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| young seagull posing |
After spending the night at the parking directly in front of the ferry, we took the one leaving from Dunkirk at 8am.
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| Entering the ferry at Dunkirk |
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| Leaving Dunkirk |
We arrived at Dover shortly after 9am (British time) and drove straight up to the castle, which didn’t open before 10 am, even the parking was closed.
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| We reach Dover Castle .. |
When they finally opened the gate, we were told that we are too big for their parking. We had to go to a different one on the other side of the castle. There was enough space and we finally purchased our English Heritage pass and entered Dover Castle.
We were very impressed, especially by the Tower and its interior. There was even a fire lit in the kings room with a game of chess in front of it.
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| Playing chess with King Henry the 2nd 1168AD |
We also went on a guided tour through the tunnels where the importance of Operation Dynamo – the rescue of the troops from Dunkirk in WWII – was well presented.
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| office desk @ the tunnels |
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| Communication center of operation DYNAMO WWII 1940AD |
Back at our parking, we took a short walk to the landing spot of Louis Blériot – the first pilot to cross the channel by plane.
In the late afternoon, we reached the Samphire Hoe Country Park, which was created by using 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl from the Channel Tunnel excavations, which were dumped in front of the White Cliffs of Dover. It was a great place to go for a walk and relax a bit. (51.105335, 1.276306 – Parking only during the day, fee 1 GBP)
For the night, we decided to try our first Caravan – Pub at Dungeness – the Pilot Inn. We had a nice supper and could stay the night. Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe. But there is also a nuclear power plant.
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| Dungeness shingle |
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| Fisherman’s home @ Dungeness |
read on: England Part 2