Friday 19th June 2026

 A very hot day. We caught the Stena Line ferry to The Hook of Holland which left Harwich early at about 8.30.

We had a nice cabin for the crossing. Here's Ann doing her exercises!

Our cabin was down a very long corridor on deck 10.

We each had a "small breakfast grill" in the restaurant. I hate to think what a large one would have consisted of!

During the crossing the ferry passed numerous container ships and tankers presumably heading for Rotterdam.

We whiled away the time watching TV in our cabin.

We arrived at The Hook of Holland about 17.15 local time. We had to queue for a long time to be photographed and finger printed by the Netherlands authorties. We tried a nearby parking area but it was full up and the water tap nearby had a leak so we moved on north east for about 40 kilometres which included a holdup seen here.

We tried another potential stopping place in very attractive parkland but within 10 minutes of arriving the police turned up and advised us that overnight sleeping in vehicles was not allowed!

However before leaving we went for a ride/walk around the place, meeting this large dog along the way.

A very nice place. A pity that it turned out to be unfriendly territory! 

We moved on the short distance north east to the town of Leiden where we parked for the night in the municipal car park. It costs 23 euros for 24 hours to park here!

Later on there was a tremendous electrical storm with lightning, thunder and torrential rain which went on for most of the night!

Today we travelled 38 miles (61 kilometres), excluding the distance of the ferry crossing from Harwich to the Netherlands. We are at: N52.1578 E4.4794

Leiden    Street View