We left Saham Hills with a fond farewell from family and friends at 12pm (probably a minute after if you ask my Father!) and headed off via a trip to our good friend Stuart's for another photo shoot.
Watton high street was strangely bare of bunting, flags and well wishers. Clearly no-one had informed the town of our leaving!
The rest of the journey to our first stop of Stowupland went largely without incident, although a map would have been better than Google Map directions (fine in a car, not great on a bicycle). We also discovered Suffolk is not flat! I suppose the clue is in the name 'Upland'
We cannot recommend the accommodation in Stowupland more, a lovely roast dinner, beer & wine, three very sweet children and a comfy air mattress. Kelly and Tom, we cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. It was good to see Karen & Ben again as well. Good luck in Antarctica guys.
The journey to Harwich was a bit of an eye opener to the challenge ahead. The road was considerably hillier than we had expected and the gears got a proper work out. Only on a 10% gradient do you start to realise how heavy the bikes are when fully laden.
We eventually made it in to Harwich at about 5pm, only to find out that the Ferry terminal is not in Harwich! I am sure most people would have checked first, fortunately it isn't too far out of town.
We made a quick stop at Morrison's to stock up for breakfast, then went to check out the boarding procedures. The boarding didn't start until 8pm so we headed to the pub for a quick dinner and pint. At least it would have been a quick dinner if there hadn't been a power cut!
By the time power had been restored and we had been fed, it was nearing 10pm so we rode straight onto the Ferry and found what turned out to be a very nice cabin.
Would loved to say we toasted a farewell to England as we pulled out of the port. But the truth is we each had a can of Heineken we didn't want and fell asleep ready for disembarkation at 7:45am European time.
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