The first part of the day was a driving day, the second part much more interesting. The weather was awful today. As we were driving along the main road, the rain pelted down, so heavy at times that the road ahead disappeared in the blur of water and wiper blades. Puddles formed, and every passing truck sent up a wave that swamped us.

Visibility dropped to just a few metres, and I found myself literally gripping the edge of my seat. We decided it wasn’t worth pushing on blindly, so first opportunity we pulled into a service station to wait it out.

The service station just happened to sell sausages that looked a lot like the ones we enjoyed in Norway. But looks can be deceiving. This one wasn’t wrapped in bacon, and the first bite confirmed it was more of a standard hotdog than the smoky, savoury version we remembered. Not terrible, but definitely not the same. Still, it filled the gap while we waited out the worst of the weather.

We drove for 4 or 5 hours in the terrible weather before arriving in the small town of Porvoo, just an hour’s drive from Helsinki. We parked in a free carpark where we can also stay the night.

It was just a short walk into the old town, but this wasn’t your typical European historic centre. Instead of the usual stone or brick buildings, Porvoo’s charm was in its beautifully preserved wooden houses, many of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. I’m not surprised they are made of wood, with all the forests we have seen! We wandered around the cobblestoned streets admiring the different coloured houses. The iconic red shore houses lining the river added to the town’s uniqueness, but there was construction going on so it was hard to get a good view.

We went to a restaurant overlooking the river and it was by far the best meal I’ve had in a long time. I had the chicken katsu poke bowl, and I have no idea how they packed so much flavour into a salad! Mike had the steak with a chimmichuri sauce.

We ummed and aahed about exploring Helsinki, but we don’t do big cities very well. So we booked a ferry to Estonia for the morning. It meant an early start to the day, but it was the cheapest ferry for the next few days.

Our night in the carpark wasn’t exactly peaceful and I had a bit of trouble falling asleep. I looked out the window at 1:00 am as I quite often do, and it was dark!  After so many nights under the magic light of the midnight sun, the darkness felt strange.  It was a reminder that we were moving on, and that a unique chapter of the journey had ended.