An Unspoilt Surfers Paradise - Without the Surf.

Day 79

It was touch and go this morning wondering whether we would make it to the petrol station or not?  For some unknown reason, Luke likes to ‘test’ how far he can go on one tank of fuel, whereas I would rather just fill up.  Today Luke was testing the limits but thankfully didn’t break them as we made it to the petrol station without starving Maxi of diesel.

We retraced our drive back to Tallinn to take a second look around the beautiful town.  We strolled around Old Town along the old cobble stone streets and admired the pastel coloured buildings.  It was market day in the old town square and we also had the pleasure of listening to an old school band while we browsed the stalls and enjoyed Tallinn’s infectious atmosphere. 

The opening act of the Tallinn folk scene.

The Grey Army getting ready for a big gig!

Moving on from the square, we headed to St Olafs Church Tower, as it was claimed to have the best view over Tallinn and its surrounds. Not being daunted by the 124m high structure, we climbed up the narrow circular staircase.

Overlooking Tallinn from St Olafs Church Tower.

The many city gates of the Tallinn old town.

Getting the weight right for a public hanging in Tallinn.

After feeling a little more satisfied about our experience in Tallinn we drove across to the west coast of Estonia to a town called Happsalu.  Here, we picked up food supplies and admired their old train station that was littered with old steam engines from years gone by.

Old Locomotives in Happsalu.

From Happsalu it was a short drive to the ferry terminal where we would catch a ferry over to Estonia’s second biggest Island- Hiiumaa. 

At €12.79 for a 1.5hr ferry ride across to the island (with Maxi onboard) we were very happy campers. It was hard to believe how cheap a ferry journey of such distance was after paying at least triple in Norway for what often was only a trip lasting 15-20 minutes.

The Happsulu Ferry Terminal - a cheaper ride than a roadside Polish prostitute.

Once reaching the Island we wasted no time in driving the 60km to the other side with the intention of camping near a place that offered watersports activities called ‘Surfers Paradise’, but without the gory high risers and dodgy night clubs we’ve come to expect in Australia.

We tested Maxis 4WD capabilities and took her down some long dirt roads and smaller (and dodgier) bumpier tracks.  She held up well and we were rewarded with one of the best wild camping spots yet.

Despite having a number of cars and people around us during the day, come 7pm we had the place to ourselves and enjoyed a peaceful BBQ and drinks while watching the sunset.  

Is this spot okay with you love?

Day 80 – 

Blessed with a beautiful day and amazing location it was decided unanimously that a second night in Hiiumaa was definitely in order.  

We jumped on our pushies and road across to Surfers Paradise to check out the water sport options.  Luke had been very keen to try Kite Surfing given the amount of coastline we would be visiting on our trip and also the potential to do it back in Australia. We could see Surfers Paradise from were we were parked on the point along a huge stretch of sandy beach just across the peninsula, but it was a roundabout ride back through the forest to actually get to it. 

The Estonian Surfers Paradise just around the point. 

Unfortunately a lack of prior preparation and bodies had let us down, as it wasn’t possible to Kite Surf without a group of four people. You also had to allow three days in case of poor wind conditions.  Feeling disheartened we pushed our bikes back home along the sand around the peninsula and back to Maxi.  This ended up being a rather poor choice of route as the sand was soft and heavy, which made wheeling a bike along it extremely difficult. Quote from Luke half way along the beach – “It always looks a lot closer and easier than you think doesn’t it?”  

Once recovered from the hard slog, a new plan for the day was quickly put into action and we set off for a bike ride around the western part of the island.  We ended up riding 35km along the main roads, bumpy tracks and pine forests, seeing only a handful of houses, people and cars along the way.  

On some parts of the island, they still get water from the well.

Old school farmhouse on Hiiumaa.

  

One of the many old dusty tracks we took around Hiiumaa.

Famished after the ride we scoffed down lunch and eyed off the ocean for an afternoon swim.  As it wasn’t the hottest day for a swim we thought building up a sweat was in order, so you would really want to go in and cool off in the Baltic. 

We started to run barefoot down the beach; however, with every step you would sink back half a step. Although looking quite sandy, there were a number of rocks beneath the sand, which were actually quite painful but we persisted in the thought of getting hot.

Feeling a little bit warmer we braved the cold and enjoyed a swim in the Baltic Sea.  The snorkels we had been carrying in Maxi finally made an appearance and I gave Luke a few hints on how to swim freestyle properly – so he doesn’t like he is slapping the shit out of the water.

With all the activity during the day, we had built quite the hunger. Food was running low so dinner consisted of tinned mushrooms and corn, a small amount of chicken and a tetra packet of Carbonara sauce.  We then settled in for the night and put on the movie ‘The Iron Lady’ (good flick by the way.)

Just in case you didn't get enough of the view we had on Hiiumaa - here's another.

Midway through one of Maggie’s speeches, we both heard a faint knock on the door.  A little startled given that we were in a fairly remote location and it was after 10pm, we paused the movie and opened the window to see who it was.  

Thankfully it turned out to be the guy who helped us at Surfers Paradise that morning when enquiring about water sports. Sheepishly he told us that we were actually on their campsite and we had to pay €12 as they managed the site (i.e. collected rubbish). Luke had asked why he didn’t collect the money the night earlier, and the man had said he just thought we were day tripping so didn’t’ bother to ask. 

To be honest, I had glanced a small sign hinting towards it being private property earlier that day, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise that we had to pay. We coughed up and finished the flick.