Day 13. Lillesand to Risør.
We had half decided that the best option for that night would be to get to Risør itself to be as close to the ferry as possible. Looking at the map it seemed that it would just be possible albeit hard work. There was a campsite close to the centre of Risør and also a hotel. The scenery was again lovely, every now and again a village or hamlet, the sun shone again until it went down that is.
The last part of a journey on a wide main road with light traffic was done with lights on. A friend suggested before we left that we removed all extra weight from the bikes before we left, so the dynamo front lamps bit the dust. At this moment we regretted the decision. The small LED lamps at the front of our bikes were simply not enough to deal with the darkness. Fortunately the road surface was good so we did not have to look out for things that would damage the bikes. For the next trip I have put a good dynamo lamp on and Damae's bike is equipped with a much stronger LED lamp.
We found the hotel (called, in an inspired piece of original thinking the 'Risør Hotel') and Damae went to ask the price. It was a lot of money but we were tired, and the thought of a nice bed, own shower and toilet, breakfast and the proximity to the ferry the following morning made the decision easy. Although we didn't have much time to enjoy the facilities we decided it was a very nice place to stay.
It was now close to 11pm, we took the bikes onto the courtyard in front of the reception and took our bags off and up to the room. The room overlooked the bikes which was comforting. It was light airy and spacious with a nice view over the mouth of the harbour, big bed and a TV.
We had a great sense of relief at arriving in Risør so we decided to treat ourselves to a drink on the terrace outside. I had a beer and Damae a G&T under a large parasol. A few drops of rain fell to cool the evening. The drinks were wonderful and interesting when we had finished. We had eaten several hours earlier and were probably a little dehydrated and fatigued. The alcohol went straight to our heads and we went woozily back to our room.
The shower was excellent and we took full advantage of it to ease our already stiff muscles. We washed a few small items of clothing in the sink and hung them out to dry on the radiator.