When I woke up the next morning in Kuressaare, I found that I had a new neighbor. There was a tent sort of pitched on the lawn next to my hut. The rain cover wasn’t exactly covering much, and some of the tent poles were missing, but it was there and there was somebody moving around in it.

It turned out to be Manne, a Finnish musician who had come visiting friends, using money his mother had given him for his 60th birthday. I offered him some morning coffee and we sat around talking for a while before it was time to pack everything and get back on the bike

The morning was a nice ride across the island, and I even visited the meteorite holes in Kaali along the way. Everything was going great and I was slowly but surely getting some miles done until I stopped and had lunch in Orissaare. That’s when it started raining. But I wanted to push on to the ferry back to the mainland, so I set off and raised the tempo to help get some warmth into my legs and arms. Felt good, even though it was raining, and I had the pleasure of speeding past a few other bicycle tourers. Even Mister can be speedy when it has to!

🙂

The ferry crossing was a short one and as my phone promised that the rain was going to stop any minute, I bought some food and a cider and sat down to wait. 40 minutes later it was still raining…

I finally got out all the rain gear, got properly dressed and set out. Sure it was raining, but it was a nice ride along the coast and there was very little traffic. The roads became smaller, turned into gravel and mud, but Mister just churned along without any problems.

I was starting to get tired, but had set my mind on reaching a campsite at Matsi Beach (has to be a great place) and did not feel like stopping as long as it was raining anyway.

Less than 11 kilometers from the campsite, after I had had a quick coffee in a small shop, the sun suddenly broke through the clouds. It was still raining but at least now it actually felt like there might be a chance that the rain would stop before I had to pitch the tent, never a fun thing to do in the rain.

As the sun continued to shine, a rainbow appeared in front of me and it actually looked like it touched the ground approximately where my campsite should be. I took an early photo with the mobile, and then as I continued further on, the rainbow developed into the most impressive rainbow I have ever seen. It spanned the sky in an uninterrupted arc and all the colors were clearly visible. I had to stop and just look at it.

My first thought was to get the camera out, but it was deeply buried in waterproof protection and it was still raining as well. Then I just thought, f… it, I am going to keep this one for myself, and just enjoyed the view as I slowly pedaled the last few kilometers to the beach.

By the time I arrived, the rain had more or less stopped. Perfect timing!

I got to pitch the tent and try to hang some of the rain gear up to “dry” before I wandered around and enjoyed the last rays of the setting sun.

There were a fair few other cars there, but it was a long beach and there was plenty of room for everyone. Yet another great, free RMK campsite!

Next morning I was feeling a bit tired, I had done somewhere around 135 km the day before, so I took it slow and stopped several times during the morning for coffee and cake at small cafes and shops. I only had about 70 km into Pärnu where I had promised myself a rest day.

Today I have taken it easy, done some washing and tried to find a new drybag, wandering around in Pärnu and just relaxing. I did find time to apply for a visa to Kaliningrad and hope to get a reply in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow I will set off towards Riga again, and see if I manage to get past it this time. Who knows, anything could happen…

🙂