London & Holland April 2014 Day 3

Monty the Motorhome is parked up on Deck 3 of the Stena Hollandica ferry, hoping the motion will not make him seasick, as diesel everywhere would be such a mess.

Day 3 dawned with us still at Abbey Wood. After a quick breakfast we travelled to the Westfield shopping centre at Stratford, East London, where we met up with Rachael again. Ruth and her went off for some retail therapy, while I visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This purpose built area for the Summer 2012 Olympics is adjacent to the shopping centre (which must have loved the crowds attending all the sporting events) and had only opened two days before for the public to wander at will.

The Space Age entrance to the Aquatics Centre

The helter skelter, otherwise known as the ArcelorMittal Orbit

I visited the Aquatics Centre and walked around the ArcelorMittal Orbit area - now open for ascending to the top and viewing London from a unique perspective, or at least that's what the publicity blurb promises - all for the heady price of £15. I contented myself with snapping away with the camera at ground level.

It is certainly a fascination area and I should have ventured further to view the Copper Box Arena and the VeloPark (the main Arena is still not open), but time was pressing.

Ruth and I had lunch with Rachael before waving her off on her journey back to Norway. Always a sad moment, knowing it will be some months till we meet again.

However we had our own foreign adventure to pursue, so it was back to Abbey Wood and a bit of a siesta before setting off to Harwich and the overnight ferry to Holland. The ship sailed at 2315hrs and we had boarded by 2200hrs. The ship is huge - one of the two largest super ferries in the world, carrying 230 cars, 300 freight vehicles and 1200 passengers. Having said that all the passenger interest is on Deck 9, with bars, restaurants, sitting areas etc. It didn't take us long to look around and get our bearings, including the most important bit of reconnaissance - where breakfast was going to be served in the morning. Then to the cabin - an inside one, with bunk beds, but it served it's purpose. We were in bed and just about asleep when the boat departed.

Monty trying not to be seasick