Day 27

Up and off early with a mission - reach Cherbourg before 5 30 when the 24 hour minibus hire ended ! I was doing countdown on google maps - we had a brief coffee stop and a brief lunch stop - then needed fuel I tracked down a Carrefours on google maps and we headed off the main road I was just panicking as we hadn’t time to get it wrong and there was no town or supermarket in sight but lo and behold - a tiny 2 pump Carrefours station virtually in the middle of nowhere 

Off on the road again, luckily no traffic , and we finally arrived in Cherbourg at 4 50 Tracked down another fuel station for the final fill up,  found the train station where we were dropping the minibus and threw all the bikes out including the pile of cardboard packing out of sight of the car hire depot. Andy returned the van in near perfect condition! I scouted round the station and found a skip for the cardboard ! Andy had repaired the puncture when travelling in the back of the van so all bikes reassembled and we dived in the nearest bar as it started pouring with rain. Luckily by the time we reached the ferry queue at 9 30 it was dry if a bit windy and we were soon all installed in our bunks for a night crossing - puncture problem resolved !