The rest of it

Kalana

Ristna Surf Paradise

Grandma left on Sunday and as my parents took her to the airport we had the house to ourselves. Took immediate advantage of that and arranged our own local festival. Well to be quite honest we had already planned it beforehand - so Kairit, Peep and Johannes came round with some instruments and an amp in the boot and the jam could start. After a while Jaanus rolled a big empty barrel to the scene and showed superb skills as a drummer. We had a great time and decided to make it public next year inviting the Rolling Stones and alike, ideally lasting for a week. We'll see what my parents think of it.

Then on Monday for the last leg of the holiday - to Hiiumaa. As usual it took us the whole day to get there as I needed to see a dentist in Tallinn and Robert had some errands. Luckily the kids could play with Beatrice's friend Leena during that time. We hadn't known about the massive roadworks and got on the ferry just in time, like a minute before it was due to leave.

For those of you who don't know it already - in my view Kalana on the Kopu peninsula in the very west of Hiiumaa is the most beautiful spot on Earth. It is still so quiet that the sea can talk to you if you have time to listen. Also the weather there seems to be better than in the rest of Estonia. We had a beautiful first day and were able to swim in the sea again. There was nobody apart from us on the beach as usual. A total luxury compared to anything here in or near Singapore. We just had a few relaxing days on the beaches, walking in the forest, picking blueberries. It is so nice because there are quite different beaches - quiet and sandy on the north coast, more windy on the south where we stay and fabulous surfing waves on the western tip. And the light soft pine forests are the best. (Now back on the treadmill I long for the runs by the sea and on the soft forest ground.)

Couldn't quite escape the world out there though as there is a TV now in Luguse and had to watch a bit of the Olympics and Georgia of course. Very very worring.

Had some good games of hide-and-seek with the kids (Raoul is very good but Karl cannot stay quiet when hiding and then goes on to betraying all the others). A novelty also for us - the travelling supermarket that comes twice a week with basics like icecream etc. That is a good opportunity to meet the other people from the village. Beatrice was keen to join Robert's aunt in a stone-painting session. (But we nearly lost her work at the airport because it turnes out you cannot have stones in handluggage. Luckily my parents were still there and we could deposit the stones with them.)

On Friday on the way back to my parents place the kids and Robert had a swim in lake Viitna that is on the way. I was a chicken yet again. Much preferred the sauna when we got back.

And that was it. Back to Singapore via Amsterdam.