Tuesday 13th July

Today we got up early so we could visit Mika, the 2010 Finnish Schoolovision partner and his family, who live near to Joensuu, to the north east of us here. We left at 8.45am for the 100 mile journey and by 9.00am it was already 26C! By the time we got to Mika's place, in Lehmo, it was 11.00 and feeling very hot. Mika and his wife Virpi took us further north still, to Koli National Park, the farthest north any of the Purves family have been!

Looking out at Lake Pielinen, Koli National Park.

At Koli, we had lunch together before exploring the Park and taking some lovely photos of the beautiful views- Lake Pielinen is Finland's 6th largest lake and it stood out in the background of the photos. We also took a ride on the chairlift, which Sandy and Olivia enjoyed very much.
Taking photos and videos of the amazing views at Koli National Park.
Olivia takes it all in...
With Mika and his family, with Lake Pielinen in the background.

With Mika, co-ordinator of The Eno Programme, a world-wide tree planting project, involving thousands of schools.

Sandy and Olivia at the summit of Koli.

On the chairlift!
As it was a near three hour return journey, we set off for home at around 4.30pm, having had a lovely time with the Vanhanen family. On the return journey the thermometer sat at around 33C for the whole way!

When we got home, we all jumped in our lake and spent an hour in the warm waters. Great refreshment after the long journey!