I made it…! I had some assistance from the clock on my phone and my iPad, but I was up at 5 and on the road by 6.15 to catch the ferry to Poland. Most things in Sweden are automated. Even many petrol stations are unmanned. You just drive up, pop your bank card in the slot and fuel-up. The boarding for the ferry was no different. You just ride up to the barrier, enter your booking reference, place your passport in a slot so it can be scanned – and it prints your boarding pass. Very easy… I only had to wait about 20 minutes before boarding started and I was the first on the ferry – with a bit of a wake-up call once I got onboard. The deck was very slippery, mostly with water but also some oil. I parked the bike where bikes are supposed to go and the deck there was really slippy.
After anchoring the bike down with two ratchet-straps I made my way inboard and up to the passenger deck – and wow. Immaculate – and not bad for £56 one-way. Besides the obligatory casino – there was an eatery, shop and a couple of lounges.
We got to Świnoujście just after 4pm and then I hit the road. There was road works for about ten miles as they’re building an underground railway to the terminal and also widening the motorway, but after that the road got a lot quieter.
I had about a 25 mile ride through mixtures of lush green farmland and deep dark forests. I had emailed a campsite halfway along the coast to Gdansk but I had no reply, so preparing to ride out into the countryside and pitch my tent I just happened to find a site that was open in a really pretty town called Rewal. It seems to be some kind of holiday resort, and its right on the Baltic coast. It’s a great site; green, quiet and has all the facilities I could ever need – including hot showers. And not bad for £10.
The tent is up and I’m just about to cook up tonight’s delight of ‘Haricots à la sauce tomate avec du pain brun’ (baked beans and bread) all finished off with a cup of Yorkshire’s finest tea. Tomorrow is a long ride as I’m heading to Gdańsk, which is where I’m going to stay for a few days to take in the sights of this illustrious city.
