24 hours on the track

The last few days in Finland have been great. We arrived here on Sunday morning and my friend Reetta met us up in the train station and brought us to her parents house. They cant speak a word of English but are really nice. We explored the nearby area on bike and tried a real finish sauna; nice and relaxing. After dinner I also got a chance to try my tea making skills as I tried to teach her parents how to make green tea.

Yesterday we started the main adventure of the Finish part of the journey – riding Draisines (I decided to come here and do it when Reetta told me about the possibility six months ago). We got to the starting point in the afternoon, tied our gear to some rented draisines and set off along the rusty track, pumping our way through the low vegetation, accompanied by the sound of mechanical thunder. It is some how easier than biking, more fun than walking and above all, very special.
We made camp at a small shelter that we rented, made a fire, cooked food and spent the evening carving things from small pieces of wood. After a surprisingly good nights sleep on the floor of the wind shelter we made our breakfast than got back on our draisines to pump our way back to the city. We got back almost exactly 24 hours after setting out. All in all we covered 50 kilometers of track and saw all of 50 kilometers of forest.

Some photos from our draisine advventure

We got back in time for a late lunch (Reettas mom seems to be feeding us up considering how much she cooks for every meal) then went out again with one of Reettas many sisters, Erika, to see some of the coast. We climbed around on cliffs for a while then moved on to one of Finland’s longest sandy beaches and took a stroll among the sand dunes. We finished the day with a big and tasty dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Now we are all tired, so its time for bed.

A couple of pics from our visit to the beach