Today I had to get up on time as the first ferry of the day was at 8.15 and the next one would only be at 12. Thankfully it was only a few hundred metres from the sauna raft to the ferry. After I'd boarded and bought my ticket in the café I walked out on deck where I was soon asked where I was from. The question came from Aadu, a farmer from the village of Viira on Saaremaa who had been on Hiiumaa to visit his girlfriend.
Our chat lasted for the rest of the hour long ferry ride and resulted in me being invited to visit Aadu's farm. This would mean another detour for me but the promise of fresh strawberries and potatoes coupled with the fact that it was still early gave me no option but to accept. Well there I was given a short tour of the farm, including a tractor count. Aadu's mother served me potatoes, salad and a piece of well cooked sheep's ribs. Well fed and with water bottles filled from the well I found my back towards the main road heading west along the north shore of Saaremaa.
Along the way I was offered many choices of shortcuts across the island and my destination for the day, Kuressaare. Although the heat was tough to deal with, diluted grape juice helped me stay the course and continue all the way to Kihelkonna, the westernmost point of my planned route. That is, after I decided that the visit to the farm in the morning meant I could allow myself to skip Lümanda and start heading towards Kuressaare. Once I reached the main town of Saaremaa I let my GPS guide me to Piibelehe B&B and camping where I had to sit in the the shade for a while before being able to muster the strength to take a shower. Once I had the tent up I figured it was time to go into the centre to see if I could find a restaurant. As I activated the GPS again a couple of motorhomers, also heading into town on bikes, reacted to the fact the turn by turn directions blaring from my phone were in Finnish. Being countymen in a foreign land we joined forces and made our way to the fortress and a terrace bar that had come highly recommended. Quite understandably so as the service was great, the prices agreeable and the view of the fortress splendid.
With none of us really wanting to eat fish, we got on our bikes again after only one drink each. It didn't take us very long to stumble upon Vinoteek Prelude where the menfolk went for the wild boar while the lady chose the beef. The wine suggestions won support around the table and the desserts were also really good. Feeling quite pleased with how the evening had turned out, we cycled back to the campsite to call it a night.
The day in numbers: 117.88 km, 6 h 7 min 47 sec, 19.23 km/h avg, 30.8 km/h max.
Tour total: 364.78 km.
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