So this afternoon the bike was loaded up again ready for the journey to Harwich and a ferry to the Netherlands. Once again I’m travelling with David, I have to admire his resilience in putting up with me. Generous person that he us, he picked me up and drove us to Harwich, thus avoiding a lot of hassle, though no doubt at the expense of amusing material for the blog.
Once at Harwich the first job was some refreshments. We were parked up by the foot passenger terminal, which instead of offering a welcoming environment with many retail outlets, was more reminiscent of a post zombie apocalypse shopping centre. Basically a huge hall full of empty plastic chairs and two hopeful but early passengers and one very sophisticated vending machine and nothing else.
Having read the instructions I opted for no 32 tea with milk, no sugar. Then to the strength, strong , normal or weak. I chose normal and the machine went into action. What came out cannot really be described as tea, I suspect if I ever saw bilge water in the ferry it would look like that. I managed a few mouthfuls, but it was totally foul.
Thirst quenched and bikes assembled we headed for embarkation. A new system meant we were herded into an area with tables and benches, luxury ! and told we would get priority treatment and check in first. We would see !
True to their word we were first through passport control, but then as always with ferries, it’s a long wait before you can actually board the ferry.
Finally we were onboard. Bikes stashed, off to find the cabin and then proper refreshments and fish & chip dinner, then rest before the journey proper starts tomorrow.
Sounds like a gentle start even with a lack of hospitality facilities. Maybe you should have broke out the outlaws present! Fingers crossed for good weather, smooth roads and cholesterol free pit stops.,
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Hope it goes well! Andrew