Mrs J and kids - presented the young ones with reindeer anterlers as trophies (which, cause we knew AQIS would not like, we left at the cabin...).



Mrs J was underwhelmed at the time - it was bitterly cold, and the snow really made it a lot worse. But as we drove back into Levi, she agreed that we'd all been warned that these are wild animals, and that if everyone had done what they were told to, it would have been a lot less dramatic.

If anyone does plan to go to Lapland, I would not say do not do the reindeer ride - it was still fun, the views were pretty, and the serenity of the forest on the slow ride was special - it was also the least expensive of the activities, but I suggest you do it first: after Huskys and Snowmobiles, even with the unscripted adverture, it just does not fall into the same ear-to-ear grin catagory as the others do.

 

[jukebox333]

And so we got to New Year's Eve - which also happens to be my youngest son's birthday. Our last full day in Lapland.



Down to the snow slopes at 9am, for a work out! Into town for a hot chcocolate, before driving over to the South Gondola Station:



For a ride up the mountain;



Nothing but whiteout at the top;



So we best head straight back down.... where, below the clouds, the snow covered the land and the trees as far as you could see:



Back into Levi to pack, and return our outerwear. Time for a birthday cake and then get dressed for the New Year's Eve dinner buffet.

This one was at the Panorama Hotel, a luxury resort half way up the fell. The menu for the even was as follows:


New Year’s evening buffet 2012
The Arctic Ocean
Gravlax
Roe of salmon and caviar, sour cream and red onionMussel salad
Tartar of whitefish
Cod cheviche
Prawns
Antipasti
Grilled eggplant
Marinated zucchini
Turnip
Picked homemade cucumbers
Marinated mushrooms
Tapenade
Potato salad
Boeuf
Copaham
Reindeer salami and honey melon
Chicken teriyaki
Herb beef and parmesan
Whole smoked reindeer
”Stove”

Merquez sausage and mojosauceSake salmon
Corn fed chicken in coconut sauce
Frankfurters

Panna cotta of Arctic berries
Romanov strawberries
Petit foursCoffee, tea

As I mentioned before, on paper this sounded special, but the reality was disappointing - the food quality was not as good as the Xmas dinner, and many of the items either did not appear, or were in limited supply (10 Panacotta parfait glasses for a room of 200 people?????). It was a nice enough meal, and if we had nothing to compare it to, would have enjoyed it more, I think. Also, we'd be planted at a table miles from any windows, so despite the label "Hotel Panorama", for us to see any view, we had to step outisde onto the viewing balcony - into the snow...

Something we did notice, and I read it independently in the Lapland forums afterwards, was that this, and many other NYE events in Levi, were overun by Russians. Apparently the Russian tourist dollar is big business, and has led to a seasonal wave of Eastern tourists arriving after Xmas and before New Year's in Lapland. The online comments were not at all complientary, with the boorish and loud behaviour, and lack of manners towards the locals in Pubs and Bars being a very sore point. We were late to the Reindeer ride because 1/3 of the group was a party of 8 young Russians who arrived 15 minutes after the bus was supposed to have left - and the Reindeer ride operator wasted no time in give them a large serve for holding everyone up. We didn't perecive them to be overtly rude at NYE, but there were plenty of "Poodles" out that night, trying very hard to look special... and succeeding, in all the wrong ways. Let's just say that being stuck in a hotel halfway up the ski slope would be utterly impractical for me, but I am sure there are some people who would find it was perfect. Power to them.

 

[jukebox333]

So, 9am New Year's Day, and the car is packed and we are off. It's another dark drive, this time with some heavy snow falling as we travelled 200km back to Roveneimi:



The snow ploughs were out, clearing the roads of drifts:


The road sign warned us about the locals, so I kept it to 80km/h:



Just as well, because an hour into the drive, we came across these guys:



Now I know how Japanese Toursist feel when they see a Kangaroo in the outback!!!! LOL

The drive was smooth enough, but the snow got quite heavy - when I got to Rovaneimi, I had to take a cloverleaf down off the rural road onto the highway - it hadnt been ploughed, and was just completely white as I felt my way down and around the curve.

But it was all good fun, and we had plenty of time. I took the obligatory set of photos of the car before I dropped the keys off, proving there had been no damage:



But as it turned out, I had no hassles with Scandia. They even searched for, and returned, my international drivers license that I left in the glovebox and remembered after we got to Hong Kong. So we unpacked the car, and shuffled some of the suitcases around (we took a acr seat, too, so had to repack that in the terminal at RVN), and went to check in for the flight to HKG...

 

[jukebox333]

And so, time to say goodbye to Lapland.

A few gratiutitous shots for the road:



One of the backstreets at Levi Village; you can see we had about 20cm of snow the week we were there. Such an amazing contrast to Perth, and Western Australia



The Arctic Circle. I have to pinch myself to realise this was as far as we flew, and that we drove another 200km North from here, in mid winter. Crazy? No. Just a taste for the load a little less travelled...



One of my favourite shots of our street in Levi. This is a snowy night , looking towards the ski slope. I love the way the low cloud looks like the way the Chinese paint mountains and sky, one layer fading into the next. That night I'd taken the kids for a walk and an impromptu snowball fight while Mum prepared dinner...



RVN - Rovaneimi Airport - "The Official Airport of Santa Claus" apparently. These reindeer are lit up on the hill in front of the terminal.



Proof there was 5 of us! This photo (taken on the second snowmobile safari by Tomas from Frankfurt) is the only one of all five of us together outside.

Anyway, back to the reporting.

For the homeward leg, I needed to get us to Hong Kong by the 3rd January - Mrs Jukebox's birthday. That was why we flew New Year's Day. I gave us 5 hours to travel down from Levi, and then looked at combinations from HEL; Shanghai was an option, but I hadn't been to Beijing, and the novelty of possibly seeing the great wall made it a no brainer. I'd checked in electronically the afternoon before, so just had to drop our bags off - they were booked through to HKG and we got all three sets of boarding passes before we boarded - including the CX ones.

AY428 was an A320 RVN-HEL. Yet again, a spotless plane and great crew. As I mentioned, it had snowed most of the morning, but given this was nothing out of the ordinary for Finland, I was not worried by the weather as far as flying was concerned. That said, the take off was one of the shortest and most rapid accelerations I have felt in some time - real sports car stuff! The flight was smooth, and we were above the clouds in 10 mins or so... and saw the sun for the first time in 11 days! Then before too long we punched back into the merk, and landed uneventfully at HEL on time.

We passed out through immigration and had around 90 minutes to wait for our flight HEL-PEK. AY51 turned out to be an A330, and it was full. We had seats near the front of economy, and the crew was mainly Chinese (AY Beijing based?) After we pushed back, we were de-iced at the gate - something I had seen on TV but not expereinced before. I didnt have a window so couldnt photograph it, unfortunately. They use a lot of fluid - better too much than not enough, though. The flight was an all nighter, 18:00 - 07:55 and the food was fine. Of course the IFE was what it was, ditto the liquid medication. But the duration of under 9 hours made it a very bearable flight, and much to my and Jukebox Jnr Son's amusement, we DID get to see the Great wall as we made our approach to PEK.

PEK for transfers at 8am was a shambles. The gate that you are supposed to pass through to go from arrivals upstairs to departures downstairs was unmanned. And stayed that way for 15 minutes. When we finally had someone to check us through, it was one at a time, and stamping the paperwork took forever. Then we had to pass through security - including belts off, and laptops out... my bag, with my DSLR, needed three Xray examinations. Elder sons also got multiple views. It just seemed to be a layer of slow moving bureacracy that could not be avoided. By the time we were finally processed, the 120 minue wait for the CX connection to HK had eroded to just 45 minutes. Not sure how it works anywhere elese, but IMHO a non-border-entry aircraft transfer should not be so hard. I would not choose PEK to transfer again - I'd try Shanghai or elsewhere.

Anyhow, we boarded the CX347 to HK - another A330, but with horrid clamshelf Y slider seats. At least the IFE was there, and the crew up to CX's usual high standard. The captain even announced that those pax on the stardboard side would be able to see the Great Wall as we took off and gained altitude before turning for HKG.

The flight was 4 hours, and had us into HKG at 1330.

The kids had been asking me "Are we going to that airport where we always queue for an hour for immigration Dad?" So as we made our way to the main terminal from gate 70 (!) I reminded them we had a wait ahead of us.

As we came up the escalators from the skytrain, we were ushered to the left... to the almost empty immigration hall. For the first time in around a dozen visits, we literally walked up to the booth and waited behind the line as the passenger infront of us was processed, and then stepped forward. I've never seen that before, so it was a pleasant surprise.

We were out and collected our bags in under 30 mins, and soon in a car speeding into Central.

I'd used the Newton Hotel on Electric Road in Fortress Hill before, but it was looking shabby on my last visit, so went down the road to the City Garden Hotel. Because we were to be there for six consecutive nights they upgraded us to Club Floor (L25) and were able to give us non smoking and connecting rooms. As the room door closed shut, I looked out at the harbour and the apartments - a world away from Lapland, figuratively and literally!

 

[jukebox333]

So, we made to HKG. Now Hong Kong is a lot of things to a lot of people... and I'm not about to tell Grandma how to suck eggs. So no blow by blows here - just a couple of things I like to do with the family while I am there.

The next day, I went down to the Berlin Company office on 17th floor 61-65 Des Voeux Road and grabbed some $HKG (another AFF tip - their rates are great!). Then it was over to Pier 5 for a ferry to Cheung Chau, and across to The New Baccarat Restaurant. My father in law introduced me to this place when he was working in HK in 1999, and we have made it a point to come back every time we visit, for their salt and pepper squid.



The place may becoming bit of a cliched now, but it still gets good reviews. I looked at the prices and they do seem to have gone up, but for HKD$100/head including beers, it still didn't break the bank, and the trip out and back on the ferry makes a change from the pace of HK streets.

I'm a sucker for eating where the locals do - even if that means having simpler dishes; HKD$12 for some fried noodles for breakfast was fine by me. There's a place up the road from the hotel in Tin Hau called One Dim Sum, that does some great dishes, and has an English menu. The steamed Malaysian Ginger cake here is so light, and has such great flavour. I've had it off other street vendors and it was cake like - almost like pudding needing a butterscotch sauce - here it is light, gingerly and a real treat. They do some great beef/steamed rice combos too. This website has the details for the outlet at Prince Edward, but the Tin Hau one is the same.

We had planned to slip up to Guangzhou to spend a couple of days, but ran into the only real drama on our trip: to get your children China tourist visas, we needed to supply birth certificates as well as passports. Sorry, I dont travel with those - though on reflection, I will email myself a set now, so I have them from now on. So I had to cancel hotel reservations and extend our stay at the City Plaza. Disappointing, but there was still plenty to do - and as it was, by last Wednesday I had fallen ill with a flu I must have caught on the plane, and was feeling pretty miserable (which is why I had time to start writing this trip report - I was room bound for 48 hours!).

We took the kids to Ocean Park - we'd done HK Disneyland two years back. OP is spread out over a lot of real estate, and has a lot going for it - plenty of animals, and some fun rides for all levels - we even got Miss 6 on her first thrill ride, and she came off smiling, not screaming. Tehy are also looking after some giant Pandas, that seemed to be in great shape.



I would be tempted to recommend OP over D/L - your dollar goes further, and you can tailor the day to the age of your young visitors (I found D/L very kiddified - and it closed for us at 8pm - strange in a city that goes all night..)

The week in HKG went quickly. I love Perth, it is my adopted home, but I have a great affection for Hong Kong - I feel comfortable there, and have been lucky to spend a number of weeks in and around the city, so know what I like and what I want to avoid.

Friday afternoon rolled around quickly, and we were soon back out at Gate 70, boarding CX171 for Perth. To my horror, we had grown to 5 bags and 100kg of checked luggage!!! It sounds obscene, but you have to remember that three of those bags did not get opened in HKG - they were full of jeans, jumpers, gloves, boots, scarfs etc... even so, I was a bit embarrased at the Diva Esque size of the check in pile.

As for the flight, an A330 once more, the meals were good (although the first one came very late, some 3-1/2 hours into the flight - though they'd done a drink run before then), the service attentive, and the Y seats normal full reclining seats. IFE was touchscreen, with plenty of shows to watch - too many for our eight hour flight - I had to abandon a documentary on Quadrophenia with Pete Townshend for landing! I noticed CX Airbuses dont seem to have the individual air vents - my only gripe. I like to be able to have a stream of air on me, to counter the cabin that usually overheats at night time. QF had it, as did AY. I wonder why CX chose to drop it from their equipment specs?

I had grabbed some Folgers instant coffee and my wife found Poppycock in HKG, but the new Ausralian Arrivals customs forms do not mention "food" they specify meats and fish etc... so whilst I declared "Nothing" I also flagged I was carrying Coffee and Confectionary to each official as we came through Border Security. No one said it was a problem, and our arrival card was not tagged in any way I could see... but as we got to the guy collecting cards, we were asked for our Smartgate Receipts ("er, no, we have kids under 16 so couldnt use Smartgate") and sent right for a full baggage inspection. At 11:30pm. With a six year old in tow. So we stood for 15 minutes before it was our turn to be checked... the girl asked for our Smartgate Receipts ("er, no, we have kids under 16 so couldnt use Smartgate") , she read the cards and excused herself... 5 mins later she came back and told us we could go. I dont know what that was about, but if I'd had more fight in me I would have asked... as it was I just nodded, and we pushed the bags out the exit to our waiting ride home.

We live a fair way out of the city, so it was after 1am before we got in, and 2am when I finally got into bed.

Normally, that means time for circumspect reflection, and a little sadness that the big trip that took so long to plan has come to an end.

But three weeks before we left, Mrs Jukebox SMS'd me at work "Call me - Immediately!". I figured one of the kids had injured themselves, or a grandparent was gravely ill. So, expecting the worst, I called and asked her what was wrong.
"...Do you remember I told you I was going to enter that Madagascar 3 competition a couple of weeks ago (sort of) ...well I just took a call from a woman, who rang to tell me I am the winner - we've won a holiday to New York!"

So look out for our next Trip Report adventure, in the second half of the year!

 

[jukebox333]

Jukebox's Levi Resource

Okay, so just to keep all these things in one place, here is a list of some of the links to sites I used in 2010/2011 to plan and book this trip:

Levi Tourist Authority, Lapland
Levi in Lapland: Finland's biggest ski & round-the-year resort - Levi
- Accomodation
Accommodation search - Levi
- Food
Levi's best dishes: Restaurants in Levi in Lapland Finland - Levi

Car rental in Rovaneimi
Car rental Scandia Rent - All cities in Finland

Webcams in and around Levi
Levi webcams and maps: Levi in Lapland, Finland - Levi

Viprakka Cottage Rentals
Levi - Viprakka & Lammaskuru Vuokramkit

Levi Weather Forcast (by-the-hour, and 10 day)
Weather Forecast Levi - Foreca.com

Snowmobile Safaris
Perhesafarit snowmobilesafaris

Husky Rides
English - Tundra Huskies Husky Safaries Levi Finland Lapland

Reindeer Sledges
Reindeer and fishing safari in Lapland - Reindeer, Hunting, Ice Fishing

Santa Claus Experience
AURORASAFARIS OY
I booked this through the Levi Tourist people - where I'd read this descrition, which is not on Aurora Safari's own page:
Santa Claus Safari - Monday to Friday in December + Christmas Eve 24th and Christmas Day 25th

Experience an exhilarating snowmobile ride to Santa's rustic log cabin, where you will meet Santa Claus himself. Children are welcome to give Santa letters or wish lists for presents and photographs can be taken of Santa with children (bring your own camera!). A short reindeer ride (about 200m) with Santa and his Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer follows and afterwards hot drinks and traditional Christmas cakes will be available. Return to Levi on snowmobiles. The safari covers about 25km and lasts 2.5-3 hrs. The programme with Santa Claus lasts about 30 minutes.

The safari includes snowmobile hire, use of helmets, petrol, driving tuition, insurance (personal excess max. €600), hire of warm clothing, services of a professional English speaking guide, a reindeer ride, visit to Santa, hot drinks and Christmas cakes. Each snowmobile can be driven by two adults (driver and passenger), while children will be seated in sleighs that will be pulled by the adults' snowmobiles.

Please note, you must be at least 15 years of age and hold a driving licence to drive a snowmobile.

Space Weather - Aurora Infomation
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

OVATION Aurora Forecast (click on Europe Map for larger image)
OVATION Aurora

Aurora Now! Real Time Aurora Data
Auroras Now!

Alcohol prices in Alko stores (open in Chrome for auto-translate!)
isokaato.com - mit tnn juotaisiin?

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks to eveyone who visited this thread and commented, and to all the experts here at AFF who help me do this trip many years sooner, and for a lot less than if I had been going it alone. You guys are the best!

One last tip: we took a nice stuffed Koala and Kangaroo for the two women (Johanna and Anne) who did all our bookings at the Levi Tourist Centre - but also a bag of small Koalas and keyrings with Aussie motifs on them. The kids gave these out to tour guides or shop keepers that were kind and friendly to them (and more often than not, this then illicited reciprocal generosity by way of small gifts in return - but it was about thanking people, and went down really well)

And always remember: Don't forget to have fun!

[video=youtube;3HbDFn1DIZA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HbDFn1DIZA[/video]

 

[Major]

Fantastic TR...thank you for one of the most interesting TR's I have read and look forward to your NY experience

 

[Sprucegoose]

Re: I'm Dreaming of a White (-20C) Christmas: PER-SIN-HELx-RVN-HELx-PEKx-HKG-PER

http://img.izismile.com/img/img5/20120629/640/2012s_most_spine_tingling_photos_so_far_640_09.jpg

 

[Dino84]

Re: I'm Dreaming of a White (-20C) Christmas: PER-SIN-HELx-RVN-HELx-PEKx-HKG-PER

That was a fantastic read. I'd been thinking recently I'd have to try a visit to Lapland but your trip report has definitely put it on the bucket list for me.

Scott.