Should’ve Turned Around… | Getting Bogged on the TET Estonia – EP 39

Going to get some island time today, baby! We’re heading over to Hiiumaa, one of Estonia’s wild offshore islands — and what a ride it turned out to be. From perfect forest trails and Baltic Sea picnics, to spooky abandoned farmhouses and bottomless Estonian mud… this one had it all.

After a quick ferry hop, I jumped straight into 350km of the Trans Euro Trail (TET) Estonia, exploring every bit of dirt and chaos the islands could throw at me. The Africa Twin was fully loaded and loving it — until the mud hit.

What started as a perfect island day turned into one of the most brutal solo recoveries I’ve ever had. No help, no traction, and no way around it — just me, a bike, and a pile of sticks.

Stick around till the end for a proper Baltic seaside campfire, a killer sunrise, and a teaser of what’s next: my 29th birthday, celebrated solo with the bike across Estonia’s islands.

🌍 Location: Hiiumaa Island, Estonia
🧭 Route: TET Estonia
🏍️ Bike: Honda Africa Twin XRV750

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We’re not doing this today. What the hell is this Going to get some island time today, baby. We’re heading over to Hilma, which is an island off of Estonia. Everyone that I spoke to and I was like, what do I do when I’m in Estonia? Where do I go? Go to the islands. So, I did just that. A quick little boat ride, then it was straight into 350 ks of the best tet that Estonia has to offer. The dirt is absolutely unreal. The bike was feeling unreal and just chewing up all these tracks. I think I’m going to like it here. [Music] Man, imagine this bike with firm suspension from the back to accommodate for the luggage. How good it would be. It’s already so much fun being fully loaded. I think this will do for lunch. I pulled up stumps at this pear of a picnic spot right on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Made myself a quick cup of apple tea and some instant oats and then I was straight back into it. Bloody delicious, mate. Was a nice little picnic. Now, let’s get back to our usual programming. What’s this? Abandoned shed. It’s like an old farm stay or something. Doors being kicked in. Hello. Anybody home? H. You think that roof’s leaking? What’s in here? [Music] There’s a car here now. Oops. Sorry. Don’t like the look of this. It’s not going to be easy to turn around now either. Just take it easy. So, I’ve been told about this Estonian mud. It’s just sinky and I don’t feel like getting stuck again. Sand was bad enough, the mud would be even worse. It got so much worse. Oh, how I wish I’d listened to my intuition. I would soon find out just how deep and slippery Estonian mud can really be. Too late now to turn around. I’m going to have to walk up and see how much worse this gets. See if I need to turn around before it gets too late. So, I do not feel like playing in the mud at 3:30 in the afternoon for high chance of getting stuck in here. That just sounds horrible. Don’t tell me. Don’t get stuck here. You’ve only got to get there. Don’t do it to me. We’re not doing this. We’re not doing this today. Close of wood. That’s where we’re turning around. Why? Why are you doing this to me? Should have trusted my gut and turned around way back when I had the chance. No. Following the T. Why would I turn off? Fine. Happy as a pig in mud. I had the bright idea of jamming all the sticks that I could find in the hope that it might give me some more surface area and maybe a tiny bit of grip. It did not work. It was soon becoming apparent that I could be stuck here for a while and nobody is coming to help me. If I can get myself into this mess, I sure as hell can get myself out. With the days getting shorter and the sun setting earlier, I knew I had to work quick if I had any hope of finding a campsite that was dry before the sunset. I tried everything from using a big stick as a lever which snapped instantly and did not work to using a stick as a hammer to jam other sticks under the tire. I was getting desperate. [Music] Oh, victory. I celebrated early. What the hell is this Turns out that the little hole was the least of my worries. Now I have to try and turn this 220 kilo beauty around in this mud. There could be ice. It is that slippery. What is this, man? If you listen closely, you can actually hear the mud squatchching around my tire. [Music] After all that effort, I was back to using sticks again. I guess this using sticks to dig my bike out is becoming a reoccurring thing. This isn’t fun. Didn’t listen to me bloody gut instinct. You know what? That’s probably good. Maybe I can pull it around a bit more. Nope. By this point, I was really regretting my life choices. Sleeping trackside in the swamp was looking more and more likely. [Music] [Music] Throw this one. [Music] Heavy. Heavy boy. [Music] [Music] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I did it. Oh my god. Let’s work out which way is going to be the best way to get out because I don’t want to get stuck again, otherwise I might cry. What a bloody ordeal. That was not fun. Sorry for yelling. Hope didn’t hurt your ears. Anyway, that was it. I swear to God if I get bogged again, you’ll see a grown man cry. [Music] [Music] All right, [Music] let’s find somewhere to rest our head. I was so exhausted by the time I got to camp. I was thankful for the camp that I ended up finding. This is 1,000% better than the swamp I thought I was going to be spending the night in. And to top it off, there was already firewood there waiting for me. [Music] Good morning. Today is the first day all year in longer than that that I’ve seen the sunrise over the sea. As an East Coast Aussie boy, I’ve missed it. And it hits differently seeing the sunrise over the ocean, even though it’s not really the ocean, but it’s little things, you know. You’ll have to tune back in next week to see the rest of Hemma along with the other two islands that Estonia has to offer. Happy birthday to me, 29. Today I celebrate my 29th birthday the right way, alone with my bike, sending it through the forest.