Brom and Mouse go on a long trip

Coocoo

Well, that was a looooooong trip. First Mara packed the car. Then we drove to Stavanger where we would take the big overnight ferry to Denmark. We were early, but there were already some other people waiting in the queue. Since we had to wait, Mara got out her knitting (yes, really) and continued with another friend. Finally we were able to check in and then we had to wait some more.

Perfect

Mara said the ferry had to come from Bergen (further North in Norway), but it finally arrived and we were able to drive on. Then Mara collected her little overnight bag, us and her handbag (with knitting) and we went upstairs to find our cabin. It was a beautiful cabin and it even had a television. Me and Mouse divided up the beds, but Mara didn't think it was such a good idea and in the end she slept at one side of the bed and me and Mouse slept on the other side. 

Mara said no, even though they were proper beds!

We say slept, because where we did sleep like hibernating bears, Mara did not. She says that boats and sleeping are not good. She always gets seasick and even though the sea was not rough at all, she didn't get sick and she didn't hear any of the other passengers due to a great pair of earplugs, she felt every single up and down in her stomach! Up and down and up and down...

Well, okay then...

In the middle of the night she woke us both up, because she couldn't sleep at all and decided she would work on the new friend! But, in the end she did manage to get some more sleep. Finally the lady in the roof told us we were close to Denmark and that it was time to get up and get some breakfast. And when breakfast was over, we went back to the car and waited for the ferry to arrive, so we could disembark and drive home. 

The view from our cabin at the front

Denmark is very different from Norway. It is almost flat! But it was just as wet as Norway: a lot of rain and rain and more rain. But, the music was going, the gps was set (only 850 km to go) and the car was going great. After half an hour though, the rain stopped and the sun came out. It got warmer and warmer and Mara had to turn the airconditioning on. Then we had to stop: Cookie the Car needed a drink and Mara needed the opposite. On we went...

I got a stamp in my passport!
It says that we were on the MS Stavangerfjord!

We got to Germany (still flat, still sunny and warm) and passed Hamburg without too much trouble. We drove on to Bremen, where we got stuck in a traffic jam. We lost some good time there. But, we passed Bremen eventually and made our way South again. Another traffic jam, this one even worse! But, we passed that one eventually as well. We saw the first sign for a Dutch place, but it wasn't the way we were going, so we ignored it and drove on. And on. And on.

Let's go!

And then all of a sudden, we drove in the Netherlands. We were getting close! We were ready by that time, because we had been in the car since early that morning. One more stop (thirsty Cookie, opposite driver) and then the last stretch. We entered Mara's hometown, then the suburb, then the street and then we saw the house! In the end our car journey had lasted from 7.45am to 6.30pm. Without any long stops, but even though Mara was very tired, she was not doing badly at all. The nice food and the big bowl glass of wine probably helped get her getting right on top of things again!

Finally we were home!