To the Netherlands by ferry, again

Going to the Netherlands by train is better for the environment, and faster. But it’s a twelve hour trip if all goes well. And the entire time, you’re very restricted in your movement. I can feel solidly done with trains by the end of my trip. So I wanted to go by ferry again. And then the trip is 24 hrs instead of 12, so you’re away from home for longer for a similar duration trip, but if you have a cat-sitter that’s not much of a problem. So after my last trip, which involved being cooped up in an airlesss space at Bruxelles Midi station for four hours, I booked this one on the ferry from Hull.  

I took the train just after 11AM. It meant I could do the final preparations, like the final packing and changing bedsheets for the cat-sitter, in a relaxed way. And on to Chester I was. And from there to Halifax. I rode through very pretty Yorkshire towns. But slower than intended. I would miss my connection in Halifax! What was the next option to get to Hull? That seemed to be staying in the train to Leeds, and changing there. 

Pretty Yorkshire town (I forget which one)

You see this coming, I suppose; the next train from Leeds was run by a different company, and my tickets wasn’t valid on it. I had to wait for the one after that. At least Leeds has a dedicated water refill point. 

I got to Hull in the end, took the bus, walked the rest, and checked in. It had taken a while, but never had it been stressful. And now I had my cabin.

Approaching the ferry

I had purposely booked a cabin with coffee and tea making facilities, but I had been downgraded due to overbooking. That was a bummer! But I had travelled in with two flasks of boiling-hot water, and only used up one. The other one would be for breakfast. 

I had brought dinner, so I just ate in my hut, got some fresh air, and went to bed. It would be an early start the next day! 

I was woken up by the tannoy. I got some fresh air again, but not too much; it was so breezy it wasn’t straightforward to stay upright on deck. Then I had my improvised breakfast. And packed up. 

Europoort

This time I had the shuttle bus to Amsterdam. It was late, but it’s the only option. And from there, it was easy to get to Amersfoort. Where an end had just come to weeks of travel disruption as there had been work on the rails. I’d made it! And door to door had been 26 hours. Let’s hope I can do it in less on the way back…