The last day of the road trip would take us to Hull to catch the return Ferry
PO-Ferry
So that was it then, almost the end of the Scottish tour. Our last real Scottish breakfast at the Abercorn Guesthouse was as good as we had come to expect and afterwards we settled the bill and waved goodbye to Angela (Willie was at his work). We were heading for Hull to catch the return ferry but as we didn’t feel like driving behind all the commercial traffic on the A1 down through Newcastle we took the A68 through Lauder, Jedburgh, Corbridge to rejoin the A1M at Darlington.
At Jedburgh we took a break to get a coffee and look round the old town. Jedburgh is known for the ruins of it’s 12 century Abbey.
South of Jedburgh we passed through the Northumberland and Kielder National Parks region which is almost as good as driving in Scotland. In places the road takes on a switchback character and Elly was complaining that her stomach was in her mouth at the crest of every rise in the road. As we got closer to Darlington the road tends to lose it’s open, rural character and the towns and villages seem to be closer together.
Back on the A1M it’s too crowded to give the Beamer it’s head and it’s just a question of following the traffic especially through the major roadworks taking place. We stopped once to fuel up and get some refreshments but all in all it was an uninspiring drive. Just before reaching Hull we stopped at Goole to call at a Tesco supermarket for some shopping (things we can’t get in Holland).
After that it was a short drive to the ferry terminal which we reached at about five o’clock. They had already started boarding so we were on board within minutes of arriving. Once on board and checked in we dumped the case in the cabin and took a walk round the ship. On inspecting the self-service restaurant, which was included in our booking, we decided to pay the extra for the ‘a la carte’ restaurant and booked a table for around seven. This didn’t disappoint with good good food, wine and service. The ‘a la carte’ breakfast the following morning was also included in this change. Here are a couple of photo’s on the ship.
Postscript:
After leaving the ship the following morning it was a real shock to be driving in the madness of the A15 round Rotterdam in the morning rush hour traffic. After more than a week in the relative peace of the the Northern British Isles I had forgotten how crazy the drivers can be. If you visit the Netherlands, beware!