748 My Karelian grandparents moved to Suurniemi in the early 1950s. At that time, the road to Suurniemi was narrow and difficult to pass in the spring, so the rest of the journey was carried by horse. There was no electricity on the farm, unlike in my grandfather's birthplace, which was behind the new border, in the rural municipality of Vyborg. By today's standards, the young couple and their children lived a true pioneer life! Because of the poor condition of the road, they went shopping and visiting on the opposite bank, in Karjalohja, where they rowed quickly in calm weather. The farm was used for farming and livestock farming, and in the winter, logs were felled from the forests, which were brought from the forest to the floating beach by horse. After the ice broke, the logs were floated along the lake to Lohja, to the Hiidensalmi sawmill.

 

The farms first rental cottage was finished around Midnight Summer in 1986 and its first visitors were a group of four from Japan. The group had rented the cottage via Lomarengas and traveled to the capital city, Helsinki all the way from Vladivostok! From Helsinki they continued their trip via taxi. In Suurniemi the group was welcomed by my grandfather who had no language skills whatsoever, however due to his Karelian nature the tourests were never a problem to him. For example, he taught them how to prepare a sauna via practical examples and body language.