Day 6: To Koivuranta

Our beds tucked in by the loom

Breakfast: porridge, strawberries, red currant juice, coffee, cheese, salami, hard boiled eggs, crispbread, rye bread, white bread, jam, sweet bread – Gad!   What more could one want? All delicious! 

Loom envy

We had such a great stay with Tarja - such a friendly host.   But we must move on, so the bikes were loaded up and we headed off along the unsealed road.  The first hill won, it was far too soon to be able to pedal to the top – but all was well after that.

Sealed road and sunshine - Noice!!

The sun was shining, birds were tweeting - it was a beautiful day!  We traced our way back to the turnoff then turned northwards continuing along an unsealed road, which was in pretty good shape.  More forest, flowers, farmlands and fåglar (birds)!  It is really so pretty – the wildflowers are still bloomin’ madly – and heaps of birch trees – my favourites!
We made it back to the sealed road, which allowed us to kick along a bit then we took a short cut on another unsealed road. The hills are still appearing more than we need, but we are getting better at them – I think.  They still hurt and I am very glad of my granny gear – which allows me to keep up with Karina – who is swearing about not having one!

The other side of the lake

Hurry up Mum!

Whilst having a roadside snack, we had a chat with a Finnish guy, who was riding to see friends, but was a bit lost.  He said that he had ridden 200km yesterday!!  Yeah, but he was travelling pretty light, small panniers and obviously a bit crazy!  He was going back the way we had come, so we gave him our map and some chocolate and he was off on his way again.

A ferry trip across a cold lake

 

Water Lilies too!

A Lake - nice place for lunch

We had a ride on a much bigger ferry today – there were only 4 cars and one motorbike travelling our way, but there was a long line up on the other side – think they were coming home from work or shopping in Kuopio as we aren’t that far as the car drives!
We had another 20km to go from the ferry and it was all sealed road, so it turned out to be a very pleasant ride all day!  

reflections

Walking along a Finnish path to a beautiful lake

The old school at Orinono Gorge

girl's toilet - a very long drop!

Gary Garmin brought right to the front door of Kivuranta and we signed in easily and were shown our room.  The lake lay glistening in the afternoon sun, just 20 metres from our door.  Very nice!  Showering was the first thing on our mind and we asked for an evening meal at 8pm, so didn’t have to rush.  The guy on reception seemed to be the only person around working.  He took our money for the room, cooked our meal and also for another couple and generally rushed around.

Bring on the Food!

Our meal (28€ total) of roasted pork, potatoes, eggplants, capsicum, tomatoes covered with a herby cream gravy plus tomatoes and cucumbers on the side – OK quite tasty and very filling – and as I had no choice in the serving, I just ate it up.
We went for a walk by the lake, but the mossies were chasing us inside, when we saw a little hedgehog, snuffling along.  We got quite close to it, but it decided that if it sat very still under this bit of grass we wouldn’t see it – totally impossible to photograph – but sooo cute!
so time for a bit of blogging, charging of knick knacks and soon to bed!  I do realise I have missed a couple of days and no photos yet, but just hang in there, they will come...

Stats for the day:  91km; 5:45 hours riding, 15.8kph avg, 49kph max (596)