54. Day 49 – To Helsinki and across to Estonia

Wednesday 23 May 2007

As we awoke looking through the large window of our cabin, we could see a smooth sea and an island or two.  We were heading into Helsinki.

We had met a number of Australians and New Zealanders on the boat who were on a Trafalgar Tour to Moscow.  Dick had been on a Trafalgar Tour 41 years previously in 1966 with Tony Balthasar, so he felt that he had something in common with them.  It sounds if the Trafalgar Tours are as good as ever and it is the same company that has been going for all of this time.  It was 60°F out on the deck and we arrived at 10.00 am Finland time, which was 9.00 am Swedish time, our clocks had moved ahead one hour.  We went down to our vehicle and sat in the vehicle, which was jammed in between huge semi trailers, trucks and buses.  We couldn’t drive to the car deck as the Earthroamer’s 3.33 metres height is too high. 

Within a few minutes of the ship docking, the vehicles in front of us moved out and we were in Finland.  As we drove off the ramp the police were standing there with a breathalyser machine – “blow into the bag” they asked – of course, Dick was zero.  It is interesting no other inspection of licence, passports, insurance or anything was asked for.

We then keyed details of the Ruslania bookshop into the GPS and drove through the very narrow streets of Helsinki to the bookshop.  There was no parking outside so we simply parked up on the pavement opposite on the edge of a small park.  Pip stayed in the vehicle in case we had to move it while Dick went into the Russian book shop and spent an hour trying to load a Russian GPS database into our Garmin – unfortunately, it would not work – always the problem Dick seems to have with computers.

We had received information from Australia of an address of a Ford dealer.  We keyed that address into the GPS and spent 40 minutes driving through the suburbs to the Ford dealer – we wanted to see if we could get the oil changed, the brakes checked and a general service.  Unfortunately, our vehicle was too big for them – the same situation we had with the Ford dealer in the United States just before we left the vehicle in New York.

We then drove back into the centre of Helsinki and tried to book into the Grand Mariner Hotel one of the best hotels in the town.

Unfortunately, it was completely booked out so we drove back towards the Olympia terminal where we had originally landed.  We found a long-term car park right beside the ferry terminal and then walked to the Helsinki markets where we had a beaut lunch of fried seafood.

We booked a cruise around the harbour and islands of Helsinki.  It became very cold sitting on the outside of the boat but an enjoyable trip.

We then walked around the centre square to the Lutheran Cathedral, to the University of Helskinki, and down the main street of Helsinki.

The shops were very modern and the girls were beautiful. Just near the wharf in the converted customs terminal, we bought some fresh white bread and some fresh figs. 

Back in the Earthroamer in the car park, we had a great Aussie cup of tea with a bread and Vegemite.  Dick thought he would go off for a one hour brisk walk.  Pip could not walk that fast because of her sore leg so she downloaded photos into the computer instead.  As Dick walked down to the wharf he saw a sign with words to the effect “go to Estonia for the day” so he walked into the terminal and found that we could catch a 7.00 pm boat to Estonia and  we did not need a visa.  This was truly amazing because only a decade before Estonia was part of the Soviet Union and had the typical Soviet Union drama for entry.

Dick came back to the Earthroamer and said to Pip “how would you like to go to Estonia for the night by jet boat?”  Pip of course said “yes” so within half an hour we were over at the terminal and on the boat.  Total cost for the night 288€ ($460 AUD), 88€ ($140 AUD) for the return trip on the boat and 200€ ($320 AUD) for a top quality boutique hotel.

The formalities were incredibly simple – customs stamped our passports as we left Finland and walked on board the boat.  We had locked up the Earthroamer in the car park and paid the parking until 4pm the next day with a ticket on our dashboard.  After a smooth 1½ hour voyage at high speed at 30 knots or so, we arrived at the Estonian capital of Tallinn. The customs and immigration were also simple – they just stamped our passports, no paperwork or entry form was required.  We then grabbed a friendly taxi driver who took us to the entrance gates to Old Town about 10 minutes drive and we walked to the our lovely hotel, the Viru Inn.

The old town is kept as it was hundreds of years ago.  Normal vehicles including taxis are not allowed to drive through – a good idea.

The Viru Inn was a. small boutique hotel of about 15 rooms and we were given a room with a king sized bed, LCD television and a very modern bathroom.  Surely, this could not be the old Soviet Union.  We walked around the cobbled streets as it was getting dark and back to the hotel restaurant for a delightful dinner.  Pip was amazed to find there was free wireless network at the hotel that worked with her computer, so she was able to send off her emails and then download her photographs while Dick went for a long walk around the town.

25kms Today             17,130kms Total since Anchorage, Alaska

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