Well put simply we would. Having booked to travel to Amsterdam some time ago our excitement mounted as the holiday came nearer. But that gave way to listening to, reading all, dissecting all weather reports about the upcoming Storm Dennis. Pete gave me various Geography lessons as to how to interpret the shipping forecast. Catching snippets about veering wind directions etc it didn’t put me at my ease one bit. But to be honest it was quite easy to read that all hell was breaking loose round the coast as the whole area was enveloped in red!
Really hard to know if this was going to be the storm of the century or a way of deflecting the news away from what the Tories are doing daily. Flights cancelled, warnings not to drive and stay put and batten down the hatches. On the way rain lashed down and we passed police cars and car mangled having gone into the central reservation. All seemed like the run up to an apocalyptic film.
DFDS began cancelling ferries down south but steadfastly resolved to continue with the Newcastle to Rotterdam ferry. Pete explained that up north the coast can be more sheltered depending on the wind direction but deep down I think it’s because up north we are made of sterner stuff. No actually that’s a lie, I think that up north we are deranged.
Traveling up to the ferry port I furiously oscillated between googling air b and b sites around Northumberland , convinced that the ferry company would come to it’s senses and cancel and the DFDS twitter account gaily emojing that it was Valentine weekend and it would be going ahead. I twittered away to Pete, saying that if there was a Titanic situation he must think of himself and not me, save yourself I said. To be honest, not exactly the sentiments you should be having on your way to your ‘jolly hols’.
Got to the port. All seemed calm. Picking up our berth keys etc I commented that I had expected it to be cancelled. The DFDS worker looked askance at me and slowly explained that they always run. Of course! How utterly stupid of me to expect that a ferry would be cancelled because of what was being touted as the worst storm ever.
In fairness going through passport control etc at the ferry port is far more civilised than at a airport. Really stress free. Sharp knife in your bag? Who cares! Bottle of liquid? No worries. However, you can’t carry on alcohol. People were stopped and searched but we were waved through. I have a sneaky suspicion that my very large and obvious burn on my chin caused by a molten cherry tomato possibly put them off. I do look like some kind of plague victim.
Even up to the point that the ferry began to move I really thought that they would relent. But off we set and all seemed very civilised and relatively calm.
We pottered round the ferry and the various bars. Stopped at one to have a lime and soda. At this point things started taking a surreal turn. Having asked for a lime and soda the barman poured the soda into a glass and then picked up a bottle of brown liquid and added it to the glass. Since when is lime juice not green? Questioning my sanity I tentatively had a sip. Whatever was in the glass was not lime juice. Sheepishly I called the barman over and apologetically explained that I really wasn’t certain that it was lime juice. He shrugged and picked up the said bottle that clearly was labelled ‘coconut syrup’. But still he insisted it was lime juice and explained that yes the bottle was labelled ‘coconut juice’ but in fact lime juice had been decanted into it. Standing there incredulously my mouth began to open and shut, trying to get the words out to say what utter bollocks his explanation was. Another big shrug and said glass was whisked away. ‘I’ ll get you another one’. He went to the back and in his hand was carrying a bottle of…. Roses Lime Cordial. Surely he had noticed one was bright, lurid green and the other bottle was brown.
Later we went to the cinema to see David Copper field. All very pleasant and just the hint of a gentle swell below us. What do those weather forecasters know I thought!
Actually…… Quite a lot as it happens. After midnight the cabin began to take on a life of it’s own as we climbed over waves created by force ten gales. Up, up, up, up went my stomach, then crashing down again. Then repeat,up, up, up, up and crashing down. All my insides swooshing around, head throbbing as brain seemingly doing likewise. The anti travel sickness tablets were working. Although you can’t be sick if you’ve not really eaten.
Lots of places to eat on board.
But very pricey. Mains around 30 pounds. Not much point if it’s probably going to reappear.
In fairness I probably had about the same amount of sleep as I normally have.
Pete was above me in the bunk counting in his head backwards from a 100 in the vain attempt to take his mind off being violently sick. Then trying to remember all the Dr Who’s when they didn’t seem to be working. {Having passed on the anti Seasickness tablets earlier in the day, as of course…. He is never ill on a boat: he rushed to shove them in his mouth.
So here I am counting the seconds until we dock. The motion now is just up, up and then down, down. I feel like I have had an involuntary work out in the night. Cannot wait to put my feet on dry land…..except we are delayed by about two hours. But the sea is a bit calmer.
Random Acts of Travelling 