The weather was terrible for the rest of the morning with high winds, thunder storms and lots of rain. We were glad that we’d packed most of our ‘outside’ stuff away the day before, but we still had to venture out in the rain to carry out the last of the ‘breaking camp’ tasks. Fortunately the rain eased off in the afternoon, but by now everything was once again very muddy, so I ended up hosing everything off at the motorhome washing point so we wouldn’t have to take all the mud home with us!
At 4 p.m. we were all set – Karol nipped off to settle up with the campsite and I got the motor movers engaged, and with a bit of trial and error managed to move the caravan through the mud without getting stuck too often, and into a position where I could hitch up the car. Karol returned and we buckled up and off we went. Or rather we didn’t.
The car was only a couple of feet from the paved road surface but it was too much, and we simply spun the wheels in the mud. After a couple of minutes trying to rock it out I phoned the site reception and asked if they could send the guy with the tractor to tow us off. He arrived a couple of minutes later and we unhitched the caravan, moved the car, and he towed Stavros onto the road. By now we had can audience of about a dozen interested locals, all happily giving us the benefit of their advice – it’s amazing how a bit of drama brings everyone out to have a look! Poor Stavros, it wasn’t a dignified exit!
After that it was plain sailing, and we re-hitched, waved goodbye to our new found friends, thanked the tractor driver, and set off.
Whilst the rain had stopped it was still very windy, and we’d sought advice from a couple of locals as to the best route to get to Rotterdam. The quickest and most scenic way was up the coast, but this is where the wind was strongest, and the advice we got was to go inland on the motorway to avoid the worst of the gusts. Even then it was pretty scary with the caravan being blown around most of the way, but a couple of hours later we arrived at Europort – Europe’s largest. Unlike the ports in latin countries this was brilliantly signposted, the staff were very efficient, and we arrived at the correct dock before 7 p.m. for our 9 p.m. sailing on the Pride of Hull. Getting on board was easy (no reversing!) so before long we were ensconced in the bar with a bottle of red and awaiting departure. P&O own North Sea Ferries now, but it was very reassuring to hear the announcer say in a very strong Yorkshire accent ‘Welcome to the Pride of ‘ull!’ We have missed Yorkshire!
The ferry offered entertainment – a four piece band started playing around 9 o’clock – and they were very memorable, if only because they are probably the worst band I think I have ever heard! They had a singer who couldn’t sing in tune and a guitarist who seemed to think that disco was the only playing style he needed (or maybe that’s all he could play!) – terrible! After one set we left, got into our cabin and into our bunk beds, and settled down for the night.
The crossing was a bit choppy, but it’s a bit like being rocked to sleep when you’re laying down, so both of us had a reasonable night. We docked on time at 7 o’clock and because we were parked with the lorries we got to be one of the first off the boat. Customs took five minutes and we were on the road.
This was the first time I’d driven on the left for over six months so I had to concentrate really hard to remember to stay left (particularly at roundabouts which are my achilles heel) but it was really quite easy, as the roads were so busy it wasn’t really possible to do anything untoward!
Two hours later we arrived at Mill House. It was strange travelling though the village and up our drive, but we were met by a wonderful sight of our garden in full bloom and beautifully tended (thank you Chris and Danny!) and the house too was really clean and tidy (thanks Geoff!) so it was a great homecoming. Not sure how we’ll manage with all this space now, but it’s lovely to be back, and we’re looking forward to seeing all our family and friends.
Thank you to all of you who’ve been in touch, read the blog, and to those brave people who came to visit us on our travels. It’s been amazing!