Heathrow-Copenhagen-Keflavik (Iceland)

 



My test was negative! And so I finished packing my things this morning, checked all my documentation several times, gave all my snakes fresh water and headed out the door for the drive to Heathrow. It should have been simple from here....

Not knowing how many people would have decided to fly abroad, not knowing how long the Covid paperwork checks would take and the usual faff of getting my bike checked in at oversize baggage, meant that I had left bloody early for the airport.

My brother, Paul, had also reminded me tgat it was a weekend and therefore part of the M4 would be shut, meaning a non scenic detour through Dachet was necessary.  We arrived with hours to spare.

I had my usual struggles with the bike in the bag, thanks to the bollards that are not wide enough for my bike to fit through on the trolley,  meaning an awkward and undignified side shuffle holding on to the bag balanced precariously lenthways. Then check in...

My paperwork was examined ... they chatted amongst themselves... 'Why are you going to iceland?' as if the bike in the bag was not a big enough clue... 'holiday' I answered. 'Will they let you in?' was the next question...

Well yes, because I'm vaccinated. PCR test... yup done. When? Less than 72 hours ago... and so on. Seemingly satisfied they printed my boarding card and directed me to the bag drop... where I went through all my paperwork again. This time, I had to show the information on the danish foreign ministry website to show that it required a PCR 72 hours prior to landing in Denmark, not 48 hours as they seemed to think... Fingers crossed and a few deep breaths later I was through bag drop and headed to outsize baggage to place my bike on the conveyor belt. I prayed to the cycle gods that it would arrive at the same time and place as me and in one piece.

Then security, which was a much simpler process. I've gotten good over the years of travel of negotiating this obstacle quickly and cleanly. Sometimes they ask to search my bag as powerbanks and solar panels come up as wierd objects on the scanner but this time I was through cleanly.

All in all it was pretty quick and so I found myself sitting near the departures board waiting for my gate to appear with over 3 hours to wait... more preferential than having to run to the gate... which I have only done once in my life, and I blame my brother for that!

There were few people compared to normal times, but it felt like  more as every other seat was boarded off with a sign. The usual people watching commenced... people with masks around their chin or under their nose....

The time actually flew past and in no time I boarded my first flight to Copenhagen. The flight was short... the coffee goddam awful and my hope that I had a row to myself was cruelly dashed. Of course it had to be the awkward ones that sat next to me... charging phone on takeoff, keeping their tray tables up during landing and generally making a pain in the backside of themselves. We landed to the setting sun, glinting over the Malmo bridge. 

I had been there before, what seemed like a good aeons ago to see Mike Peters play.. the memories of which played on my mind as we touched down. I looked down to see my shadow dancing in the reflection of the setting sun. And then through the airport.. fingers crossed they accepted my Covid test less than 72 hours before. Smiling at the border post checks... they actually stamped my passport (a Brexit advantage... more passport stamps!! 😂)

And then more waiting for my now delayed flight which will see me get into Keflavik at just past midnight... it's a long day! As I sit here in Copenhagen aiport I'm trying to decide whether to put my bike together tonight... or get up early and do it in the morning... my mind already turning to the challenge ahead. A little flutter of excitement wriggles up... suppressed until I am sure that I will be let in. Despite my careful research and planning, there is still a slight worry that something won't be accepted and I will be turned back at the border.

The next flight took off at the scheduled 30 minutes late... meaning a 0030 arrival in Iceland.. not ideal for sure but beggars and covid holidaymakers cannot be choosers. The flight was uneventful and the 3 hours were passed without any sleep which will get me used to the days to come...

That said.. having now been up over 18 hours I was starting to feel a little sleepy. That all changed as the cabin lights came on and we touched down with a bump... I had made it. Question was... had my bike made it to?

As I was sitting right by the emergency exit, for once I got off the plane first and made my way to the baggage hall. Everything was in English as well as Icelandic so I had no problem finding the oversize baggage drop off... that and the bike sign urging cyclists not to put the bike together at that point but to go to the 'bike pit', a specially designated building with workstands and tools and pumps. However my plan had already been formed without seeing this excellent example of welcoming cyclists and I queued for a taxi... of which there were few. I appreciated the fact that it wasn't cold as I stood there and decided that maybe I had been a little overzealous in packing clothes. I had packed slightly more than the normal amount... (1 more pair of socks) in case of cold weather  but as soon as I started wondering if I should leave some clothes at the hotel with my bike bag, I shut off the thought, aware that in the highlands the weather may be a good deal cooler than here. Still, maybe I wouldn't freeze in my tent after all!

A taxi to the hotel was pretty simple, though the cost extortionate for such a short journey and crept into the hotel at gone 1a.m. I decided to put my bike together tonight and then sort the kit out early tomorrow... or today as it was. Surprisingly, despite my weariness, and without help from the trusty mechanics at AW Cycles (though I did wish that they were here in that moment) I put together my bike... all the pieces fit back together and even the brakes were mostly ok. I will have to do a slight bit of adjusting tomorrow (my favourite task in the world) but otherwise pretty happy with my early mornings work.

So now lights must go off and I must get some sleep for tomorrow/today the adventure begins!








Comments

  1. Darren, sunderland9 August 2021 at 00:14

    It sounds incredibly exciting mixed with stress . Very impressed with the bike assembly area at Keflavic airport. Enjoyed reading this .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneChallengeAtATime9 August 2021 at 00:47

      I was less excited and more stressed yesterday but now all the stress has gone and excitement is left... that amd tiredness😂😂

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 - Buenas Dias España

Image
I know who I am... Sonia knows who she is... Neither of us need 'to find ourselves'.. And yet we are about to become pilgrims.  Today we find ourselves in Lugo... the start of our Camino Primitivo, one of the many routes to Santiago De Compostella. The plane ride, courtesy of Ryan 'we will charge you for anything extra' Air, was short and sweet... A row of seats to ourselves and more legroom than I remember. Sonia almost missed the entire flight having nearly nodded off in her row of seats before coming to join me in my row. Having landed and seeing something we remembered from the dim and distant past... blue sky and sunshine.. we strolled out of the airport, to the bus ticketing office, conveyed our need en español for 2 bus tickets to Lugo and then sat and waited.. Sonia said it reminded her of Barbados... I think we were looking at a different view. That said the forest that stretched out beyond the airport as far as the eye could see did look really pretty.  The bu...
Read more

Day 2 - Where the fcuk is Ponte Ferreira?

Image
  Lugo is a lovely walled town but I was appreciating it less this morning than last night. I had taken a while to get to sleep last night, in part because of the man taking a long shower in an apartment above us, so it sounded like it was pouring with rain outside, and partly because the wind was whipping through the shutters and making a terrible racket... Sonia had drifted off straight away but it seemed the pseudo rainfall had woken her up... so sleep for both of us was a little broken.  We got up pretty early, it was still dark, had a quick shower and then packed up our kit. There was just about room for all the food we had bought and I was pretty pleased with how neatly I had squared everything away. My pack though not light was a decent weight and felt balanced when on my back. Something had gone a little awry with Sonia's packing though and her rucksack sat at a jaunty angle on her back. Happy enough though, so we set out ready for our first few steps on the Camino. As...
Read more

Day 3... Hard hits

Image
  Day 3... My day started early, though possibly not as early as it should have. My bent brake disc had resisted all attempts to straighten it despite sweating over it for an hour. I gave up and then couldn’t sleep so when my alarm sounded this morning I hadn’t really had much kip. I did not spring out of bed for sure. In fact I might have turned the alarm off and dozed off again. Essentially it didn’t really matter because the bike shop I had identified on google maps didn’t open until 0730 and in my head, remembering the last time in Ecuador that I stood outside of a bike shop and they didn’t open till 10am. Still I got there by 0830, an hour after google said it was open... no dice. Shutters down and no soul about. It did have a phone number on the sign though so after a moments hesitation called it. A chap answered and told me it would open at 9. He sounded a bit sleepy, I think I woke him up! About 10 minutes later another call from the bike chap... where are you.? Outside the...
Read more