Nederlands at Easter Part 1

First van trip in ruddy aaaages!

Way back, on the 4th of January, I saw an ad for 20% off sailings with Stena if you booked by the end of Jan and took the sailing before (I think) August. I had a look, as you do, and priced up a trip from Harwich to Hook of Holland with the van. It was surprisingly economical, so I prepaid some lunches and added on an outside cabin for the outbound leg, which was about 8 hours, and the total came in just south of 380 nicker.

We’d never travelled with them before, my only point of reference being from the dim and distant past when they used to be Sealink, and being very unwell on a channel crossing as a nipper.

However, open minds and all that. The cabin was insurance against there being a chop on the north sea, and handy, as when I googled appropriate camping near to the port of Harwich I couldn’t find anything suitable. We took the frankly unusual decision (at least nowadays) to leave at stupid o’ clock to arrive at the port for our 7am check in. On the night where the clocks change. Leading in to Mothers Day.

Journey was smooth, apart from the whining children who needed McDonalds when we stopped for a quick wee, and were very disgruntled on being given their pre-prepared rations of instant porridge to eat en route instead.

The port staff were very chipper and directed us to the shortest queue to get on the boat. We were given boarding passes, our cabin keys, a voucher for our meal, and a loyalty card to add up points for money off future trips.

We had to drive over a weird overpass to board the ferry, with a 3m height limit. We cleared it no probs, but it’s worth remembering when you have to hand over your vehicle dimensions.

It was a long trek from deck 3 up to the public areas on deck 9, I can see why lots of people choose the lifts, but I still wouldn’t.

Our cabin, for 48 quid, was surprisingly good. Technically a 5 berth, as one lower bunk was more or less a double. Power outlets and an en suite, and a view.

Plenty of room, I can voucher for the comfort of the bed

We whiled away the time in the lounge area, checked out the duty free, bought the obligatory headlight protectors which we always forget and enjoyed some uncharacteristically sunny weather on deck.

Lunch was OK, their menu prices range from about 12 to 16 euro for main courses. Me and KB had a Burger, Madame had a pizza all to herself and the boy child had Mac and cheese off the kids menú. Meals came with soft drinks, and I think we did pretty well in terms of value; it worked out just less than 15 quid each before the discount. Drinks and snacks, however, were pricey. I laughed at the sight of a fruit bowl labelled €2 per piece of fresh fruit!

I am looking at doing something similar for the return leg, or maybe booking their premium lounge – but at 25 quid per beard I’m not quite convinced.

The crossing was smooth, despite the 30 odd km winds. A bit of movement on and off but not enough to make even me feel queasy.

Naps were had, and Lego was bought. Nobody was tempted by the Brazilian Bum Bum cream in the shop.

Tesco mobile starred again with their free roaming in the Netherlands and on clearing customs we headed straight for sunny Brielle, which we visited before here, and was about 45 mins from the port at Hoek van Holland.

I paid 83€ for 2 nights on the field of Berk, including electricity. Reception had closed before we arrived, so I had to beep the bell at the barrier to be let in. I was given a code to a locker with the map and the odd shaped key to get in the John, and we were away.

You might think that late March in a northerly European country could be a bit boggy underfoot, but not here. Nice and firm, and credit to Dutch precision, bang level.

Beers were dispensed almost immediately.