This morning we got up early to enjoy the scenery and to spend some time with the dogs before breakfast. They say nothing goes together better than a boy and a dog. Well Ryan certainly showed this. After the first day of dog sledding he had commented that his favourite dog on his team was a shy dog which didn't bark or howl a lot. We would later find out that her name is Hannelore - she is also Jan's favourite dog. To say Ryan fell in love with her would be the understatement of the decade. He spent every moment with her and had to be prised away to get him to come to breakfast. Each time we turned around and couldn't find Ryan we knew exactly where to look. He was very upset he couldn't take her home. Connor also loved spending time with the dogs.
We also took some time to have photos with our lead dogs and for the boys to have a chance to try out standing on the sled runners. Connor is especially keen to have a go at mushing when he is old enough.
After breakfast it was time to get back into our snow suits and prepare to leave. Connor and Ryan had been a little cold yesterday so we also made sure we added extra layers of clothes and an extra balaclava for each of them - it also helped that we showed Ryan how to wear a balaclava so it would protect his face and keep him warm.
It was soon time to load up our sled's and to harness the dogs. The howling began as the dogs were eager with anticipation. David and Ed helped Jan to harness each of the dogs and to attach them to their correct sleds. There is quite an art in putting together a team of dogs that will work well together so it was important that they recreated the same team's as yesterday.
Once all of the teams were ready it was time to get moving. Just as they had yesterday the dogs went silent and then took off like rockets. There was no holding them back. Coming out of camp David even got some air time!!! This time it was poor Ed who got thrown from his sled and his dogs took off without him and unfortunately their lines become tangled in Pia's. It seems that if you can hold on for the first few crazy moments it's all a piece of cake from there. The return journey to the kennels was wonderful again albeit the time seemed to pass far too quickly.
Back at the kennels Jan took us to see the new one month old puppies. This only added further to our problems as Ryan wanted to take all of them home. They were beautiful.
Finally it was time to go back to say goodbye to Jan and our dogs and to get taken back to the Ice Hotel. we were all very sorry to see this amazing adventure come to an end.
We checked back into the Ice Hotel into warm accommodation. This time we got Nordic Chalet #25. This was a dream come true for the boys because it was right next to a giant snow mound. Needless to say where they spent most of their time - making snow balls, a slide, a snow penguin and of course avalanches. After collecting our luggage we went and filled up on yet another fantastic buffet lunch. There was time for a brief rest (or if you were under 12 more snow play) before we needed to meet for our next adventure. Learning about reindeers and Sami culture.
Our guide met us at the Ice Hotel (with her husky…you know where this is going don't you???) and transported us and the others on the tour in a sled pulled behind a snow mobile. As there was a relatively large group one passenger even had to drive second snow mobile pulling a sled. This was another new and fun experience - although it was absolutely freezing especially when the snow flies up and hits you in the face.
We arrived at the Sami camp and were immediately led into a paddock of smaller reindeer. They were very timid and hard to get close enough to touch. We then moved on to another paddock with much bigger reindeers. The biggest and oldest was 40 years old. Our guide explained and demonstrated how to lasso a reindeer before she volunteered myself and an English woman to be the first to have a go at it. Needless to say I didn't find it as easy as it looked - I missed. Connor stepped up and went next and having the great hand eye coordination and sight that he does, he of course got it first try. David and Ryan also had a a go with much more success than me. It was a lot of fun.
After trying our hand at lassoing next it was time to try driving a reindeer sled. David went off with Connor. Initially their speed was pretty good but the further they travelled the slower their reindeer became. I went solo and my reindeer took off fast but also slowed dramatically - I had the same one as David and Connor. Coming into the home turn he didn't want to go back into the paddock though and tried to take off. David then took Ryan out on a new reindeer. They took off the fastest of all but in the home turn their reindeer went from smoking' it to dead still and David had real trouble getting him started again. They did eventually make it across the finish line with a flurry - again not wanting to go back into the paddock.
Next we went into a Lavo (tipee) and heard some information about traditional Sami culture while having a reindeer meat sandwich and warm lingonberry juice, tea and coffee. The boys both gravitated to the husky who obviously liked them too laying with her head on Ryan's leg. After this it was time to feed the reindeers which both the boys jumped at.
Finally we hopped back on board the sled for a trip to the Sami Museum. As Ryan jumped in his new friend the husky jumped in and insisted on sitting in his lap in the middle of all the people. You can imagine how happy one little 8 year old boy was!!!! The Sami Museum brought the days adventures to a close before we, accompanied by Ryan's husky friend, were taken back to the hotel by sled. For dinner we went to the Old Homestead Restaurant. This is about a 1km walk from the hotel but it was well worth it. This beautiful 200+ year old converted wooden school house was just our style - old, rustic, just what we had imagined. So much so we have cancelled our reservation for the Ice Hotel restaurant tomorrow night and decided to have our wedding vow renewal celebratory dinner here too. Another exhausting but phenomenal day in Sweden.
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