We have really been lucky with the weather so far. Even though it has been very windy the rain has only been threatening us with some short showers or sprinkles. Riding to the harbour in Hoek van Holland it was indeed very windy and we were struggling on the highway. It felt tough enough, but then imagining what it would have been like with heavy rain on top of that it still didn’t feel that bad. We arrived just in time to check in and were instructed to surf the queue and get on the ferry in front.
We got on board and tightened the bikes as hard as we could. The sea was rough today and we sure wanted to find our bikes in a healthy position the next day. With us on the boat were two old elderly BSA riders coming from a biker event in Germany. Seeing this couple and the luggage load they brought, I really feel I’m travelling light. Amazing though that old people still do these things.
When we got settled in the restaurant we saw that it now rained heavily. We felt lucky to have made it on board prior to that. The night at sea was rough and the sleep was scarce. In the morning we were woken up at 5.30 and already at 7’o clock we hit the road. We had a full day of riding ahead of us, mainly nice smaller roads. The weather was getting better and better as teh day was progressing. We saw lots of signposts to be aware of bikers and different kinds of warnings. Apparently, this was a red route and we did notice that traffic was rather stressful. For us, it was a bit difficult to keep the exact speed with the conversions from miles to kilometres but it seems like most cars and bikes were driving rather fast and their overtakings were sometimes risky. For example, we were overtaken a couple of times before roundabouts when we were hesitating on where to go. Since we ride with Estonian and Spanish registration plates and with luggage you would assume that people would show a bit of patience, it is obvious that we’re not local, but no.
Riding was wonderful though, very scenic and sunny. We chose a route up north from Harwich passing King’s Lynn and Boston. In the small village of Spilsby we had lunch and a siesta. Very much needed due to last night’s bad sleep and early morning. Filled with energy we pushed on to Grimsby and passed the Humber Bridge – awesome scenery!!! Surely worth the 1.20 pound the toll cost. Later in the day we met huge amounts of bikers riding south and we learned that there had been a bikers event up there. The last bit of the ride was through the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and I’m sorry, but no pictures can describe the beauty we saw.
Our stay in Whitby was in a hostel, amazingly enough integrated into the Abbey itself and overlooking the whole village. Some late evening pictures were taken during our evening walk.
Vilka härliga vyer det ser ut, med mysiga engelska hus. hoppas ni inte får så mycket regn. Känns det konstigt att åka på fel sida av vägen?
Mvh Hasse
England är underbart vackert, the moors, the dales and the cumbria mountains ger fantastisk motorcykelkörning. Lite annorlunda än övriga Europa dock, måste tvinga hjärnan att tänka vänster hela tiden och titta höger…