An Oulu area trail through a birch forest and a closeup of reindeer moss.
June 4, 2001
An Oulu area trail through a birch forest and a closeup of reindeer
moss.
June 5, 2001
Our intrepid group hiking on the boards, despite a light rain, in the Martimoaavan
Mire preserve near the Sinojoki River, north of Oulu, and a butterfly that
was seen along the path leading through the wooded area adjacent to the
mire- possibly anthocharis cardamines (orange-tip).
June 6, 2001
This windmill is at the Open Air Museum on Turkansaari Island in the Oulu
river (joki). The windmill is of the "pedestal" type. The body
of the mill is supported by a pyramid formed by four stout struts and the
whole mill revolves around a central vertical pillar. The mill can be turned
into the wind by means of a tail beam. The upper part of the structure contains
the cogwheels and the millstones.
We learned about how tar was made from pine logs. The logs were dried, piled in a pit until the stack was high above the ground. The pile was covered with sod, leaving a small uncovered area near the ground that limited the air to the pile and with a small vent hole at the top. The pile was ignited, and the heat vaporized the hydocarbons in the wood. The heavier hydocarbons condensed and settled to the bottom where they drained through a pipe to a lower collecting point. The resulting tar was put in barrels and transported down the Oulu river to be sold and used in waterproofing the interiors of wooden ships. Oulu was the leading tar exporting port in the world in the 19th century.