Hiumaa

I am skating around Hiumaa Island, and yesterday the gods of skateboarding gave me the bad pavement challenge. No joke, the pavement turned from bad to worse every few kilometers until it felt like skating a gravel road. No wonder I was slow. But the scenery has been very pleasant, and the weather was super nice (not to say scorching hot) as well. In the evening I found this awesome camping place, made by the Estonian national forrest agency RMK, right at the beachside, completely surrounded by protected forrest. No facilities besides an outdoor toilet, but free and very secluded. Apparently there is more of these spots all over Estonia, it's a shame I just figured out now...

Saaremaa to Hiuma

Made it to the cliffs at Panga, impressive. And no security at all. Just a sign that says "Warning, steep bank" and 20cm behind that the cliff drops for about 12m. They still trust the people around here for understanding that falling of the cliff is unhealthy. Or they don't care. Slept at Panga and skated to the ferry in Triigi the next day. And that was a uncomfortable ferry ride. Not because of the ferry, but because I had eaten a ancient sandwich for breakfast...
Well I am fine now, some magic medicinal powder from Thailand that Margherita gave me, did the job. Tasted awfull though.
Ohhhh, and big anouncement, I have skated 1000km today. Ha!

Still on Saaremaa

Safety first kids! Shortly after I uploaded my last post, I smashed into the concrete for the first and second time. Would have been a lot worse if I hadn't worn a helmet. So remember, when skateboarding, use appropriate safety gear!
Other than that the last two days were great. Visited what was indicated on the maps as ancient shipwrecks of Salme, which turned out to be a concrete bench in the shape of a ship and a info sign... Found a nice little harbour later where I planed to camp the night before yesterday. But then met some Estonians and two Finnish guys while fishing, and got invited to their summerhouse. What followed were lots and lots of beers, sauna and barbeque. Nice. Next day I decided to do a litle culture with them and we visited some old russian military stuff, followed by beers and some really nice smoked meat. And Sauna.
And today will be skating again, I want to see the cliffs of Panga.

Saaremaa

On Saaremaa Island packed full with points of touristic interest, I have chosen two for my stretch from the dam from Muhu to the capital Kuressaare. First was an castle of the order of the swordbrethren. Or more just a very big heap of stones and a sign that told a little story about it. Not too impressed. But it was windy, at least... Next should be some meteor craters. I wasn't sure if I would do them the same day, or stop in between and do them the next day. So I skated on, and just waited to see how far I would get. In the evening I was alredy close to the craters, I decided to do the whole stretch and see them. Impressive, that deep murky green of the crater lake, perfectly round. It was already getting dark, so i searched for a spot to put my tent up. But there wasn't any! Gladly, the info point for the crater lakes was fairly big, and han a roof, so I decided to just sleep there. Very good decision, as it rained heavily that night. Next day, got up early and off to Kuressaare, where the tall ship races would have a stopover. I was eager to see those ship, and tell my father about them, as he is a sailor himself. Really impressive those big ship, and you could see them struggle navigating in the even heavier winds.
Now I plan to skate to the west end of Saaremaa Island, and then back up north to Hiumaa Island (of course with a ferry in between).

Pärnu to Muhu Island

This was interesting. The weather was changing superfast, so that I had to wear sunglasses and would still get rained on heavily every half an hour. Plus there where heavy headwinds. I have to say I always underestimated headwinds, just thought they make it a little harder but not significantly. Well, I was wrong. You push like a madman, and make about the same speed as a pedestrian. And if you stop pushing for a few seconds, you will start going backwards. Thats anoying! But at least the pavement was good, brandnew and smooth, that is until it stopped. The pavement. This rather big and heavy used street just turns into a dirtroad all of a sudden in the middle of nowhere! I had to accept defeat and for the first time tried to hitch a ride. And it worked! I got picked up by a traveling saussage salesman with no knowledge of english whatsoever. But as I pronounced the name of the city I wanted to go, where I assumed the street would be paved again, correctly, we where able to figure things out. From time to time we would stop to sell some saussages, and hell they smelled tasty. In the end, I got one for myself as well.
I was then able to skate onto the ferry to Muhu Island, and almost got blown off the skateboard when exiting it on Muhu Island. Working north through the headwind, I wanted to see some cliffs, when it happened again! The pavement just ends! Aargh! Back to the mainroad then. Now turning west, to a small port called Koguva, wind coming from the side and making it difficult to keep going straight.
And that was lucky coincidence, Koguva is super nice. Quite a small town, just a few, very well kept old fishermen cottages, and a very very small harbour. And a harbour café. I entered and felt home right away. Super small, just a kitchen with a few places at the kitchenbar, a very sympathetic couple that owns it, and the smell of freshly baked cake in the air. Nice. I talked a little with the two, and apparently they own some coffee roasting facilities as well. Have to admit, the coffee was damn good. When I mentioned that I was looking for a spot to camp, they offered me to camp in the little forrest beside the harbour, as that was harbour property as well. Did so, searched a nice spot and pitched down my tarp really carefully, as a storm was forecasted for the night.
A good sleep later, I just got out of the tent, when I am startled by heavy breathing approaching me fast, and the crackling of branches. What the hell? Seconds later a male roe deer runs towards me, misses me by about a meter and continues into the shrubs behind me... Few minutes later the same game again, from the same direction. What are they running from? Well, I had planed to go to the café again for breakfast, so I packed my stuff and left the deers alone.
Fresh baked cake for breakfast, yum.

Lilaste to Pärnu, or roadkill day and why are the roads so much better paved in Estonia

Welllllll.... Maybe some of you have noted that I am in Pärnu a full day to early? Why is that? Well, skating just felt super nive the last two days, so I did around 70km yesterday, and around 80km today. Yeaaaah, just keep the wheels spinning! And it was very exciting too! First I got ripped of at the "Baron von Münchhausen" museum that I passed and spontaneusly entered. Then the roadkill began. First there was what I presumably identified to be a big dog without colar, which got freshly hit, according to the still wet blood and guts. I didn't dare to go closer though, in case it was still alive and angry. Next was a beautyfull owl which was reduced to a clump with beautifull feathers, and last I passed a stork. After I took a photo, I saw that it was still breathing and struggling to get away from the street. I then took my slidegloves and the longboard, secured its beak with one hand and carefully lifted it onto the longboard with the other hand. I then carried it into the forrest into the shade, put him in a position where I assumed it would best be able to get up again, and poured it some water into his beak from my bottle, which it, judging from the swallowing movement, drank. I hope he either recovered or then was able to die in peace without having heavy traffic passing by its head as the last thing to see. And last there were estimaded 3000 frogs, all very flat and sometimes so dense that it was difficult to drive around them.  Kind of stirred me up that day.
Then today, on the other hand, was very nice. I entered Estonia in the morning, after a last short stretch of shitty pavement, and as soon as I crossed the border, there was smooth riding on spotless pavement. Nice. Also less traffic, the air smelled either from the sea or from wild strawberries which are ripe now, depending on where the wind was comming from. And I just skated on and on and on and on, until I realised, that when I would just skate a little while more (ah, who got the joke?) I would be in Pärnu. So I did that.
Tomorrow I will check out Pärnu and plan the route in Estonia.
Bye
Robert

On the road again

I left Riga today, and am now staying at a friends place near Lilaste. And somehow my backpack feels super heavy, and I have no clue why...

Surffestival

Bwah, life is full of opportunities! I walked into the boards.lv shop yesterday, poked a little around and met Renars again, the owner of the shop. And he invited me to tag along to the surffestival in Estonia this weekend. So that is where I am now, sitting on the beach surrounded by sails and surfculture. Amazing setup this festival, camping directly at the beach, so far two stages with music, food, bar etc.. That means that I will relax here for a couple of days and work on my tan.
Easypeasy as I still have enough time before continuing to Russia and all skate legal, as I will get back to Riga after the festival and skate my normal distance.
Cheers
Robert

Riga

Ok, so after a rather short recreational ride from Jurmala, I have reached Riga now. I have to say that the old town really is pitoresque, but also overcrowded with tourists. And I ran into the BangBang Store that Renars Birmanis recomended to me, and I do have to admit, they realy make damn good coffee.
Later I met my Riga couchsurfer, Diana, and we went out and had some Beers, and were able to watch one of the local longboarders, Aris, do a few slides in the park. Today I will meet some more of the local Longboarders and have a short ride with them, gona be awesome.

Cheers
Robert

Jurmala 2, wrong pictures in last post

Uuhh, sorry guys, I just saw that my phone switched something and uploaded some old pictures from excavations in Zurich and my fishtank, not the pictures from Jurmala. Enjoy anyway, I will try to change them soon!

Update
Ha, changed them! Whoever did not have a look at the excavation pictures well, now its to late, hehe.

Jurmala

Made it to Jurmala today, after two hot and sunny days skating. I have to mention that the day before that I took a day of and chilled out with Martins Kohs at his place near Kolka. Amazing guy, really, and holy hell, I love those smoked flat fish. Even traditional woodfired sauna was on the program, very refreshing. Thanks Martins for letting me stay at your place.
But back to present, I parasitized some biketreckers and let me pull for a while, which gave my legs a good rest :-) Now I'm on the main tourist pedestrian walk in Jurmala, using the free  wifi. And tomorow Riga will be conquered, maybe I'll give it some days, I'm a little ahead on schedule.
See ya!