So a little over 8 weeks ago I started planning a little getaway as a surprise for Dave’s 60th. Having managed to keep most of it a total secret, I did have to tell Dave to go and buy a pair of snow boots yesterday (as I had sold his previous pair in my big Vinted clear out!). With Dave at Arsenal last night, I finished all the packing with him knowing little else.

Our lovely friend Suzanne picked us up at 5.30 and dropped us at Shenfield to get the Lizzie line to Heathrow.

Check in was a breeze and with no queues at security we were only held up by a game that I had packed being selected for a drugs test, we were soon tucking in to a fry up to start the day.

With Dave now knowing we were flying to Finland, I finally filled him in on the plans for the next 5 days.

The first flight was pretty uneventful, apart from leaving about 50 minutes late, so I was a little worried about our connecting flight.  Luckily the plane was pretty hitech and as well as watching a movie and having live cameras outside to see your flight, we could see the connecting flights which was marked it would wait for our flight. 

With no spare time at all once landed we headed straight to the new gate, having been rushed through passport control and we left 40 mins behind schedule.  Although still Finnair, this plane gave vibes of a budget aircraft!

We finally landed at Ivalo airport at 6.40 to snow on the ground and the temperature just under freezing. With no passport control we had a little wait for our luggage and then were on the coach for our 40min transfer to the Muotka Wilderness Hotel. 

On check in, we were presented with our itinerary for our stay and told where to find our cabin.  It was only a short walk from reception so we went to investigate and was very pleased with the very cute log cabin complete with log burner and private sauna.  

After dumping the suitcases we headed back to reception where the restaurant was and had a lovely dinner before turning in for an early night.