Only had 40 km to do today, but my ferry was at 3:30, so a good incentive to get going. Coffee and Porridge (with banana and honey) for breakfast, while trying to pack up for the ferry. It’s 30 hours on this leg, so need to bring a pannier with me – but packed completely different that normal. I never mix liquids with any clothes or sleeping gear, and now I’m putting my wash kit in with my clean clothes – it’s bound to be a disaster!

The way to Hirtshals was one of the nicest rides I’ve ever done (following cycle route 1), through forests, fields and little villages. Nothing you can put your finger on, just really pleasant. There were plenty of other cyclists out, and it looked like really good mountain bike single tracks laid out in the forest. Really tempting if I didn’t have 20kg of luggage.

While I normally say that I got swooped upon by an “eagle”, I’m pretty sure it was one this time. It swooped across my path about 10 metres away, brown/black plumage with a yellow beak. It was huge, as it glided off into the woods rolling and aligning it’s wings to fit through the trees (easy 1m wingspan). I cycled on clasping my camera, but it didn’t happen again.

Got to Hirtshals in good time, obviously kept thinking my back tyre was going down, or my watch had stopped. The big challenge was to buy some meths for my trangia stove, as I think it might be harder to get moving forward. I’d not seen it in supermarkets, so the forum advice seemed to be “every petrol station has it”, but the girl in the first was bemused, and didn’t even know what it was in Danish. So on her advice I started on the supermarkets, with success in number 3, Netto. It’s a big relief to have fuel, and some interesting food – completely boxed Sunday lunch, do we have this?

I

then cycled to the ferry check in, then straight past loads of camper vans, 4×4 “offroaders” and a few cars/caravans. No other bicycles!

I was made to cycle up a big ramp to the upper deck and directed to a corner, where I strapped it down.

Then up to find my “couchette” which I booked as the cabins were very expensive (especially for one). I found the couchette on deck 2, below the car deck, so this may have been a compromise too far – I’ll let you know tomorrow.

The voyage to Torshavn, Faroe Islands, takes about 32 hours – will it be fun? The Iceland v Argentina game is on the TV…..