Last day, sort of...

Murphy's Law. We have a long, boring transit across Germany and France, and this is the best weather day we've seen for some time. Blue sky, no wind. Perfect riding day for a tedious high speed haul.

Munchen, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Saarbrucken, Metz, Reims, Calais, arriving by chance 25 minutes before the ferry sails; perfect timing.

We've seen nothing but motorways today. Sitting on 95MPH, stop for fuel, back to 95. Had to slow to 40 for the French border, but other than that, tedious. Beautiful sky; perfect azure with an elaborate lattice of jet vapour trails.

Finally back in England. I debate routes to get to Dave and Jane's house on Hayling Island, near Portsmouth on the South coast. Given that it's 9 PM on Sunday, I decide to take the M23 to Brighton, then A27 West to Hayling; a simple route, and there shouldn't be any traffic. Correct on both counts. Unfortunately the access to the A27 West is to the East, and thus less than obvious. After an unscheduled tour of Brighton we were on the right road.

Then the rain started. Probably just a shower, but at the closing phase of a long day, now dark and slippery, it seemed like a torrent.

Finally, Hayling Island. 11PM, we've been riding for 14 hours Og tells me... but we have done 830 miles.

For me the trip is now technically over, given that I started from here. Cooper's in St Albans was where we set off together. Like most endings this is a bit of a let down. Dave and Jane are away, but we have keys! The house is dark, we're both tired, and there's no beer in the fridge. Showered and changed, we congratulate each other on the amazing good fortune that we have had that has allowed us to have this huge adventure.

Unwisely, Dave has left a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label on view. Perfectly appropriate. We'll have to replace it tomorrow....