Day 1-4. Odense to Kristiansand. The fast ferry to Kristiansand.
We then raced down to the ferry terminal, the road to it was being changed and hence was mostly closed off. Picking our way through the roadworks we managed to cut off a few corners, and hit the queue. Damae presented our booking details and a couple of minutes later we were standing next to the motorbikes watching as other cyclists (including the DGG) arrived. One German couple turned up with heavily laden bikes. The man had a Cannondale bike with four panniers and a Bob trailer. I asked him if he had brought enough stuff to which he replied wryly that he wasn't sure. Damae read whilst I got bored. In an inspired moment I discovered a map of Kristiansand and photographed it. We'd not been organised enough to get a map to the only campsite in Kristiansand so at least this was something.
We were happy that it had been a successful start to our big tour. We had had plenty of time during the day, and had made all the connections on our schedule, plus we'd cycled around thirty kilometres in the sun.
As we waited, more cyclists turned up and Damae announced that she had finished the first of her books. To avoid boredom she grabbed her camera and indulged in some Damae bicyle art. I chatted briefly with a Norwegian couple about cycling and we agreed the Danish NSCR was hard on bikes. Then all of a sudden some excitement as all of the cyclists were waved on before other traffic. I whizzed past the crowd of slower cyclists up the ramp and was first on parking my bike where the crew said I should.
The crossing was uneventful apart from the fact that the boat was heaving. This was our first experience of the high speed boats that had come into service after our last crossing in 2006. It was pleasant enough with a selection of duty free shops and places to eat. There was space enough to sit but I found the mass of high season humanity a bit overpowering at times. Damae buried her nose in a good book whilst I played with my EeePC and looked at the few photos I had taken with my new camera. As the sun started setting I went up on deck with my camera and enjoying the view took a few more pictures. On the way up I saw the the DGG again, but he had disappeared by the time I headed back down to our seats.
After a much shorter crossing than in 2006 we arrived in the port of Kristiansand. On the car deck we met up with the German couple and the DGG, and vaguely agreed to go and find Kristansand campsite together. I was not the only one trying to map read and in the end the DGG was a lot sharper and seemed to know where he was going. We were quite pleased to arrive at the campsite and to find the reception was open. We only found out the following morning how much they charge for this convenience. The space for late comers was a rather lumpy section of ground right next to the entrance and mercifully close to the toilets which themselves were servicable if a little dated and grubby.
As tents went up around us other ferry passengers turned up. It would have been 'gezellig' if it hadn't been so late and dark and cold. Considering we were still learning how to put our tent up we managed to get everything sorted rather quickly with Damae pumping up our Exped down mats for the first time this trip. Then it was time to hit the sack. The rain that had been threatening and forecast set in as we snuggled into our sleeping bags and lulled by that and the wind we quickly fell asleep.