Island Hopping in Estonia
Hiiumaa & Saaremaa...
10th August - 13th August | 2022
This morning I left Tallinn in direction of Haapsalu, as I found there a camping place on iOverlander. Like that, I should be able to get one of the morning ferries to Hiiumaa. Of course, I did a lot of offroad, also some of it was TET. So I again had lovely fast forest tracks. I had a little photo stop at the quarry of Rummu, but cheeky, they ask even for this short visit the price of a daily ticket of €5! Well, I hope it helps at least to keep the place maintained and clean!
In Haapsalu, I checked in at the camping and while I was pitching up my tent, there was the famous mosquito attack! Autan is getting really used these days!!
I am really looking forward to the islands - not to the bloodsuckers though!
Also, it looks like sometime during the 2nd week in September I will meet up with my mum in Dresden, and then also visit Leipzig - woohoo!! However, that also means, I have passed the halfway point of my journey :-( as we call it in german: Bergfest!
The next morning I got up at 7h00 and had no idea how I did it, but I was ready to leave at 8h30! I was already at the ferry port at 9h00 having my cafe, and the ferry only leaves at 10h00. The crossing took 90mins. Once on Hiiumaa, I followed the main road until I thought it is a good time to get on the TET to get to the famous lighthouse in the northwest. Obviously, my navigation skills were today not the best, as I found myself far too west already, meaning I have passed already the area of the lighthouse. Well, in this case, I carry on driving the TET now, not going back for that!
I had my lunch at the lighthouse of Köpu, including climbing up to the platform. It is only 67 steps, but they are double-high! I was huffing and puffing once upstairs ;-) However, the view was fantastic over the island as it is a clear day.
The TET to the ferry port of Pärna, Söru Sadam, was again on fantastic forest roads, today even some sandy bits. Closer to the ferry port, it loops around to two small lighthouses, which were really cute.
At Söru Sadam is only a ticket machine, not a person. I had difficulties working out how to book a motorbike on the ferry. The indicated phone number didn´t work! Great, that doesn´t really help. I wouldn´t worry too much, but this is the last ferry, of only 3 per day. The next one is only tomorrow at 8h15, AND there is no camping spot on the island's south side! So if I do not get on this ferry, where do I stay overnight?
One hour before departure, they free off more spaces, and finally, I could book Schimmelchen on the ferry - HURRAY.
In the meantime, 3 cyclists arrived at the same time as me at the ferry port. We started chatting and it turned out, that the younger one, was also German, Angelo. He helped me work out how to book a motorbike on the ferry (4 eyes sometimes see more than two!). He also had found a campground close to the ferry port at Saaremaa, which is good, as the ferry only arrives at 19h30.
As we still had to wait for the ferry, I went quickly down the village to buy some food for dinner and breakfast, also for Angelo. Saved him cycling anywhere for shopping.
It was only a 60mins drive to be on the next island. How cool, I always wanted to do island hopping ;-)
I then went directly to the national camping spot at the beach, and Angelo turned up shortly after me on his bicycle. Once the tents were up, we had really nice chats during dinner. He also recommended places to visit around his area in Germany as I will cross it on my way from "Ostesee-Küste" down to Dresden.
The next morning I woke up already with a migraine-type headache. No idea why as there is no bad weather, shared one pint of beer last night; so where is that coming from? Well, the whole day was not meant to be mine! I had the feeling nothing worked for me today, not even Osmand! The first petrol station I picked along the track was a marina-one. So I had to make a detour of 20km, including buying water (not telling the story from the supermarket!) was one hour gone!
My brain must have been affected by that headache, as my navigation skills were really bad today! However, the TET meanders nicely along the sea in some areas. Towards the end of the day, I found state-forest camping again, but before I had to make a detour for petrol and another one for shopping!
And just to finish my day, OsmAnd sends me over a really deep gravel road for 2kms, to find myself in a mini-harbour. I should fly over to the camping spot! Seriously! So I had to drive that difficult gravel road back! At least I managed not to drop the bike; that would have made my day!
Once I found the camping spot, I pitched my tent, escaped the bloodsuckers, and napped. Finally, after that, my headache was gone! Unfortunately not the mosquitos! It was really bad. I spoke a bit to the 4 Estonian boys, that also camped there tonight. Then I escaped back into my tent, and didn’t take me long to sleep!
The next morning I felt fresh and full of energy! Today I wanted to drive down to the lighthouse at Sääre and then to the place of the meteorite. Most of it I did on the TET, and again fantastic tracks. Thank you, Randel, I am really enjoying it!
For the night I had spotted on iOverlander a little camping at the marina of Köiguste, which I found easily. However, there was a festival (Rave) on, so I decided NOT to stay there for the night ;-). Unfortunately, there is nowhere another camping marked on the various apps, only after crossing the bridge to the neighbour island Liiva.
I just driving about 10km when I passed a sign for camping. I pulled in. It looked deserted, under construction. I knocked on the house next to it, and the owner finally gave me a little cabin, even though they are not officially open yet.
I had all for myself, including a guard cat! She really wanted to get into my cabin, but I am not sure if the owner likes her scratching (in excitement) the mattress and leaving her hair! I felt so sorry for her! As she made such a terror, in the end, I gave in :-) The cat was so happy to be patted all the time; and how dare you stop for a second! So I slept with a purring cat next to me. Unfortunately about 2h she decided she had enough and made a bit of a party until I opened the door.
Tomorrow I will head to Pärnu, staying at the biker hotel "Aleksandri Pub & Guesthouse" of Alos family. I am really looking forward, also to a bit of rest. And Angelo will be also in town, so we will meet for a beer. So, allow yourself a beer and a package of crisps until the next blog will be launched ;-)
In the meantime in the Algarve, Portugal, James is going ahead with the MotoCamp Algarve! Familiar problem not resolved yet, but there is a lot to be prepared yet! So let's get the work done!
Places | Cities:
Keila-Joa, Klooga, Rummu Quarry, Palivere, Haapsalu, Hiiumaa, Saaremaa.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 22165 km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
./.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
Angelo for finding the camping spot and the great chats "über Gott und die Welt" we had!
Randel, linesman TET Estonia (www.transeurotrail.org) for the fantastic tracks here on the islands.