Estonia

We reluctantly started to make our way south. Both of us really like Finland and resolved we should try and come back to spend a bit more time here. The mosquitos are a bit of a pest so our plan would be to arrive in the north at the end of summer. Once the temperature drops the mosquitos go away. Then we would stay until it gets too cold. Hopefully catch some more aurora. We saw the Northern Lights in Finland just once this trip, the day Cent had his operation. Another motorhome had arrived late on and they came banging on the door about 11pm to tell us the aurora was out. It was faint in the late twilight sky but still quite visible and exciting to experience.

Meanwhile, plodding south, there were still many forests and lakes to explore. They are a complete delight and we spent many contented hours wandering small tracks and lakesides. Gave me chance for a bit more swimming as well.

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Also, many mushrooms still to collect. Our identification skills are slowly improving. It can sometimes be difficult to be certain about a mushroom from the picture and description in a book. We have taken to occasionally accosting other foragers to see what they are collecting. They are usually quite obliging and even a bit proud of their collections. Once you have positively identified a particular species it tends to get a lot easier to spot them again. On this trip we have extended our knowledge of edibles by at least eight more fungi. One high light was discovering Matsutake mushrooms. These are highly prized in Japan and can fetch a significant price but have only fairly recently been recognized in Finland. We only found a modest handful but they made a tasty snack fried up in butter with a bit of garlic.

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Arriving at Helsinki in the afternoon, we found a quite parking spot well outside the main part of the city. Our ferry to Tallinn sailed the following morning so we got the motorbike out and had a run into town. This gave us a bit of a look around the main parts of the city and was also a useful reconnaissance of the route to the ferry terminal. To be honest, neither of us are great lovers of cities and a brief tour by bike was fine. Helsinki seems like a very nice place but was very quiet. Most of the bars and restaurants are still closed. The harbour area especially, was clean and colourful with many small boats, sailing yachts and immense power boats.

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Next day we boarded a half-empty ferry and three hours later arrived in Estonia. Getting out of the harbour area proved tricky because of the narrow streets and weight restrictions. We were happy when we had not only escaped the confines of Tallinn but also avoided any damage or fines. So we headed for the country and by the evening were back in a forest. Our natural environment.

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