8. THE OVERNIGHT FERRY...

It was Monday. We'd had a fabulous weekend in London with family and friends, attended a wonderful wedding and now it was time to continue our journey.

We decided to fold and bag Tandy and carry everything between the two of us. This decision was made after Friday's nightmare but it soon became apparent that this method wasn't any easier. Loaded up like pack horses we set off walking to the train station. L was wearing the rucksack, I was carrying both panniers, one over each shoulder and jointly we carried the bike bag between us: A handle each. We needed to stop every 50yards for a rest and we took up the entire width of the pavement as we struggled ever closer to the station. After a while L resorted to carrying the bike bag alone with the handles around his neck. I could see his neck veins bulging as the straps restricted blood flow, The last thing we needed right now was for L to pass out, luckily this didn't happen. In return I also carried the rucksack.
A crisis was narrowly avoided when whilst trying to manoeuvre the bike bag through the disabled ticket gate...the handles ripped. Luckily not completely off but enough to make carrying even more awkward. We gained a lot of perplexed stares at Waterloo...

Our time in Portsmouth was spent trailblazing from one bike shop to the next, very reminiscent of Milton Keynes. We found a little repair shop who fitted a spoke from the 'not quite the right size' extras we had from the last time. The bicycle chap was very helpful and did the job for £10 which was refreshing after the last place charged over £50!

Sadly our Yorkshire charm was no use when it came to the Brittany Ferries lady. The only way we would be cycling onto the car deck was if we handed over an extra £50. Yorkshire pockets are deep. Tandy was swiftly bagged up and we hobbled on as foot passengers with all of our bags. There were no cabins available when we booked the overnight crossing so we were allocated reclining seats which as it turned out didn't recline an awful lot, much to L's dismay. Those more prepared had brought air beds and sleeping bags and found a space on the floor. There was no way we were unpacking the rucksack to get out our sleeping mats so we made do with the not-so-recliners and a fresh set of clothes for in the morning.