Nuuksio National Park- What an Adventure!

Finland is not called the Land of the 1000 Lakes for nothing.

Yes, there is water everywhere- suburbs, middle of the city, country side. And where there's water, there's a pretty picture that looks like its popped out of a postcard. If the city is charming with its ornate buildings and quaint trams, the countryside is simply spectacular.

We decided to make it to the famed Nuuksio National Park (www.outdoors.fi/nuuksio)
which is just about an hour away from Helsinki city. Our ideas about National Parks were man-made set-ups which were nice alright, but just wasn't all real. The Bukit Timah and Bukit Batok Nature Reserves were places we did frequent in Singapore but our heads always knew they were minutes away from a busy highway.

We'd gone to Nuuksio carrying a picnic but ended up walking a marked trail and covering over 6 solid kilometres. The kids were game for anything and soon equipped themselves and us with sturdy sticks for support. They became our trail leaders and led us up little hillocks, through gurgling streams and via some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. They climbed trees,collected pinecones, examined anthills, actively looked for the flying squirrels (apparently there's a lot of them, although we didn't spot a single one) and chatted non-stop all the way.

It sure was an exhilarating wilderness adventure. And they were such great sports. As expected, they want do another trail very soon not knowing that the Mommy is still feeling the after-effects of this one!