Estonia

After 40 hours of flights and waiting and sleeping in airports from Kunming to Beijing to Frankfurt to Tallinn we had made it to Estonia by 1am or 11pm Frankfurt time or 6am China time or 10am NZ time. Whatever the time was we were ready for a bed and some much needed shut eye but first we had to queue for a taxi with everyone else from our plane, rush hour!

The first few days back in the western world felt a little strange as we could finally understand everything happening around us although we were still a little confused with the language barrier. Bread was very quickly acquired along with cheese, peanut butter, salad and meat. Even though baozi and endless exotic fruits were missed it was nice to be tasting european food again.

Piecing our bikes back together we discovered Kate's rear pannier rack had sustained an injury (a welded joint had cracked). It was not a big drama and still held together ok but our luck with previous panniers was not great so we added it to our shopping list. Our shopping didn't turn out completely successful and zip ties ended up being our answer. Not all was bad though as Kate scored herself the ideal secondhand riding shirt (long sleeved, not too heavy that it gets too hot, not too light that you end up sunburnt and of course a fashionable baby blue colour), new shorts, riding gloves and we replaced a couple of leaking drink bottles.

With chores completed we enjoyed the remaining 15 hours of summer sunshine taking in the sights of Old Town Tallinn. We managed 3 hours of sightseeing then we were keen for dinner and bedtime! Dinner was easy but trying to sleep in broad daylight at 10pm is a challenge so duvet covers were hung over the blinds to darken the room. Sunset is around 10pm, last light doesn't really exist and sunrise is around 4am. We had not anticipated such outrageous daylight hours. However after applying our geograhpical knowledge it did makes sense since we were so far north.

Our solution to the backtracking over the cobbled streets of the oldtown

We had no plan of where we were going to cycle but Kate had found loads of information on RMK (Estonian nature and conservation organisation) campsites all over the place. At 6 hours past sunrise we were on our bikes and leaving Tallinn. Hopping between footpath, cycle route and road (not really too sure what the etiquette was for where cyclists were meant to be) it took a bit of navigating to find our route out of town. It was a long day but in heading along the coast it made a pleasant sight to see the ocean after 3 months. Upon finding our RMK campsite around 7pm in full sunlight, we found it was free of charge and had clean and well looked after facilities (including enclosed fire pits with rotating cooking rack) - the only drawback being you need to source your own water. Although daylight never seemed to cease we climbed into our tent and attempted to sleep - Kate wearing a bra over her eyes as an eye mask, something she has done every night since. We woke up to our surprise at 8am the next day and well rested.

Leaving Tallinn

10pm at the beach with the sunshine beaming

From our sea side camp we set off south towards Saaremaa Island with a stop off overnight camped nestled between two boat sheds on the bank of a river (and Calvin's worst mosquito experience ever).

Boat sheds camp - not sure if we were really allowed there, but the two fisherman on their boats didn't say a word about it

We took a quick 30 minute ferry ride over the strait and arrived on Mohu Island. From this island you can cycle 25km and then cross a man made causeway over to the bigger Saaremaa Island. Saaremaa island was a calm sanctuary for us. We rode along the coast and camped both beside the ocean and beside a small lake. As long as we weren't on a road that led to the main city then it was quiet riding with very little traffic. We were even in such a calm zone that we ventured to use the fancy log splitter beside the woodpile which left Calvin battling for 10 minutes to get a piece of wood unstuck, and we tried our hand at cooking pork belly over the campfire (delicious!).

Crossing on the very fast ferry

"Finally, toast!"

Making kindling

A feast of pork belly and grilled veges

But all good things must end and we ended up leaving the island on the first day of the summer festival holiday. We were lucky to be heading southeast as the masses of holiday makers flocked to the island for the long weekend. As we rode across the countryside that weekend we saw many a smouldering bonfire from the celebrations and encountered one especially drunk man at the supermarket who informed us, "I ride motorcycle! But my bike is with police. I am an anarchist. Are you with Swedebank? You like sauna [pronounced sonar]".

The next three days were spent taking many dirt and gravel back roads to the southern border with Latvia. We camped at old castle sites (Soontagana) from 1200AD, sites of ancient villages (Lohavere) and on the shores of a lake (Soontaga) always surrounded by the forest.

Searching for moose

Hoping like hell that our campsite would be at the end of this track

We have been treated to seeing many weird and wonderful things in Estonia; foxes darting across the road ahead of us, storks (not carrying babies though, to our surprise) and their insanely huge nests, bright blue beetles, green spiders that hide very well in the grass and many small snakes, mainly dead on the road with the exception of one hanging out of a storks mouth. We were incredibly surprised at the vast regions of forest and a huge number of neglected farm buildings which we assume are relics of the Soviet times.

Storks nest - often on olfactory power poles, or abandoned chimneys

Estonian roads are incredibly flat, but they offer a nice shoulder on the sealed roads, and are mostly compacted dirt roads that make for fast riding. The flat roads were a nice change and a relief to start with, but we eventually got a little bored of riding along flat roads through the never changing forests.

Once again in the south we found ourselves heading in to the wind, and the day we crossed over the border we found ourselves both battling strong headwinds and heavy rain into the unknown land of Latvia.