Advertisement
Hello world !
Present location is on board the las Palmas - Huelva ferry about one hour out of Las Palmas. The Wifi here on board seems to have a problem so it will be a while before this goes live.
This morning was an early start with my alarm going off at 05.30 , not really my time of the morning ! After a quick shower I went down to the always amazing breakfast in the Santa Catalina. This morning I had the whole room to myself and enjoyed a nice slow start to the day. I am still not really on holiday because I tend to think in time bites. Fifteen minutes to eat,ten to pack and ten to get to harbor , etc. I look forward to the feeling of not being tied to time constraints…..Holidays !
Leaving the Hotel it was only a short drive to the harbor and I took my place in a line of other bikes also heading up to mainland Spain. Amongst the bikes waiting were several Harley Davidsons another Goldwing and a few Bmws .It was just getting bright and was about 20 degrees so was very pleasant waiting
My right hand
Thanks Sara,Without you it would be impossible. to board.
Finally we were allowed to drive up the ramp and into the ship,this time the ramp was dry. I remember other occasions when it was wet and then it can be tricky with a fully loaded bike. Do not stop at the top of the ramp because there will probably be some one coming up behind and it is no fun to stop on on a steep steel ramp which may or may not be wet.
Securing the bikes is an art in itself and I do recommend you stay until you are happy that your pride and joy is secure.Standard practice is a tie down strap from a point on the rear of the bike to a point on the floor about md bike.This is ok but not perfect. Better is a tie down strap also from the deck middle point to a front location on the bike on the sidestand side and do put the bike in gear.
Another very important thing to watch out for are the yellow fixing point on the deck which are raised several centimeters and are dangerous if you do not go straight over them as the sides are
slanted and if your tyros go over the side then the bike is going to take a fall…How do I know ? Guess !
With the bike secured it was off to find out where I was going to be staying for the next 30 hours. The first thing was getting a food voucher for all the meals on board which costs 30 euros at time of writing. This allows you to use the self service restaurants on board for the whole journey. Breakfast was being served but I was not hungry so I went of in search of my VIP seat. This was the place where I was going to be sleeping as I decided not to get a cabin on the journey to Huelva. I was pleasantly surprised to see the VIP lounge with its large comfortable reclining seats and power sockets. Coffee machines are provided and the whole place has a nice ambience with a large window at the front looking over the bow. there is place to store your luggage and access is provided to the lounge with a swipe card.
The boat is not full and there is a lot of room and
plenty of quite corners to just sit and read or sleep . There is a pool outside and sun loungers are available. The general feeling is relaxed and very pleasant. The children on board seem to be in cages which I find admirable. ( See photo ) The general area should be avoided as it resembles nothing as much as a a zoo with multi colored cages . The noise level is however similar to the ape house at feeding time.I sympathize with the fathers who are bravely sitting opposite the cages and keeping an eye on their offspring who seem to be competing for the Alpha position ie: who can scream,shout,laugh and cry the loudest.
Our first stop is going to be Tenerife where we quickly stop to unload a few and load up more passengers.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.239s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0459s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Claudia
non-member comment
Cool start, cool pics !!!
That sounds like a very nice start !!! And a comfortable boat trip! Wow, 30 hours !!! That's long! Hope, with a CALM sea ;o) (though that wouldn't bother you!) Very nice photo series! Am very eager to read and see more and looking forward to next entries! Have fun & loads of adventure!