end of åre and Kiruna the awesomeland

HOWDIE!(have to find interesting ways to open)
So since last post much has happened. We didnt snowboard the last day cause we were so good so it was just embarrassing showing everyone else on the mountain how to do it. so we cleaned up our appartment and ate all the left overs that we hadnt eaten (nice mix we call it eggy-cheesy-beer-moose) Then with full stomachs we went ice skating on the lake in åre. got some cross country skates which was a bit different as the heel actually lifts. Lachy got the hang of it pretty quick but hedda had a bit of trouble(as she does with most things). she finally learnt how to get anywhere by just basically walking. So after much screaming and tired legs we left and went back to the room and had spagbol. after dinner we jumped on the train for the long ride up to kiruna. Had to get off at 10ish in bräcke which was yet another shithole. nothing open and the petrol stations were too far away for my lazy legs to walk there. So got on the next train and tried to get some sleep. Here is a tip to connex peopel if they happen to read this. GET RID OF THE STUPID SEAT SEPERATOR. We had two seats each to spread out over but the stupid thing poked you in the ribs so that you couldnt sleep. and the heater is set WAY TO HIGH. lachy woke up and thought he was on fire and his arm skin had melted. Luckily he was fine no third degree burn but dangerous still. Ok now more crazy people. First some people our age decided to occupy the seats opposite us. They were trying to get drunk which was great for them but they didnt need to wake me up to ask me for grog. and then they started playing swedish reggae which was weird. But they got kicked off the train which was cool. Then in morning this guy and his kid sat down opposite me. WORST BEHAVED KID EVER. He hit his dad with a glass bottle like really hard and 6 or 7 times before his dad just told him camly ''nej Marcus nej'' and he kept pretending it was a gun and he'd shoot me and then kick because i didnt play dead. And i could hardly understand a word the dad said cause he had a tromsö accent. so got to kiruna and stepped into -10 degree weather. didnt seem to bother lachy or hedda that much which was good. Nice town kiruna. Got to our hostel and found out the reception didnt open till 1400. so went and had some lunch and looked in some shops. Then checked in nice room with three beds, pretty cheap. Place was called yellowhouse, guy wasnt too nice but it might have been cause he was speaking english. Anyway got a couple hours sleep to catch up from the train ride. then at 1800 we were up and standing outside waiting for some people to pick us up for dogsledding. A shabby looking minibus drove up with two people inside. after some brief english words ''dogsledding, only three?'' we got in trusting they wouldnt kill us. They drove us to their home a 15 or so min away. Got shown into a room where we put on overalls and boots and furry hats and gloves. Then got shown to the kennels where the dogs were waiting eagerly. We helped take the dogs to the sled and get them attatched. I had to keep one of the leader dogs Kira from turning around and getting tangled. And lachy had to stop booster from biting his harness and barking at the dog infront called erik. After a while we took our places on the sled and we took off. It was awesome. Very cold so fingers and toes froze but so much fun being pulled that fast by dogs and it was down a squiggly track that was part downhill and had bumps so it felt like we were going 120km/h though it was probably more like 35km/h. Was a bit sad that we could take any video of it because it was so dark. We saw some reindeer.. well we saw the reflections from their eyes. Then we saw some northern lights, wasnt as clear as it is in some photos but it was visible like a bright greenish cloudy type thing. eventually we made it to the kåta which is like a sami version of the native american teepee. Crowded around the open fire and had some tea and chocolate cake. Talked with the musher and his wife lindsay who drove a snowscooter. Found out they were belgian and thats why they didnt speak swedish. They looked shocked when i told them i had a siberian husky in australia. Oh they didnt have siberian huskies, they had alaskan huskies that dont really look like siberians at all. more like shorthaired sheepdog but looking slightly more arctic. then we headed back to their house. Saw more of the northen lights. When we got back we helped put the dogs back in their kennels. Hedda in taking the dogs to their kennels her gloves came off and two dogs ran off with one each. So tried to find them, one was returned the other was swallowed. Then we went and saw the puppies. they had two puppies. Very cute. They were 8 weeks and when you barked at them they would bark back. after a good half hour atleast we went back inside and got changed back into our clothes and got driven home. AWESOME EXPERIENCE, if you can do at some point in your lifetime.
Went to sleep when we got home.

Next day we had to go venturing for breakfast which is hard cause nothing opens till 12. Then got a taxi to jukkasjärvi approx 20min drive. Icehotel is awesome, Again an experience to fit in at some point in your lives. The whole building is made entirely of ice and snice(mixture of man made snow and ice)taken from the lake nearby. Artist from around the world are invited to come and design a room. Then come april it all melts away and the water returns to the lake to be used the next winter in the same way. So we had a guided tour of the hotel and the church. Hard to say much without pictures. anyway it was awesome. Then we stepped into the icebar and had some drinks. I had a absolut jukkasjärvi with absolut vodka and blueberry liquere , elderberry and lingonberry juice and blue curacao. SO GOOD. Drinks were served in glasses made of ice which was awesome so i got a replica thats made of glass to show you when we get back. It was -25 outside but slightly warmer even inside the icehotel. Then we went back home. We got in our sauna gear and had a sauna this time properly. Well no pine tree branches but we saunad and then me and lachy jumped into big heaps of snow outside. As we alternated the hot and cold asian tourists looked in confusion out of their dining room windows at the crazy white boys. When that was done we went to sleep. Next day we got up and went to the tourist office to find out what we could do, pereerably with samis. Oh by the way the samis are the aboriginal people of northern sweden. they are nomadic like many aboriginal races and live with and off their herd of reindeer. Found out there was a museum so we went to that. VERY small museum like 2 rooms of some ladies house pretty much. But interesting reading about their struggle cause people are wrecking their reindeer grazing lands. Left that and saw some awesome clouds as the northern light reflect and are projected onto the clouds so they were like glittery rainbow clouds..very cool. Then we went to kiruna church which was very beautiful. Massive church made mid 1700 i think made entirely of dark oak and iron. and there was miniature which was ridiculously accurate. MADE ME FEEL LIKE A GOD. left there and went back to our hotel to get our bags and then got on the train to go home departing 1845. nothing much happend on the way back here. Got back to södertälje yesterday at like 1o clock. Went out shopping for food and got a christmas tree cause hedda was like crying cause she so desperately wanted one. shes like a 5 year old i swear. then we made dinner. We had Deer(Hjort) and Moose(älg) roast with herb sauce and potatoes. Very nice lachy and hedda really liked it. Then we had icecream vanilla and chocolate chip with frozen raspberries and blueberries. Lachy and hedda went to bed after that and i stayed up with gramps till like 0130 then had a cough attack and eventually vomited. Then it got better and got to sleep at 0230.
so now we are up to today. felt much better. Had bfast and left to go to ikea. Hedda desperately wanted to see the first and biggest ikea in the world so walked around that WHICH WAS GREAT FUN.... NOT. i havnt done a not joke in years wow they still work. didnt buy anything what with it being a furniture store that exists in every country of the world. then we went to heron city again which is the entertainment complex. and got a massive bag of lollies 1.9kg and some music cds. and we had maccas something called Big and tasty tell us if its out in aus yet. Then we saw a dejavu with denzel washington and val kilmer and the big strong guy from d2 the mighty ducks but now hes old. Good movie! dont let the plot brief of some guy going back in time to stop a crime let it stop you from going. it was very smart and as always denzel is awesome. then we came home. Ok good night got to get up early tomorrow.