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Got away from my campground site at about 8 am after a very cool night. Vaasa is a pretty city situated on the water with lots of boats in lots of bays. The day was cool with some cloud which cleared later but in the shade the temperature dropped 5 degrees which made for cool riding as it was only 22 c.
The roads are good and the countryside is well wooded and well used by the grain producers and vegetable growers.
I stopped on the road north for some breakfast and was met with a call from a Finn " if you are from down under I will buy you a coffee". So he did and we shared motorbiking stories. He is a pig farmer and rides with his wife for 4 months a year on a Gold Wing Honda. He says he does about 25,000k a year. He claims to know all the good riding roads in Europe. Lets see. Anyway he was proud of his Finnish bike riding family as they will "allways give you a vave" except he said the Harley Davidson rider of more dan one year "day vave der foot". We enjoyed the conversation, he returned to his 1000 pigs and I to ride toward Rovanieme which I made about 7pm putting another 500k on the clock. I enjoy attempting to pronounce the place names as I pass so here pictured are a couple to test you. Accommodation is plentiful as it seems tourism is about all they have in Lapland, so many Hotels for a small city. I met with a couple in a bar and she works for the Department of Industry, she makes grants to assist business, so the Finns face the same problems we all do, how to find things to do that have some value. I do like their facilities to encourage outdoor activity however. Many of the towns I pass through have cycle/walking paths beside the roads, through the fields, to the rivers and lakes and there are lots of people using them. Its a very European practice and one we could well adopt. They consequently have a greater use of pushbikes for commuting. There are people everywhere cycling and the traffic is very courteous toward them. I recall, wish I had a picture, father and son on bikes taking all the road, behind them a farmer on his tractor, behind him an 18 wheeler and innumerable cars utes and trucks.......seemed like this should be the order of things.
nzl04
