Not much grows above the Arctic Circle but even so Northerners appreciate any chance they have to get away from the city and into the country. People like to go picnicking in nearby woods, but those who like fishing prefer to go farther afield to distant lakes and rivers. Others even go hunting. But above all, the favourite pursuit of the locals is that of berry and mushroom picking.

The dwarf arctic birch, a tree that creeps along the ground, the common birch, the spruce, the pine, the rowan, the aspen and the willow, all provide a typical backdrop for picnics around camp-fires, which are allowed provided the weather is not too hot and dry.

However, whatever the weather, fishermen go away for at least two or three days. Usually, they just fish with a fishing-rod, but fishing with a large net is also quite popular, although without a special licence they run the risk of incurring the wrath of government inspectors. In a successful fisherman's keepnet may well be found the rare silvery white fish as well as pike, perch and roach. Any type of fishing of the salmon family requires a special licence, too. In the woods and forests hares, squirrels, foxes and polar foxes, weasels, stoats and wolverenes may all fall prey to the hunter, who can on occasion also find his path crossed by brown bears, reindeer and elks. Sadly, tundra wolves here were hunted to extinction in the 1960s and 1970s. As far as waterfowl are concerned, swans and wild geese are protected by law all year round, but ducks, sandpipers and partridges have no such protection once the hunting season begins.