Day 4.

 Day 4.

Karu (Estonia) to Parnu (Estonia)

101 km.

Weather: Clear skies early morning and light SW breeze. By mid-day it was a stiffer head wind but pleasantly warm.

Road: No gravel. Smooth surface all day. Cycle path for last 15km into Parnu.

Up at 6:00, set out early at 7:15 but the local stork had beaten me to it. Saw quite a few nests during the day.

Cycled south on busy Route 15 for 10km and the turned right cross-country on a quiet local road through agricultural land with acres of rapeseed, evidence of recent harvesting and silage pits overflowing with winter-feed. It averages -6°C here in winter.

Still plenty of forestry on both sides as expected. Half of Estonia is covered by forests

Once I crossed the still tiny Parnu River, I swung right onto Route 5 and passed through Vandra, Joesuu and Tori on my way to Parnu. Some of these were very small and showed signs of Soviet era architecture. Large blocks of apartments(but with plenty of open space) and shops bearing a Spartan look about them.

I pulled into one of these in Joesuu for coffee at 11am after 60 km. It's on the bank of the Parnu river and features a shaky suspension bridge. Users are requested not to shake the structure while crossing.

I was now following the ever slow-moving Parnu river to the coast. Starting out this morning at  100 km from the coast I was just 40m above sea-level. So my route today showed almost nil ascent but descent was equally invisible.

Spotted animals (horses) just before Tori but there must be cows somewhere considering the large number of creamery tankers that I met.

And greeted by a large dog just before Joesuu. I dismounted, resorted to encouraging him to retreat (as Gaeilge, it always works) but apparently he had never been to the Gaeltacht. Eventually the owner appeared and dragged him in.

Each village featured a church spire...some in good repair and others less so. Estonia is predominantly Christian, Catholic, Lutheran or Eastern Orthodox. And I noticed a number of graveyards along the way located actually in woodland.

I had a nice 15km cycleway into Parnu, a large city on the Baltic Sea coastline. 

At 1:15 I pulled  into my accommodation and was pleased that the room was ready. I was relieved to be in out of the ever- strengthening headwind.

I dropped down to the promenade of this summer capital of Estonia. A massive shallow beach with hotels modern and classical. 

I cycled 2 km (with just a T-shirt) to the centre of the tourist area for dinner and relished the fish/chips on offer. A bit chilly on the way back.

Parnu has adopted the elephant (symbol of happiness) as its own and they're featured everywhere.

Dark clouds gathering this evening. I hope cycling conditions don't deteriorate.(There was some heavy rain during the night.)

Thank God for the health and thank God for the energy.