Day Seven: Tallinn to Luhtre Talu – 95km

556km down: 5,669km to go.

Set off with renewed energy following the rest day. The first 11k was in a convoy until we got out of town, after that we rode in a bunch until lunch and then spread out. The riding was pretty flat, with the usual forests and churches and small villages. We stopped at one amazing church which had been built on the site of another one that was built in 1300. The church was in Hagudi with a population of about 5,000 – the congregation was 3,000 to 3,500.

We arrived at the camp site at around 2:30pm and set up the tent, had a cold beer and sorted gear out. There is a riders meeting every day at 6 pm – apart from rest days – where we go over the next day’s ride then dinner.

After dinner I found the rider with the laptop and the computer savvy guy to get my iPad working – what a mission! Almost had success but then needed my credit card to complete the signing in to iTunes, without which the whole iPad will not work. I could not find my credit cards so I tossed my entire tent (found the umbrella I thought I had lost ) – just when I was convinced they had been lost or stolen I remembered I had put them in the small carry around bag I had bought in Tallinn. Then just had to convince the iTunes that although I had bought the iPad in Estonia I really could use a New Zealand credit card – finally was successful and I am up and running!

I couldn’t do much of an update the first night as it started to rain heavily and the Wifi coverage wasn’t working so well – I didn’t fancy getting out into the rain!

Day Six: Rest day in Tallinn

I woke up ready to go and buy an iPad as I had realized the lack of internet access is going to be an ongoing saga. I bought one at an Apple store and was assured by the young salesman that I would not have to do anything but switch it on – which of course was not the case as it turned out.

I then looked around for stuff I needed – still no luck on the snap lock bag front. I bought another umbrella as I appeared to have lost the one that I bought in  St Petersburg. I then did the sightseeing stuff – I did a double decker bus tour around the city and then went and looked at the Old Town, this is the original 1300 walled city which is now mostly a tourist destination. They get tourists from the cruise ships. I had a coffee in a  600 year building and looked at the shops. I wanted to get something with amber in it – this cycling trip was originally going to finish in Venice, which was why it was originally called the Amber Trail. Of course as always I had champagne taste but a beer budget, I saw some I really liked but after having bought an iPad I decided to settle for a pair that were 70 euro.

The Estonians are very friendly and all speak really good English. It was the Estonians who developed Skype and txt mobile phone parking. To be able to graduate from school you have to have computer literacy. I was surprised going through the country side at how run down a lot of the houses were, but still better than Russia. I was surprised to learn on the tour that serfdom was only stopped in Estonia in the early 19th century!

Daphne, Shirley, Walli and I went out to dinner at a restaurant that served modern Estonian food, it was called ÖÖ – it was amazing. I had Bruschetta with whipped goats cheese, pear and beetroot, and a seafood linguine – it was so good. When I got back to my bedroom I found of course that you can not simply buy and then use an iPad – you had to sync it to iTunes first and to do that you need either a PC or a laptop. Most people on the trip have an iPad, luckily one of the guys has a laptop so he can help me with it.

Day Five: Kasmu to Tallinn – 95km

461km down: 5,764km to go.

So off we set from Kasmu to Tallinn – 95k – with the lure of our first rest day and staying in a hotel at the end. Good riding day, not too hot, through forest, lots of interesting churches etc.

Interesting sign between Kasmu to Tallinn

Got to the lunch stop by about 11:30 then into Tallinn. Even with the orange flags and directions I still went the wrong way a couple of times but realized quite quickly. We went past a beautiful cemetery – it went on for miles, in a forest. Getting into town was a bit scary as there was traffic everywhere and as in most large cities the motorists were not as courteous. The “in” thing appears to be roller blading – there were a number of people racing along the foreshore.

I got to the hotel, luckily my room was ready so I went up with the intention of sorting some stuff out but I ended up having a nap for a couple of hours. I woke up and set off to the laundromat to get all the washing sorted, unfortunately there was also a line of people with the same idea so it took a while. Also it had started pouring – luckily it had held off while we were riding.

After finishing the washing I went and looked around the malls – it was great to be back in a place where there were friendly people and stuff to buy. I met up with Walli from Canada and Jenny and her Dad Rob from Australia for tea. We ended up having tea at the mall due to the relentless rain however it was surprisingly good. I had stuffed chicken breast and rice with a lemon sauce – it was really good. I checked out the supermarket on the snap lock bag hunt but still no luck.