We woke up to a misty morning in Essex, but the mist soon burned away to give us a fine, sunny day. Our overnight stop was only about 30 minutes from the Stena Line terminal at Harwich. Check-in for the crossing closed at 9.15am, so we set off with plenty of time to spare.
Gertie started off boarding with the big boys, but was soon separated into an area of campers, combis, and motor-bikes. She didn't feel quite so intimidated! We pulled up behind a happy group of Dutch travellers who told Gertie not to be so shy, and to come right up close behind them.
The human part of the team went up about five flights to the passenger deck, where we settled in for the seven-hour crossing. We were able to watch as the ferry pulled out of Harwich. We sailed right past Landguard Fort — there's not much you can see of it from the seaward side, which is all to the better when you come under attack! We also saw the cranes in the harbour, so busy yesterday loading and unloading the container ship, now standing idle.
They served a great breakfast on board, and we took advantage of that, then settled in for the crossing. Suzie did a bit of knitting, and Warren a little editing of blog files. Even though they do have WiFi internet on board, it is so slow as to be unusable, so he had to content himself with offline tasks!
At lunchtime, we opted for fish and chips. Bad choice — the fish was nowhere near what you get wrapped in paper on the blessed isles, and the chips might have been cooked the day before! But the green peas, a British Isles specialty, were canned and probably from Argentina — and the word 'green' didn't apply — perhaps more a prison grey! Oh well, c'est la vie.
After lunch, we decided to go into the cinema and watch the new Man From U.N.C.L.E. film. Once you got used to the sense of humour, quite good! And Hugh Grant was an unexpected bonus as the coordinator of the group.
Just as we came out of the movie, we found we were pulling into Hoek van Holland, and soon had the call to return to our vehicles.
As we drove away from the ferry, and through a very friendly and cursory passport check, we were back into continental Europe. The Netherlands is all we remembered — canals, more canals, farms, windmills, glasshouses. We had forgotten how well the roads were built and marked out — other countries should take note (especially the UK, with its confusing markings on roundabouts!).
We drove up the A4 towards Amsterdam, but decided to stop short, at the 'Aurora' rest stop just at exit 6 from that highway, to give Suzie's brain enough time to readjust to driving on the other side of the road again. We spent the night in the company of our usual big brothers, and some interesting green Daleks.
Distance driven — today, 52 miles ( 84 km ); to date, 28,971 miles ( 46,625 km )
Ok, You got me. What were the Daleks? penny in the slot toilets or tents. Now I have seen a real Dutch windmill or three. Are they still used for grain crushing, or housing? The ferry trip looked interesting stuff but sorry about your soggy lunch. You should have chosen a real Dutch dish I reckon. What Will cooks is wonderful. Hope you had a bit of a rest in the 7 hours as well. The roads and signs are great-should recommend them to Australia too, though once you are used to ours they are not too bad. it looks as if the indication arrows on lanes at intersections are earlier visible than ours though and in some cases save u turns down the wrong road to get back to where you wanted to go. Power to gertie and love to you both-Suze I include you as the mid editor too iif you'd like that. Moo will give me all the Schtick i need in detail with english, referencing etc! That is if you both agree to the roles in time. One of my supervisors is ultra competent the other I'm not so sure of-seems more reactive and self-involved than pro. Anyway, will pliug on as i promised them for the next month. They wanr about 40 pages-got three done on the 4 Standards docos I have to keep in mind yesterday. The new ones are much better than the older ones, as they needed to be, so feel like skipping the older ones and just commenting on the improvements in the new ones. But the old ones have informed this first year, so am making brief comments anyway. I think the new ones must have been Gazetted first then released to the net later, hence only recent access. Must get myself enrolled to receive health related gazettes. Nough ramblings. I think I would have slept the 7 hours on the boat apart from the film. Anyway have fun and be safe. Love Cathy
ReplyDeleteDaleks -- check your Doctor Who! Probably the most constant menace the Doctor has faced in all his lifetimes. Known for the one phrase 'Exterminate! Exterminate!"
ReplyDelete