After much deliberation we decided to fly to Finland for the International Rally, sadly of course minus a bike, but there are always plenty to look at! 
So we arrived at Helsinki airport on the afternoon of Thursday 31st July and Kati, Kai and Eeva’s daughter (Finnish Club President), was there to meet us and drove us to the rally site at Messila which was about 100 kilometres from Helsinki.  What a great location with various choices of accommodation, camping and small cabins by the lake, and also a hotel and bigger chalets just across the road.  There was a café/restaurant on the site providing snacks, meals and alcohol.
We enjoyed a very special evening with our friends and on Friday just chilled and enjoyed watching fellow Indian riders arrive.  It was great to see Jim Parker with Peter Birthisel. They had flown in to Sweden and picked up Chief sidecar outfits from there and then rode on into Finland.  We had not seen Peter since the Tassie Rally in 2005. He was just having a ball. He could not believe the big mix of nationalities, the camaraderie between them all, and the great atmosphere. Philippe and Bidoen, who were at the First Irish Indian Rally at the end of  June, arrived while we were at the reception.  They had taken the ferry from Germany to Helsinki and had spent a couple of days touring, taking in the many lakes and beautiful countryside that Finland has to offer. AND SO THE PARTY STARTED. 

Saturday dawned hot and sunny and the ride out mustered for an 11.00am start.  Doesn’t it lift the heart to hear the sound of all those Indians?  Our car followed the ride to the first stop where we had a short break and admired the outstanding views.  Our next stop was a small marina where drinks and food were provided and again we could take in the scenery.  Then on to Lahti, the “Finnish Monaco”, a charming passenger harbour with many cafes and restaurants. There was a real buzz there as the rally had been well advertised and a large crowd had gathered to admire the bikes.
From there it was a short ride back to Messila and an excellent buffet which more than satisfied everyone until the evening meal. 
Kai and Kati gave out the prizes. There were 201 people from 14 different countries and a total of 111 Indian bikes and 28 other makes.  There was, as usual, plenty of drinking and dancing and once again another great International Indian rally drew to a close. 
It was perfect, the marshalling on the ride out was excellent, the food was good and plentiful and we even had Indian beer-what more could you ask! Well done to Kai, Eeva and all the helpers who put in so much hard work to make it the success it was.

Can’t wait for the next one in Scotland 2009………………………………

Linda Jeffrey