Day 27: Hirtshals, Denmark to Sefjord. Norway. 217km by bike, 4 hours on the ferry.

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It has been lovely to be back at the Sea Front Hirtshals Hotel in a familiar place.
Not for long. 
Time to do some laundry and to listen to a storm crashing around through the night.
All calm in the morning.
 Fuelled on herrings for breakfast Dick took me down to wait to board the Colorline ferry.
A crowd of men on little motorbikes collects behind big girl Orlanda and Henry on his Honda.
Young Vidrar is quietly excited as he perches on Orlanda and is inducted as a junior Team Kiwi member.

The four hour Super Speed Colorline ferry trip is comfortable for us and there is more space for the bikes on this ship.
The crew put on live singing and dancing performances for the children. Much shrieking with delight.
We see lots of people doing duty free shopping. Not an ounce of envy. The only spending we do is for fuel, accommodation and food. Life is very simple on the road. 

I realised toward the end of our time in Iceland that I had begun to compose songs again. First a tune hummed inside the helmet - lovely reverberations in there. Then some words. I am not concerned with retaining them. I just love the sense of freedom and joy that allows this to happen. 
It takes a few weeks for all the 'other things that colonise my mind' to fall off the back of the bike.  
I have just looked back and on the post on day 21 I quoted From the Song of Songs 2:11-12
The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth;
The season of singing has come. 
 
 

 

 
Vidrar.


Children are having a lovely time on the ferry.
 
 We are off...
 
Through too many tunnels to count as we leave Kristiansand in southern Norway.
 
 We stop for a break 100km up the road.
I asked some locals to interpret the menu. Basically a  selection of hotdogs or baked potatoes.
So here we are having a sausage in a bread roll with fried and raw onion and mustard. 
A reminder of Iceland.
 

 
We ride through many km of tree lined roads with white 'cut here' marking along the edge.

 
Some road works to exercise our off road riding.


 
Ah... The sun shines in Norway.
 


 
 Lots of wonderful twists and turns...
 

 
Typical houses today
 

 
 Home for the night. Sefjord Hotel.
 
Vegetarian ravioli with ricotta and mushroom sauce, green asparagus, beetroot sprout garnish for me and moose burgers, vegetables and lingonberries  him.

A lovely start to our ride in Norway.

Comments

Stuart said…
It's a pity you weren't in Iceland to witness its greatest triumph so far - Iceland 2 England 1, and Iceland are in the quarter-finals playing the hosts France. The whole squad is to receive the Order of the Falcon.
29 June 2016 at 02:05
Pearlsonwheels said…
An amazing achievement for a country with a population of only 332,000.
5 July 2016 at 19:07
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