DAY 14: THE FINAL DAY ABROAD: GOTHENBURG- KRISTIANSAND- NEWCASTLE

I awoke at 6am. I think I had suddenly remembered that when we tried to find the Silja ferry terminal in Stockholm it had proved very difficult, and I was now getting worried that Gothenburg might also prove to be lacking in signs.

By 6.30am Anna and I had showered and Olivia and Sandy were getting up. WE went down for breakfast, and by 7.15am we were almost ready to leave for the 15 minute drive to the DFDS ferry terminal. I had a map showing the route, but, due to the total lack of signs, and some rather confusing signs that were there, I was soon sure I had made a wrong turning. That's when the panic set in!

I found a hotel, and marched in to reception with my map. The guy at reception told me we were not the first to have asked him this very question, and we were only around 10 mins from the ferry terminal. He told me very calmly which roads to take.

His directions were spot on! But we saw the DFDS boat, the Princess of Scandinavia only a few hundred metres away before we saw the first ferry sign on the road! By now it was just a case of following the traffic! Phew!



Our cabin, 4611, which was of a good size.


The boat left Gothenburg at 9.45am, heading for Kristiansand. Our cabin for the return journey was a good one- much bigger than the one for the previous outward journey's due to it being the end of a corridor, no 4611. If we ever do this journey again, I'll be asking for this very cabin!


Relaxing on the DFDS boat, after leaving Gothenburg


The pool area.

After lunch, as it was getting brighter and warmer, we decided to head to the very top of the boat, and the open air swimming pool. Sandy and I went in, and it was actually very warm!



Sandy and Dad go for a dip!

We stayed at the top of the boat, sunbathing, till around 4.30pm when we got a good viewing point to watch our arrival at Kristiansand.


Arrival in Norway!

As we were watching cars driving onto the ferry, I said to Anna that I recognised the man just along from us. I went over, and it was indeed Barry Allsop from Haddington, who had spent a week in Gothenburg! A small world indeed. Barry asked if we had room to take an extra bag of his in our car, which we were happy to do.
We then fed Olivia, and headed to the Heaven 11 cafe for some dinner.



Sailing across the North Sea...homeward bound.

At 9pm, Sandy and I went along to the children's disco on deck 7. Sandy's a bit of a charmer- he had a couple of Swedish girls running after him- and they were at least 8 or 9 years old! He also brought a girl called Veronica over to introduce to me- she was 9, and lived in Norway, but was on her way to Scotland on holiday.


The next morning, Monday 24th July 2006, we arrived back at Newcastle right on schedule at 10am, and were soon disembarking and driving back up the A1 towards Scotland and Dunbar.