Ye Olde ENGLAND

What a rush that Eurostar trip is, it seemed like only a few minutes spent enjoying the french countryside and we found ourselves on the other side of the channel & catching a taxi to pick up the hire car.

Naturally the first task was setting the GPS to find our first couchsurfing host, Harold. He lives on a small family farm in Barham, bit of a jungle with multiple delapidated buildings but if you ignored the outside the interiors were just fine and we had a lovely chat round the fire before a very comfortable night's sleep.

A day spent walking round Canterbury was first on the agenda for the UK. We started off with an historic cruise along the Stour to orientate ourselves, very interesting. Then the Cathedral, the Roman Museum and ruins (amazing mosaics), Saint Augustine's - the birthplace of christianity in the UK, a walk on part of the city wall and a wander round the ruins of the Norman Castle. All this was interspesed with breakfast at a cafe & lunch at the Dolphin Pub. 

With aching legs we headed back to the car and it was off on a bit of a scenic drive round the countryside, picture postcard at every bend, before dinner at the local (the Duke of Edinburgh) and home for a fireside chat & hitting the sack.

What glorious weather, we definitely brought the sunshine with us!

A day at the seaside, if that is what you can call shingle. Tankerton, with its cute little beach huts literally hundreds of them in colourful rows overlooking the Estuary, Whitestable, Margate, Ramsgate, Sandwich, Deal and every village in between. We had a lovely day, trundelling through the area, touring Deal Fort, window shopping, eating bread rolls on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean, just another perfect day. Made even better by the fact that we weren't walking all the time.

Deal Fort

The evening turned into a late one as Harold held a belated birthday party for a friend and about 20 locals turned up for a BBQ and a few ales/wines. It was just lovely, what a eclectic group of friends, one man who had spent the first 53 years of his life in Wollongong of all places, he is planning a cycling holiday in Germany with his wife this summer, the 'birthday girl' is a music teacher and her son, who is woofing here with Harold at the moment too, is a great pianist so there was live music and singing round the piano. A few drops of rain didn't deter anyone we just moved into the barn, then back out by the fire when it stopped. One of the guests was a chef so he whipped up a storm of lovely salads.

Farewell to Barham, Harold, his brother Ralph & sister Phillipa (how traditionally english are those names eh!) and off to Dover to wander those classic White Cliffs, it was surprisingly hot, slapped on the sunscreen, chatted to a 'copper' while we kitted up for the walk. 

Our first view of Dover Castle from the main road, had to stop for a photo op! HUGE

We did however, before we started the walk, succumb to the temptation of a serving of 'Kentish Cream Tea' at the information office/tea rooms. Yummmmmy, fresh baked fruit scones (the lady had to shout out to the cook to see if they were out of the oven yet, they don't come any fresher than that). Grant chose blackcurrent jam since the tea was officially for him and the two scones were served with clotted cream (OMG) as well, then a pot of tea (which held over two cups full) and a jug of milk. I had a coffee and we shared the scones since we are both dieting!!

Our diet morning tea, at least we did share it

The heat was a bit overwhelming really but we managed to walk a couple of miles along the cliff tops, the views of Dover Harbour were amazing. Although there was a little haze we could make out the coast of France and the Channel was a hive of activity with ferries, cruise ships and freighters plying back & forth. I overheard one english lady say it was more dangerous to cross the channel that to drive on the motorway, that wouldn't surprise me. Something we did find unusual was the number of people sitting on the top of the cliffs with chairs, picnic baskets and binoculars just 'ferry spotting', that is an upmarket version of 'trainspotting' I guess, maybe they just grow out of one activity and into the other as they get older.

The white cliffs of  Dover, it is impossible to do them justice with a simple photograph

A quick stop at Dover Castle for a photo opportunity. We didn't want to do the tour as we were short of time, it was quite expensive and we have seen quite a few castles now so there is a limit. Magnificent structure though, you can see it from just about anywhere as it dominates the skyline and to top it off it is in wonderful condition.

Next port of call was the Battle of Britian Memorial on the road between Dover (where the ferries cross) and Folkstone (where you go underground to France via the tunnel). What a moving memorial it is, so beautifully maintained & the massive list of those killed in just a few short months certainly brings home the futility of war but also the bravery of the few.

Grant had watched a documentary about flying spitfires etc and wanted to visit the Battle of Britain Museum too, which was only a short drive from the Memorial, so I am finishing the typing of this section of the blog as I wait in the carpark. Planes and war memorabilia don't really interest me but Grant loves that sort of thing and he will enjoy the visit more if I am not there nagging him 'are you finished yet'.

Oops, didn't make it to Brighton as we had planned, so we are staying at a pub in Pevensey on the coast between Hastings & Brighton. Had a wonderful dinner though and the room is really nice too.