Report written by Ninnair Nurmi, WIMA Finland
A group of about 40 volunteers started the preparations already on Saturday the 2nd by getting the road and info signs in place, checking the campsite and decorating the area.
Almost all the rally participants arrived during Monday, in good time before the welcome dinner. There were some problems to start with, an overflowing toilet and a leak in the big tent, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The day was full of action even when we didn’t have anything official organized. People were setting up their camps and meeting old friends and getting to know new ones.
The theme for the Monday evening was medieval times. The kitchen was not prepared to have so many and such hungry people, so food ran out and they had to warm up some left- over soup. It was quite embarrassing but later in the evening people got extra sandwiches and everybody was pleased.
The main event of the evening was the WIMA baptism. People were guided to a hut in the middle of the forest and there we had two shamans talking gibberish (actually Finnish but for most people it sounded like gibberish). They marked everybody with a spot of coal soot and gave them runestones. At the hut we also had three of our motorcycle sisters showing some amazing talent of fire-eating and blowing.
Tuesday’s activity was viewing rock paintings. 100 people travelled to the site, by boat or by motorcycle. Everybody was amazed about the paintings, imagine, they were painted some 3000 years B.C.E.!!! We also had a beach party. The weather was not so warm anymore and the girls wore bikinis over their normal clothes to get into the mood. There were games too, ‘hell-on-wheels’ seemed most popular. After shivering outside it was heavenly to go and relax in the sauna before plunging into the sea. The evening was reserved for karaoke and dancing.
Wednesday was for motorcycle orienteering; there were five places to visit, and time was limited. Once you got to the spot, there was either a question to answer or a task to perform. The funniest thoughts came when people tried to guess what the ice picks were used for!
In the evening, we had the Fantasy Party. There were a hairdresser and a make-up artist to get all guests ready. We had shamans again, a scary troll, a punk geisha, couple of cats, witches and of course the true blondes (wigs) among the party people. The team from Sweden won the contest of the best act with their musical presentation of old TV characters. WIMA Japan presented their rally invitation for 2010 and they got a lot of interest. After the shows there was a Finnish singer, Saija Varjus, singing and later also a DJ giving the beat for the party.
Thursday was the parade! It was quite a majestic sight when about 200 bikes rode from Heimari to Ristiina. We had a polar bear on one bike and a Santa on another. The parade was led by the priest who then gave the gospel at the church of Ristiina. Later there was a market with food and warm drinks and lots of things to buy. In the evening the party was in Metsälinna, a dancing place in Ristiina. They had two bands, one playing dancing music, and the other one a bit heavier stuff. In the middle there were dance instructors showing people to dance square dance. Everybody was dancing their feet off!
Friday started out wet. It was literally pouring, and everybody just waited for the rain to stop but there was at least one girl who was determined to get as many points from ‘MC spin’ as possible. It had 17 places to visit and was intentionally made so that it would be quite impossible to go through all of them. Erica rode 500 km that day when searching for the places around Ristiina and the neighbouring villages. She got the first prize at the evening farewell party. Then we gave presents for achievements in orienteering, ‘hell-on-wheels’ and other activities. Over 100 people got something. Finally, we gave the WIMA flag to USA, it’s their turn to get WIMA family together again in 2009.
