German/Danish border to Norway

Hirtshals (Denmark) Lighthouse

An easier day today of 225 miles from the German/Danish border to Hirtshals in the far north of Denmark to catch a ferry at 18:00 to Kristiansand in Norway, so no time pressure, taking it nice and easy and stopping often.

The motorways are a lot quieter in Denmark (only two lanes), lots of lorries, and cooler today so not too many inspects. Riding at a slightly slower speed is less tiring as there is less buffeting from the air, and avoids any slight vibrations through the bars (prevalent at autobahn speeds).

Boarded the ferry (a fast 34 knot catamaran) which was extremely dodgy as the deck floor of course being metal was also soaking wet, so was like an ice rink, with grave thoughts of dropping the bike going through my mind, then had to turn ninety degrees on an inclined ramp to park (and strap down again, but at least a bit of variation today as it used a different method).

The ferry crossing is 88 miles and took just 2:15, but was rolling around a bit, which I'm not particularly keen on not being a good sailor.

Spoke to a couple of English bikers from Wales, who it turned out had also been on the Sunday night ferry crossing to Hook of Holland, and they commented on how bad the traffic around Hamburg was. They also had a long day as they went slightly further than me and stayed in Denmark.

I'm now staying overnight close to Kristiansand in a rented house.

So far I've got away with the weather, but the forecast for tomorrow (and the next few days) is light rain.

Hirtshals Fast Catamaran Ferry