Day 2
The crossing was a bit rough and when I awoke in the small hours I started fretting if I’d left my bike in gear. My bike jacket was also making an irritating noise sliding against the wall as it swung on it’s hanger so I put it on the floor. It was a long time before I got back to sleep due to an uncomfortable cabin bed and an uncomfortable body.
I was woken at 7am Europe time by the gentle tunes of the alarm announcement that then informed us we’d be arriving a bit late. I guess due to the headwind.
It took a couple of coffees and some damp sea air to completely wake me, and a breakfast roll from the onboard café got me feeling revived, ready to face debarkation.
The motorbikes were last off as usual but I was the seventh bike of over a hundred so felt a bit smug as we started engines half hour after landing. When we got onto solid ground I was just following bikes in front but then realised we were going down an empty lane that didn’t have a passport control. The bikes in front just pushed in front of an adjacent lane of cars but I didn’t have the gaul. I was about 10 cars back when I’d realised so cut across to another lane and explained my mistake to the people I was butting in front of. No other bikes came after me so I think port staff had got wind of what was happening. As it was it was at least 30 minutes, probably more, for those cars to be processed. There were just the four manned booths checking passports which had now be fitted with finger and face scanning tech, but no computer questionnaire about funds and accommodation. I dread to think how long people at the back of the queue had to wait,ust have been several hours.
The first 50 motorway miles were in the dry, with an easy ride at the 60 mph speed limit to my first planned service station stop, just before the Belgian border. This seems a lot easier than I feared.
After fuelling up and a little rest it had started raining and my satnav was now showing a 30 minute delay around Antwerp. I did consider my plan B of a non motorway route, but I didn’t have one preprogrammed in satnav and decided to stick to the motorway, at least that’s easy in the sense that its a simple route, even with delays, how bad could it be? Let me tell you…
Stop start crawling trafic for going up an hour. Torrential thunderstorms. Satnav putting me in lane and onto wrong motorway. Detour through urban area around Antwerp to get to correct motorway. Loosing my battle with bladder control forcing a detour down a residential street where I found a children’s playground, with large bushes and thankfully no children. (At least there was a sunny interval at this juncture.)
Once back on the correct motorway I was finally in free flowing traffic and only light rain until my next service station. This section of my route should have be 40 minutes and it took two hours!
It was now 1:30 so I ate a prepacked sandwich standing next to my bike, whilst the smell of sewage blew by. 
Belgium reminds me a lot England. Crap roads, endless roadworks, and generally a bit shabby.
The motorway around Brussels was thankfully mostly congestion free, but the nearly constant rain for the next hour or so left me with cold rain running into my boots and down my neck.
A coffee shop at another services gave me enough oomph to slog on until I finally turned off the motorway to ride through the (still damp) hills and forests to get to my B&B. And would you believe it, after I parked up the sun cam out!
The resident cat seems to like my bike. (Eeek, did know place had one.)
Was so glad to get out of wet clothes and get a shower before putting on dry ones.
I’m the only person staying here so got lounge to myself.
The friendly and hospitable host brought me a selection of hordeuves with pate and hummus he’d made himself. 
I then adjourned to the restaurant area for food.
Before relaxing in lounge with another beer to write this, feeling warm, happy, and dry. 
)
) !
things seem to go wrong on you…and are you staying in Belgium? I only ask because there’s no mayo all over your chips. Anyhow, fed and watered, tomorrow is a whole new day. Bonne route! 
, character building they say. Looking on the bright side you did manage to escape arrest in the childrens playground. 
The whole day had been even with the wet bits.
