I am now admitted to a select group of sauna brothers in Golden Bay. Observing “Estonian rules” in evening twilight – no clothes, towels outside - we line up on a high redwood bench in weak candlelight gazing down at hot stones, while Greg ladles water from a bucket to a fierce hiss and a wave of heat. The body seems to shrink as the soul expands; the four of us chat freely.
Inspired by our suitsusaun experience in southern Estonia last year, Greg built his own smoke sauna on return to New Zealand. He cut a hole for a door in the side of an old concrete water tank, which regenerating forest was threatening to obliviate, cleaned it out, built a fire box, and covered that in diorite stones collected from the Takaka river (pictured below).
We spent the Sunday afternoon burning through three rounds of firewood to heat the stones. A layer of blue smoke quickly formed under the ceiling, and escaped slowly through a small circular hole in the roof. After a couple of hours the fire burned clean and the smoke disappeared. The final preparation was to scrape out the remaining embers as the evening progressed, to stop all further combustion and emission of carbon dioxide and monoxide, and to then secure the roof to trap in the heat.
An age-old technology, the southern Estonian suitsusaun tradition is inscribed as World Heritage, and stands out from any sauna one would normally find in New Zealand. Our companions treasure it as much as we do.
A smoke sauna experience consists of at least three elements to my mind: the heat of the sauna in a dark chamber, walking outside and hosing ourselves down in freezing cold water while gazing at the stars – repeat steps 1 and 2 at least twice – and then to wash, dry, dress and to enjoy a couple of rounds of beer, dinner, and relaxed conversation. Sauna is a shared experience, a communal experience.
We talk until I can hardly keep my eyes open, after a weekend of felling trees, sawing and splitting firewood, a walk to a sacred spring, repotting plants, and clearing scrub to free orchard trees – a truly Estonian weekend.
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