Cycle: 58.65km//3hr14min//18.09km/hr
Thursday September 5
Woke early packed up to a great sunrise. Sadly, the Kust Route ceased to exist at the Belgian-French border, leaving us to contend with riding on a major road with no shoulder, fast moving traffic, and the industrial surroundings that go hand in hand with a major port town. Typical, we missed the 1200 ferry by 30 min and had to wait until 2 for the next sailing to Dover. Boarder patrol was was tight, Madalene questioned on how she was funding this trip given she was currently unemployed and previously a lowly student. When emphasis was placed on 6 months being the MAX we could stay in the UK without needing a VISA, Madalene replied: "the weather is going to be crap in a month anyway".
Found a spot on the ferry to sit and watch ENGLISH news, and quickly started talking to Paul (a fellow cycle tourist) who was on his way to surprise his sister for her wedding near Nottingham. He saw us loading our bikes on the ferry (we're hard to miss amongst all the cars, we look a little out of place) and we happened to sit right beside him. Turns out Paul had just got back from Medicine Hat (he enjoyed the floods). After talking for a while, Paul offered us a ride to Nottingham! We happily agreed after talking to him long enough to realize he was good quality. Dover to Nottingham is no trifle distance! As in, over 3 hours car drive. Little did we know he would drop us off in the real Sherwood Forest ! We went from camping in empty dunes along the Belgian coast to camping on lush green grass under a huge weeping willow by a babbling brook, complete with swans, ducks, and loons. A strange and sudden change.
First impression moving from the Continent to the UK: Pounds....even worse exchange rate than Euro....and heavier coins (not ideal for cyclists)! ![]()
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| Coffee in Dunkirk. Jenn encounters the French Freeze. |
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| The ramp up to the Dunkirk - Dover ferry. Car drivers can't go up when we're on the ramp. So, sometime they have to wait for us. We become 'those cylists'. |
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| Paul offered us a ride on the ferry! We accepted, and then proceeded to fill his lovely clean car with two grubby bicycles, 8 well-used panniers, 5 water bottles, a carton of eggs, and god knows what else. |
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| Organized chaos ??? Maybe just chaos. |
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| The cliffs ! |
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| After being on a bike for a month, being in a car feels strange. Objects move by so fast. The wind doesn't matter. Great distances can be traveled so quickly, AND you can talk the whole time! |
