Ostrobothnia day 1

As all our plans to travel abroad during the schools' autumn holiday week have been cancelled due to the pandemic, we decided to visit our friends and see some sights in Ostrobothnia region instead (actually two regions: Ostrobothnia, the coastal, mainly Swedish-speaking area, and South Ostrobothnia, the Finnish-speaking inland area). Our original plan included a visit to the town of Vaasa and the old town there, but as there was a big outbreak two weeks ago, we decided to stay in the countryside.

In the main blip is a view from Loukajanvuori observation tower in Kurikka. The fields in these areas are very flat, while the forests are very rocky. The tower is 19 metres high and on top of a hill about 50 metres above the fields. It's a relatively narrow steel structure with two levels. The stairs to the lower level were good, but the narrow spiral staircase to the upper level was quite a terrifying experience.

Next we stopped at the centre of Kurikka to see the new statue of skier Juha Mieto. We didn't have an exact address, so there was some more walking than expected. I have seen him live many times and I must say that he's more impressive in real life than as a statue.

We stayed at my brother's godmother's house in Laihia, where we had lunch before a visit to the Kvarken archipelago with her son as our guide. There we drove straight to the harbour of Svedjehamn. A view of the harbour from the observation tower there in the extra #1. A much more comfortable wooden tower, although about the same height.

On the way back from there we stopped by the Replot Bridge, the longest bridge in Finland (extra #2). An impressive structure.

Our last stop before returning to Laihia was at Söderfjärden polder (click the link, zoom out and change satellite view!). An interesting place geologically, as it's an impact crater filled with about 300 metres of sandstone, with the surface very near sea level. It was drained with a pump station in 1920's, so it's now a large roundish field with about six kilometres diameter. Unfortunately a colourful sunrise was over before we reached the information point at the centre of the area, but in the extra #3 a view at the opposite direction.