Sitting cross-legged at the end of a wooden jetty, I'm floating on a vast, watery mirror, marvelling at the reflection of motionless clouds hanging in a cornflower blue sky.

In a few months time this lake will be frozen and the landscape wrapped with snow – the more recognisable face of Lapland. But right now, it's summer and baking hot. So I find myself wearing shorts and a T-shirt just 300km south of the Arctic Circle.

At night the sun skims the horizon and never properly sets, stealing the dark stage where the Northern Lights will perform much later in the year and attract thousands of tourists to the region.

At a latitude of 64 degrees north, Skelleftea is a sleepy town in southern Swedish Lapland, not far from the Baltic Sea, characterised by clapboard houses in a palette of pastel hues.

And thanks to a new direct three-hour flight from the UK with Ryanair, it's set to become the gateway to an area popular with adventure seekers and outdoor enthusiasts.

"Whatever season you come here, it's beautiful," says Thorbjorn, a sprightly, philosophical nature lover who runs the Svansele Wilderness Centre, an hour's drive from Skelleftea.

He owns nine overnight camps in Swedish Lapland, ranging from comfortable en-suite apartments to traditional lavvo tents lined with reindeer skins and offers activities for both summer and winter months.

We eat with forks and plates handmade by Thorbjorn, using wood from a local saw mill.

"I get through about 45,000 of these a year," he says, laughing.

"There's no need for washing up – we just throw them straight on the fire afterwards!"

In between mouthfuls of food, I trial a few of the on-site amusements. I attempt to lasso reindeer antlers with a long piece of cable, then throw an axe at a tree stump embedded in the wall.

Thorbjorn's appetite for adventure is insatiable and even his name has the comic book hero translation of 'Thunder Bear'.

Give Thorbjorn 24 hours' notice and he boldly claims he can find a moose in the surrounding woodland – or he'll refund the cost of your plane ticket home.

I appreciate his passion for the wilderness as I ride a quad bike through the boreal forest, thick with bristly birch and pine trees tickling the sky.

Unfortunately, though, my zest for adventure turns sour when I hit a stump and career off-road into a tree, sending pine needles cascading from the sky like confetti and destroying the quad's bumper beyond recognition.

I bravely get back in the saddle but no less than five minutes later, while attempting to negotiate a ditch, I mistakenly slam the accelerator, rearing my mechanical stallion up onto its haunches and skidding across the road.

Before leaving, we visit another jewel in Thorbjorn's crown – a taxidermy exhibition featuring 680 stuffed creatures, lovingly displayed in their natural surroundings. Most of the menagerie are road kill, knocked over by cars… or possibly quad bikes being driven by reckless tourists.

Matti and Stina, who run Lapland Canoe Central in Jokkmokk, just north of the Arctic Circle, tell me they've seen brown bears fleetingly from the car. When we go for a paddle I'm quite relieved we don't encounter any angry mammals on the small island where we stop for a rest, tea and cinnamon buns.

Gliding slowly through the water is one of the best ways to appreciate this pristine landscape, and with every dip of my paddle, I feel a little further from reality.

Respect for the natural world is vital for survival in this environment, something the indigenous Sami people know only too well. Once nomads who would roam the high latitudes, they have since adapted to more modern lifestyles, but their knowledge and love of nature remains undiluted.

Reindeer herder Lotta Svensson still visits a seite (sacred place) 2km from the Batsuoj Sami camp which she set up with her husband Tom to educate people about the Sami way of life.

Lotta tells me about the history of the Sami; how their belief system, shamanic drums and eventually even their own language were banned by the Swedish church.

"But it's never too late to relearn," she says with confidence. "It just takes a little longer."

And if the place of worship is this beautiful, it's certainly worth the effort.

IF YOU GO:

For more information on activities, visit Svansele Wilderness Centre (www.svansele.se) and Lapland Canoe Central (www.jokkmokkguiderna.com).

For information on an overnight stay at Batsuoj Sami Centre visit www.batsuoj.se/eng