On The Move
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2003
Have you ever manoevered a van onto a ferry? Why are all those men gesturing at me in such a strange way? Ah... they want me to squeeze in tight between those huge articulated lorries! No problem, I will just close my eyes and pray!
We piled out of the van and just made it up the stairs before the ferry
pulled away from the port. At this time, the swell was almost non-existant,
so we could walk fairly convincingly without that embarassing spectacle of
looking drunk! After the drive, the one thing on my mind was
'Where are the facilities'
so that was my first port-of-call. Having negotiated
my way through that particular procedure, the next good idea was to grab a
drink. The boat was most definately a Dutch-run vessel, so it seemed
sensible to change my money into Guilders. This accomplished, we all,
eventually, found a bar where hot drinks were the order of the day.Towel Master realised that he needed to go back down to the van, but soon returned, saying that the noise from the car alarms was unbearable.
Then I made the mistake of deciding to explore. The ferry had sailed out
from the safety of the harbour by now, and had found the swell of the North
Sea. It became increasingly more difficult to walk without lurching from
one side to the other. Towel Master had the sense to put his head down and
catch some sleep... I have a feeling that the last hour of the drive had
drained him of all energy! I rocked and rolled my way about the ship,
investigated the Duty Free shop, which was not particularly exciting, and
then eventually found a great place to sit... right at the back overlooking
the huge propellors. The highs and lows of the conditions were immediately
apparent from this position. It was absolutely the best place to be
sitting! It reminded me of my last venture on a yacht, when we were caught
in a sudden squall and had to high-tail it back to Gosport before
capsizing. The waves created by the thrust of the boat versus the force 6
conditions out to sea made for great viewing.
Eventually, I was found by my uncle, who dropped very large hints that he
was feeling hungry. Back to the bar, and, believe it or not, Tom and Jerry
cartoons were showing alongside a fairly wacky video playing on the big
screen; this seemed to have picked just about the worst pop tunes ever
written/performed and piled then all up together. I stuck to watching the T
and J!
The pitching of the boat started to ease, signalling the imminent docking
in Holland. We waited patiently to be told to rejoin our vehicle... at
least this time TM was driving. We disembarked with no problems, straight
through customs... also with no problems ( I suppose that most people are
trying to smuggle items OUT of Holland, not in! ). The drive home was
comparitively straightforward, although we were caught up in the evening
rush hour. We arrived at last and, first things first, a warm drink and a
short sit down.
Then the fun really started! TM contacted Kheldar, and he and Clown MCP
came over to help offload the van. They did it in an amazingly short period
of time, although the boxes with my music in them nearly finished Kheldar
off completely! So, I was here at last! Time to break open a few drinks...
well... quite a lot actually. Clown MCP kept us all well entertained with
his jokes of a somewhat dubious nature, but we survived and eventually made
it to bed!
The next morning we were all up and about fairly early. TM had to work, and
I had to drive the van back to the ferry so that my uncle could return it
to England. I was a little nervous about undertaking this journey, but it
went remarkably smoothly... driving on the wrong side of the road isn't so
bad after all! I made the mistake of going straight to the check-in desk,
where I was unceremoniously dumped out of the van by the check-in woman,
who was trying to get us to pay for two tickets back to England. I said a
hasty goodbye to my uncle, and headed to the cafe to wait for my trip
home.
