Serendipity strikes again…

So, just before we got off the ferry Chris had an email from a chap in Finland called Petteri. He said he had found us via the forum Austin 7 Friends, and was wondering when we were arriving in Finland – he lives in Helsinki! He and his wife Sanna drove out to our log cabin in Porvoo and after a long look at the car took us on a tour of the old town, an amazing medieval town with wooden buildings built on the banks of the river. The beautiful church was rebuilt a few years ago after it was accidentally set on fire by a young man who was drunk. The roof tiles are all made of wood.

Anyway, it turns out that Petteri likes classic cars, he owns three. A model T Ford, a model A Ford, and… an Austin 7! He is rebuilding the Austin but struggles to find parts and advice – he said he has found the other five Austin owners in Finland – and finds the forum is really useful. After the trip Chris would like to try and forge some Austin links between the UK and Finland, he did mention taking a van full of spares over on the ferry…

Today we are driving to Vaalimaa near the border with Russia, so that we have a day in hand tomorrow to get ready for crossing into Russia on Saturday. Apart from the indicator falling off the car is running very well despite being loaded up. There is a lot of interest in the car here in Finland, every time we stop people come to talk and take photos! It’s a very friendly country and everyone we have met speaks English – we feel very embarrassed that we can’t speak any Finnish.