Ancient vibes, Astuvansalmi..

Good morning from Hamina!

Yesterday we drove quite much to reach the east border of Finland. We decided also make one of my dreams come true. Astuvansalmi.

It is a sacred place where people left their markings thousands years ago. They are The most popular rock paintings in Finland. The place was not very easily to reach, especially with little kids. I mean there was lots of uphills and downhills. We kept little breaks along the journey and reached it finally. It is also possible to go there by boat, too, if have one 

Paintings were, as always, impressive. There were lots of moose themed paintings and some human shapes. Also the rock is really impressing, looking like human face if watching further. The best look for rock paintings is to pick up claudy days (it was not today ;D ) but some of them, for example a hand mark is easy to spot anytime.

So so beautiful 😊

After our long hike, we drove here, south. We ended up Finland
-Russia border Vaalimaa and decided to stay here in Hamina in camping area. Very beautiful beach here, Even though buildings are quite in bad shape. We took little old "shag" because kids were so tired and late evening for preparing tent. Today we're gonna spot some places here around and travel along the shores..

Leivonmäki national park

Good morning from the Leivonmäki woods! Our first tent night with kids went better than expected! Yeah, there was some little troubles ofcourse, but I can say I am a proud mom!

We arrived yesterday about 6 pm, so both kids were quite tired and angry already. It also took lots of time to fill up the sleeping bed with air. We have big one. Anyway it was very good  to sleep on that, especially when nursing..it also isolates coldness from the ground.

It also took time to get fire because moist woods, but we made it!

The night was quite intresting with many birds and animals noises. I recognized at least an owl and swans flapping their feet while running on water. And one of the most finnish nature sound: loons whistle! And ofcourse, snoring too! Both kids seemed to sleep well! We all had wool layers and wool socks while sleeping.

Early in this morning we visited Joutsniemi before leaving national park. And yup, it was worth it! Look at this views!

Many people can say we are crazy to bring whole family and especially little baby to situations like this, but last night proved that everything is possible!  Anyway this mini tent is quite small for four, so we have to buy bigger one  we almost got this one down!

Today we are heading to more east-south! Let's see what's there!

Welcome to follow our trips!

Tomorrow we are heading to our first camping night in the forest with both kids. It's first time for Hilla (six months old) to sleep outside the night. It should be quite warm weather already so we decide to try..
..We are on the road as long as we can. We are planning to stay over nights in national parks or camping areas in Finland.