Day Four

16/05/25 - Day Four


I woke to my alarm at 6:30am, the ferry to the Netherlands was at 9am with check in closing 45mins before. After 5 mins of squirming around waking up I braved the chill and unzipped my bag and began packing away my things. I left at 7:20. I hope I get more efficient at breaking camp as I didn’t even cook breakfast, and that just seems like an awfully long time to be faffing around. 

I cycled back into Harwich and grabbed a meal deal for the ferry, before rolling down to the port. It’s a bit of kick to cycle through places you would normally drive, like passport control and along the ramparts and onto the ferry. What was even more of a buzz was the euphoria of leaving port, the sense that the journey had only really just begun in earnest! I watched from the outside deck as we pull out of the estuary and into the sea. The journey itself was 8 hours of filling time and completely uneventful, except for being told off for lying down - how naughty of me! I was asked at Dutch passport control where my final destination was, “India I hope”. 

I had heard about the cycle lanes here before my arrival and I must say they really do live up to the hype. I sped away from the port on smoooooth tarmac, ecstatic to be in another country, cruising at 17mph like it was nothing. I sang to myself happily and shouted “hallo” at some random Dutch passersby. After 8 miles I reached my home for the night: Marleen from 'welcometomygarden' had allowed me to pitch up in hers. I met her dog Becky and she showed me her little warehouse-type building which had a sink and toilet for me to use. After a short but sweet chat she went inside and I pitched my tent and cooked. I wondered whether I should have bought her a gift, but reckoned I couldn’t buy everyone who hosts me one as I wouldn’t get very far! 

As I wind down for bed  and write this I think about how much I’m writing and how little has actually happened yet. Maybe I will become more concise as I progress or maybe I will just end up writing more. Whatever happens I must focus on the journey and having the experiences that I want to have and not be so wrapped up in the documentation. 








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