Good news. I woke up feeling hungry and that’s a good sign. I guess I should have been hungry, as I didn’t have any dinner last night.
There was no hurry today as I was aiming to catch the five to five ferry from Hanka to Nagu and that was only 52 kilometres away.
I was expecting the ride to be full of islands, beaches and inlets once I’d cleared Turku. It was anything but. It was undulating boredom with occasional water glimpses with more wheat fields than islands. It was surprisingly hilly too.
Arriving an hour early at the wharf in Hanka, I spotted a bike stand with a full toolset attached – great thinking by whoever thought of it. So I took the opportunity to do a quick service of my right pedal which I was hoping was the source of the squeak which had been annoying me for weeks. I’m sure it helped but it still squeaks a bit. I got a few strange looks while I was syringe-ing grease into the innards of the pedal.
I also took the opportunity to try and work out the small bump in my rear wheel. It’s a combination of the tube, tyre liner and tyre and it’s been frustrating as well. I had made some adjustments and was checking the results when a well meaning Finn came along. While I had the wheel spinning with the bike on the stand, he approached, blocked the light so I couldn’t see the bump, then stopped the wheel and said – it’s there ! Well done Sherlock, that’s the bit I’ve been working on. So I spun the wheel again and he got the message, thankfully. This could have been awkward and gone on for ages
Once on the ferry, the day changed completely. The archipelago is beautiful. Essentially, it’s a large area of sea with a large number of small islands. Most of the islands have small huts amongst the many trees and the place looks quite natural and untouched. I’m on a well trodden path with more bikes than cars on the ferry, so it seems that the Finns really get out and explore the place. The port area in Nagu/Nauvo looked nice and I felt quite hungry, so I stopped and had a meal before going to the campsite about 5 kms away.
The campsite, Utti’s, is by a nice lake and is spread out and a bit rustic. By that I mean that there’s composting / sawdust toilets, non-potable water in the taps, a sauna and not much else besides trees.
I’d forgotten to pick up things for breakfast. (Right now, food still doesn’t really interest me), so I was pleased to hear about a reasonably priced buffet at a hotel a few hundred metres down the dirt road. Sounds like a good option. Maybe I’ll wake up hungry again.
