JWOC 2017 Finland - Day 3

The morning started at 8 o'clock in complete daylight. We have yet to see any darkness on our trip. We took a 45 minute drive to the training for the day - it was a middle relevant area that once again was on the edge of the embargo. Within the first 5 minutes of the day we had already driven on the wrong side of the road and had missed one of the turnoffs (We blame google maps).

Once we had arrived at the parking for the training map (1km from the start) we were viciously attacked by a swarm of blood thirsty mosquitoes that were set on dining on our South African blood. We got ready at speeds that surprised all of us and started the jog to the start in the hopes that the mosquitoes would not be able to chase us. Luckily, they seem to be rather unevolved in that they were a lot slower than their South African counterparts.

On our way to the start we decided to hide our jackets at the finish because damn it is cold here. We then made the final trek to the start and began the first session of the day. Coach Sarah had planned a map walk to get into the map which we all did together. It seemed to be quite slow going as the map was so detailed in some places that it almost seems impossible to be able to read it at pace. We also used Carl as a guinea pig to go check if the marches were runnable - turns out they generally are, water channels however, are not. By the end of the walk we had all seemed to be able to get the general idea of the map to avoid getting too lost so we began the next session. It was a control picking course with some longer legs towards the end. We all had at least one major mistake but all managed to find the controls. Some general notes about the map: boulders are really helpful and visible, cliffs are CLIFFS - small cliffs are not even mapped and contour detail is not really that visible especially in the greener stuff.

Once we had finished the course, we hurried back to the car to try and keep the mosquitoes at bay and to get our wet shoes and socks off. Once again we decided to find a lake to sit next to for lunch as we were treated to such amazing views yesterday. We found a little pier and settled down for our peanut butter and ham and cheese sandwiches. The pier had small gaps between it's planks which we all consciously warned each other to be careful of because small things such as phones could easily slip through. Next thing we know there was a faint splash and there was a moment of complete panic in which everyone checked their pockets for their phones. It turned out to be the knife we had borrowed from the reception. Does Sarah really need her passport...

With a storm brewing in the distance and the wind picking up, we decided it was time to head back to the accommodation. The afternoon was pretty chilled: Christie and Carl played cards while Sarah planned tomorrows session. We then decide that we were going to have another stretch/yoga session on the pier as yesterdays one was so nice. We got as far as the lake before realising that the wind was just too cold for us South Africans before we headed back to our hut to do the session on the tiny porch.

Supper was the same affair as yesterday with the small pot and pan, but being the master chefs we are we decided to experiment and make Chicken ala pasta (Actually we just decided that we had brought enough pasta from home and didn't want to buy extra rice).

Until tomorrow...