InvictaMoto's Family Travels

The ferry is sorted for those of us coming back on Sunday evening and only £26 return. The few that are staying for another event will have to find their own fares. Sorted.

Cal is investigating the ferry fare through his contacts and it looks as though for the weekend P&O will be looking at abut £40 each. As a quick comparison I had a look at P&O and Eurotunnel on the web just before sending this email (19/03/2015 11:38) -   P&O want £90 and Eurotunnel is £59 for a bike and passenger(s).  All timings to leave around 0730 on the 4th and return 1850 on the 5th July. I guess it is up to the individual to decide which way to travel. I prefer the tunnel and with Tesco Clubcard it is essentially free with the vouchers. If there are some ferry and some Shuttle. I will re-work the gps files and we can look for a suitable meeting place.  I had planned to make a stop on the A26 at the Aire de Rely, about 40 miles form the port for a pee/fag/coffee/other break, and this may be suitable to join up two different groups, i.e. you can't miss it!

Having a few problems fitting the entire trip into the time available and thought that Plan B, anti-clockwise around the fjords, might be a better idea with the Bergen cruise being at the end of the trip rather than at the beginning. Currently the idea is for Claire to only have four days leave, but adding another day would make it more achievable. One  problem is that Google Maps won't plan a route through central Norway along road 55.  I guess this may be that this is because currently the roads are closed with snow and so it automatically routes around this area. a 60 mile journey becomes 197! The same goes for road 63. A 20 mile ride becomes 90! A work colleague says that Google should allow a date to be specified. I am buggered, if that exists, where to find it. Another one, an Android lover, says that the mapping app on there called Here Maps has an easy to find date selector. Sadly, it doesn't work on an iPhone. Using Her...

With the chosen dates almost set in stone due to dog sitting courtesy of my Aunt Yvonne and Audrey, I have been checking the ferries. When there are only one or two crossings a day on the ones we have chosen, it is important to get them booked. Harwich to the Hook of Holland, the only reasonable North Sea crossing for those of us in the south of England, currently coming in at £253 for the return crossing for me, Claire and Dora, inc cabin, it is filling up. The other is the "cruise" from Hirtshals in Denmark across to Bergen in Norway.  It takes 16 hours and arrives about 1230 (lunchtime) so we should be able to get some deck time and see the scenery slide past.  This one is about £150 for the single journey.   Both crossings are overnight for the most part and so we travel as we sleep.  The alternative, of shorter ferries, will use up more valuable day time. I chose August as a gamble on the Fjord weather and also that once we...

Plan A is coming along. The trip is effectively split into two parts. Before and after the "cruise". The before is the shortest.  The ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. Overnight it's about £125 each way including a cabin. That's for two of us and Döra. A couple of longer days to cover the 600 miles to Hirtshals and then the cruise section. Hirtshals to Bergen, another overnight arriving at lunchtime the next day. And that leads us into 400 miles of fjord and around three small ferries like the one that featured in " The Heroes of Telemark " movie! Without the saboteurs I hope! Steadily moving ever northwards, through Olden, where we stopped off on the cruise in 2013. The cruise that gave me the inspiration for a bike trip to Norway and the fjords. The final ferry of the day takes us to Molde and the most expensive stop. Hotels are few and far between as you move north. Using the Visit Norway website...