Ferry - Across the North Sea

Ferry - Across the North Sea

'Singalong' to 'Ferry across the Mersey'...

A walk up to Tynemouth, the usual visit and a browse at the 'Land of the Green Ginger', and then the compulsory fish and chips at the Fish Quay. This is all so close to Newcastle, we are minutes away from the coast and the seaside. Going the other way, we can be in the most desolate moorlands, valleys and hills of Northumberland. I should get a job as Head of the Tourist Board for the North East :)

We have been on the Ferry many times crossing over to mainland Europe. It is always great fun, and still feels like an adventure with a sea crossing that can be beautifully calm, or occasionally, Force 9 rough! The cabins are basic, the food is pretty awful to be honest, the bar is cheap, and the evening and night time entertainment always hilarious. This includes the inevitable multi-talented band and dance troupe from Rumania or somewhere in the Balkans (they are amazingly good !), the passengers (including us who walk about and do laps as we are bored), the little creche (where little kids submerge themselves in the coloured ball pool), the Hairy Bikers (there are always lots of these on Ferry Boats as they love going to the Alps and zooming down the Autobahns), the Lorry Drivers (lots of these who inhabit the subterranean and troglodyte world - formerly known as 'Steerage'), and last but not least, the hundreds of Dutch motor home owners and their hoards of tall blonde kids - some cute but some terribly behaved).

Nostalgia is kicking in....we will have to do another voyage to Amsterdam soon...