2019-05-16 61 28

Location

Taipalsaari, Vehkataipale, Kirvesniemi. The point lies on a small mossy hill in a animal paddock.

Participants

Pastori
The Wife

Plans

Pastori and Wife woke from their hibernation and set out towards the South-east in an attempt to conquer two new graticules.

Expedition

A very Finnish view over the lake in the spring.

Spring is at its best in Finland. All the snow and freezing temperatures of the winter are in the past. Flowers are singing and birds are blooming in the verdant beginnings of summer. They had booked a 3-day stay in a holiday village in the neighbouring graticule. Hopes were high. But it's already the last day of their stay and all the desired points are far beyond the coast in the Gulf of Finland. Of the graticules they came out to hunt for half are over the sea or over the border in Russia, that's not a good starting point. They can try again tomorrow morning but they won't know until the evening if the points will align.

Imatra's Valtionhotelli (an old Art Nouveau style hotel).

But Pastori and Wife didn't just stay in their cottage but used their time well and got to know the surrounding areas. They went to see Imatra's Valtionhotelli (an old Art Nouveau style hotel) and the Imatra Rapids. And today the point in their current graticule was worth an interesting sightseeing tour. They could easily include Lappeenranta, another bigger city nearby, on their tour. So, off they went...

Up to a small hill.

...24.7 km as the crow flies over the open waters of Lake Saimaa. But, their vechile of choice is the car so at 9:11 am they in the warm sunshine they started their journey on the highway and after driving for 46.7 km they were near the point, about 23 m away. Pastori lept joyfully into the dry forest without bothering to put on boots and made his way over a nearly collapsed fence and up to a small hill. After walking around a bit he managed to capture the point with an accuracy of 1.945 m. Another successful contact in this new year to the wonderful world of geohashing and they are still as excited as ever. Hopefully they will come across many more interesting and unconquered graticules over the summer.

On the way back they drove through some more beautiful lake views by Saimaa with it's islands and bridges. They found their way to the historical area in Lappeenranta near a citadel from the 1700s. There was also the restored Kehruuhuone from 1830 with its restaurant serving delicious coconut chicken and beef wok for lunch. Good food always makes you feel better. After that they made their way back to their cottage for a nice afternoon nap.

Happy geohashing to everyone!