On Wednesday, the staff of
Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory spent a recreational day in
Ahvenlampi, in Luosto. In Finnish, this is called
virkistyspäivä. Weather permitting, outdoor activities are particularly popular in all seasons for such occasions.
Luckily, this was a dry day with slightly positive temperatures, which was particularly well suited for a treasure hunt designed in the same spirit as geocaching during the morning. The staff members were divided into three teams and had to find hints hidden around the pond.
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The Virkistelijät team listening to the instructions before departure
Photo: M. Grandin |
On their way, they collected sausage sticks, blue wool thread and some metal wire, which they needed to use to "fish" one of the last hints.
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The Geotupeltajat team fishing
Photo: M. Grandin |
Team work was strongly required to collect the final box containing the indications to find the treasure, which consisted in
tikkupulla dough and The Password for lunch.
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The Ryhmärymy team reaching the final box
Photo: M. Grandin |
During the afternoon, the teams took part in a competition including several activities such as rubber boot throwing and a potato-in-a-spoon-in-the-mouth relay race.
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The spoon-and-potato relay race
Photo: M. Grandin |
After the competition, the participants all went to the laavu where they had coffee and made the tikkupullat ("stick buns", cooked above the fire). The final task consisted in a quiz about the observatory staff members, after which the points earned by each team were counted.
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In the laavu
Photo: T. Ulich |
This was a really pleasant and refreshing day, for which we warmly thank the best organiser ever, Iina Sirviö, who did a great job to make this event so memorable!
