All at Sea

At we waited we watched the weather. Raining in the south of England according to those who had made the journey from that direction. The hope was that it would not rain here before we got on the ship. We knew it would be raining in Bergen. We had accepted that weeks ago. The joke is of the young boy when asked by a tourist in the middle of a shower if it always rained in Bergen and he replied ' how should I know, I'm only 12' Slightly more scientifically, we had been directed by Eamon to try the http://www.wunderground.com/ site which has massive databases of weather conditions by location by date going back years. No matter what we tried, this said it had rained and would rain in Bergen when we were there. The Irish Coast Guard confirmed the view. So make the most of the dry now!


We had plenty of time to do that as there was a delay of an hour before we could board. The Captain said it would not effect the Norway arrival time so that was all right then. We repeated yesterday mornings exercise of tying the bikes down. A bit more challenging as DFDS did not supply as much or as clean equipment. My travelling companion ( I need a nickname here to protect the innocent: lets say B cause he drives the blue bike!) took no chances and anchored the rear with a second tie. Where he got the piece of carpet for the saddle I just don't know: some are just more prepared than others, I guess. I only had a twenty year old square of terry cloth: figured S&A no longer needed it. Still others took a more relaxed attitude and simply sauntered off to the upper decks leaving their bikes to be sorted, or not, as the case might be, by others. Can I skip ahead here and tell you this crossing was like being on a mill pond and the bikes were as safe resting on their stands as they would have been on a level street...however...remember this anecdote for the return journey!


The ship was huge and it was a good idea to take a note of the door, deck and stair colour by which we climbed from the car deck. We found our cabin; two beds, not bunks, and a sea view. Great. Then we went to explore the ship and watch as we sailed from England. Loudspeakers played triumphant brass bands as we left the berth and it matched our mood exactly. A new part of the adventure had begun.

The journey would take over 28 hours but DFDS had copied a Disneyland idea for passing the time - everything seems to have its queue! We queued for a snack, we queued to book a time for dinner (we had already booked and paid for the meal itself months ago!). We still had some time to play with before the meal so...off to the movies.


The film was “Wild Hogs” Tim Allen, John Travolta, and Peter Fonda in a cameo role, are among the actors in this film which, according to the official site is about "a group of of middle aged men who decide to rev up their suburban lives in a freewheeling motorbike trip. Taking a long dreamed of breather from their stressful jobs they can't wait to feel the freedom of the open road. As they go looking for adventure they soon discover they have embarked on a journey they will not easily forget." Appropriate or what?

Every biker on the boat was there. We filled the cinema. Brilliant atmosphere. Roaring to get started. A group we had met earlier raced in late in enthusiastic good form, ran along the row ahead of ours, and dropped into the seats in front of us. Big guy that dropped into the seat in front of me. Pity that. Might have been better had it been the woman. She was smaller, and lighter. You see the snag was I had my foot in the gap between the seat and the floor. He thought I was giving him a hearty push in the back as a kind of greeting. I though I had most of my foot in the gap between the seat and the floor. Painful. Don't put your foot in the gap between the seat and the floor. The film was brilliant: get to see it and I'm sure you will enjoy it. Don't put your foot between ....

Dinner was good on board and it was a pleasure to eat the buffet meal. A really great selection of various foods to suit all tastes. We had to have several helpings just to be sure we did them all justice.


Back at the cabin 'next door' was a bit rowdy. B asked them to be quiet. He has a way of doing that. They were quiet. We heard no more from them till we rose at at 07:30 and were on deck for our arrival in Stavanger at 08:00 – on time. Bikers were first off: I wondered why some had no helmets. They were left to linger in their queue as cars were cleared and then they had their immigration and customs check. When the immigration officer tapped one on the head I realised the others had anticipated the need to remove their helmets (or not put them on to be precise) for an identify check. Lesson learnt.


Then we had a good breakfast on board and got our first taste of Norway as we made our way along the coast to Haugesund and then on to Bergen where we arrived - on time at 16:00.

We 'did' Bergen including checking it's McDonald's in the few hours to darkness. Ah yes. Darkness. Seems to be a bit elusive here. This town was hopping. The harbour area was packed with boats filled with revellers: a floating Temple Bar. Making the most of the sunshine. Yes indeed: after weeks of forecasts it turned out that we got a lucky break and managed to arrive in wonderful sunshine.











Next morning were were up and ready to go early. Now, finally, we were on holiday in a country we had not been to before. Each of the bikes had been serviced recently. Each had brand new tyres. Each had a full tank of petrol. Dammit each had been cleaned and polished only two days ago. We moved away from the hotel, carefully reminding each other to 'drive right' Nothing left to chance. Lets go !!

We would not go very far. Around the very next corner ...