December 16th, Levi, Finland
An early flight from Birmingham saw us landing at the tiny Kittilä Airport, northern Finland, in the pitch black. It had only just gone 3pm.
With snow suits and boots collected we boarded the "Candy Cane" bus, to meet our guides Merry Meg and Sparkle Sally. That bus made the quick trip to the Hotel Sirkantähti, in the small Finnish town of Levi, our home for the next three days.
Having found our room, listened to the guides confirming the itinerary for the next few days and eaten some local Finnish delicacies (Salmon and almonds seemed a big favourite) we grabbed a handily provided sledge and headed off into Levi to play in the snow.
Levi is a tiny place nestled at the bottom of a small mountain which has at least four ski slopes running down it.
The guides said the ski slopes were actually Santa's runway lit up by fairy dust.
Whatever they were they did generate some pretty impressive sledging speeds, especially for those brave enough to go higher up the slope than us.
With the temperature dropping fast and a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, we headed back to the warmth of the hotel.