Day 7 - London / Helsinki

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Well hello again,

Today started pretty early, I was up at 3:45 (the sun was also about to appear!) to get ready to head to the airport. I decided to book a cab as the train would have been cutting it a bit to fine.

You can hail taxis around the main part of London which are what you would expect, the standard old black cab. If you pre book one however, you end up with a minicab, which is pretty much someone's private car licensed to car paying fares. It was a little bit scary getting into a random unmarked car in a London back street at 4:30 in the morning but this is how it is done over here!

It is not until to you drive down to the motorway to the airport that you realise just how big Heathrow is! it is unreal! After check in i was waiting in the departure lounge when i noticed a guy wearing a Mini WRC jacket. Pretty cool, he must be going to the rally, and then i saw another, and another! it was the frigging pro-drive team!! how awesome is this. during the flight I had a chat to a couple of them and they all seemed pretty cool. everywhere you looked on the plane someone was wear a rally shirt or reading the specie guide ... UNREAL!!!

The flight to Helsinki was un-eventful, they fed us pretty nice sandwiches which was cool. Upon arrival I started getting questioned by the customs guy (i must look dodgy). After i told him i was here for the rally he just smiled and stamped my passport, i love this place! The airport runs a bus straight into the heart of Helsinki and after about 45 minutes of wondering around i finally found where i was staying. In hindsight i should have had a map ready haha.

after i checked into the hostel i went for a walk. Helsinki isnt massive but it is spread out and i think i would have probably walked a total of 8-10 kilometres having a look around. Everything is typically what you would expect from a a Scandinavian country. everything is neat and tidy, and everything is done for a reason. most of the locals speak Finnish and English which makes life very easy. The train station is pretty unusual, and they have a cool big old church, not as impressive as st pauls or Westminster but still nice! All the streets are cobble stone and trams take you to most parts of the city. I got the number 3 tram which does a figure 8 around town. Everything is so lively with buskers on every corner, and loads of people out enjoying the nice weather.

The best part is there is a Bar called the Aussie bar. you can buy all the staple Aussies drinks, including bundy rum!

Tomorrow im off to the rally at jyväskylä. it is going to be unreal!

Pleace out,

Nate

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