Hanko-Finland August 2004

by Johannes Nevala

The pine forest is compact and nothing indicates that there is an ocean just a mile ahead. A forest road is leading me. It´s probably most used by holiday people heading for the beach or their summerhouses. Along the road the bilberry wires are filled with ripe berries. Just can't resist gathering and eating them at the same time. After a couple of minutes I see myself crawling deeper and deeper in to the forest. Behind every step there are new wires filled with very delicious blueberries, "must come back later to pick me and my family an evening dessert". I continue walking with a blue tongue and fingers colored like after a days painting session, only in blue. Not far from my blue spot the landscape rapidly changes in character. The forest land gives way to wetland, meter high reeds move slowly in the late summer breeze. It must be close now and I feel a certain tension to what's coming in a short moment. Finally it happens and it's like walking through a port in to a fairground. You can imaging all the fun while standing outside but if you don't pass the port you never will experience it in full scale, "from the deep forest to an open billowing sand landscape!" I climb up one of the sandheaps and the archipelago of Hanko opens to my eyes. Small islets break apart the horizontal line. Closer to the seashore several small banks of sand create perfect landing and take-off places for birds that reside here for a moment. The wind is weak, the sun has entered the arena but the beach is empty of people. The summer vacation is over, only me here and the birds. Swallows in the air, like small fighter planes they attack the air just a couple of metres over the sea. A much slower hunter comes in, a Caspian Tern. He also follows the shoreline with a couple of attacks into the water. When he has done one way he comes back and starts over again. On one of the small islets a White Wagtail trips along, jumps and makes flights to catch insects. On the sandbanks the Ringed Plovers catch my interest enough to make some sketches. The new landscape and its force and my own curiosity make my sketching session short so I start to walk. I reach a couple of hundred meters before my walk stops in front of a cliff that reaches at least 30 metres above the sea. The view from the top makes me just sit for a long time. A couple of Great Tits finally make me work again. The colours are intense with the reflecting sea as a palette that changes the colours in the leaves. A Sparrowhawk causes the Great Tits to vanish into the forest. I continue my exploration. After a couple of hours of walking in sand I decide to take a short cut through the water. I am surprised how shallow the water is. My steps take me further and further and soon I am more than 100 meters from the shoreline. I aim for one of the islets where I earlier watched the White Wagtail. The water is deeper and I hesitate. Maybe I should turn back? I am worried about my sketchbooks in the rucksack. But suddenly the water is shallower again and I manage to reach the islet. There I sit among old egg scales, fish skeletons and rock and wait for the sun to go down. More about Hanko: Hanko, the southern point of Finland, faces the sea on the south, the west and the north. The nature in Hanko is incredibly varied because of the temperate climate and the geographic location. The landscape is characterized by magnificent cliffs and unspoilt stretches of fine white sand, sheltered bays and beautiful meadows. The ecological diversity here is obvious when viewing the birds. The Cape of Hanko welcomes the first migrating birds from the south. Some species even try to stay here during mild winters. Migratory birds can often be seen on the beaches, among the reeds, or the rocks by the sea. Hanko has 130 km of coastline, of which 30 km are sandy beaches In the winter Hanko is a truly refreshing place for mind and body. After a short winter, spring is spectacular in Hanko. The ice-free sea and early migratory birds bring a loud message of the new summer season, while the rest of Finland is still hibernating. Read, see pictures about Hanko : www.hanko.fi