Up bright and early, rising from my spaceous cabin on the Hoek van Holland – Harwich ferry, I battled into the wind across the pleasant English fields to London.
Travelling on the ferry – a massive ship full of shopping and entertainment possibilities – sweeps you away into the holiday spirit. Excited families wander around the multiple decks passing away the time on the overnight voyage. I had a wonderful cabin with shower all to myself. I got an early night for the 5:30 breakfast.
It was sunny in the early morning as I rode off the ferry and turned off onto national cycle path one that took me into Harwich centre along a lovely wooded path.
I was accompanied with a gale force headwind. In Norway I learned a kind of zen acceptance of this. The scenery is beautiful and the wind just means you enjoy it longer. A lot longer.
I followed national cycle route 1 through lots of fields yellow with rape seed.
Route 1 is rather circuitous as it meanders through the countryside. At times I thought it can’t be right as it lead me miles off track. My Google maps route took me to a dual carriageway. In this era of GPS, asking can still be the best way forward.
Lunch became a late lunch as it was such slow going to get to Chelmsford where Chris lives. He came especially from work to welcome me.
Then on to London to visit Leigh. Chris gave me a pleasant and not too long route into London. My plans of cycling past all the tourist attractions before going to Leigh’s were dashed by the wind. Traffic lights were shaking in its force and a double decker bus swayed. The wind made me somewhat later than planned. 🙂
It was good to see Leigh again.
arctic-cycler.com 