Wednesday 29th August.
Today we decided to make use of the car and go touring.
How far could we go? It looked like it was going to be another great day. How lucky are we!
So it was down to the M3 and on to the M25 and having gone the wrong way delayed our progress by at least half an hour. Back on the right track-heading south we set off to find the M20 and on to Folkestone and Dover.
On this motorway, which is only a dual carriageway we were dismayed to see, thankfully on the other side, a huge truck being retrieved by a breakdown vehicle, causing a 7-mile traffic queue! I don’t think I’ll ever complain about traffic snarls in Sydney again having seen that. They do have a fantastic system where you can ‘push TA’ button on the car radio and get updates on the status of all the major roads in the country. It just unfortunate if you are stuck in one of the jams but at least you get to know why and very often it’s just as a result of traffic congestion. Too many car and trucks! Keith would be very familiar with all this I’m sure.
When the motorways work its possible to cover miles and miles very quickly at a steady 80 mph. Luckily that’s what we were able to do except for a few places when we were reduced to 40 or 50.
We wanted to get to the coast and it wasn’t long before we had Dover in our sights having of course stopped off for the morning’s cup of coffee.
As we came down the hill we could see the white cliffs, the ferry terminal with some loading and many others making their way across the channel to France, which we could see clearly across the slatey grey ocean, shimmering in the bright sunlight. It looked so close.
We parked the car in the town centre and walked around the mall. The Roman painted room, the local museum we could only give a cursory glance to.
Dover Castle towering above the town looked very majestic. What a shame we didn’t have enough time to check it out.
It was then back to the car and chopping and changing our mind we decided to travel some of the B roads.
Along the B2046 it took us through some great countryside. Rolling hills, sheep grazing and farmer’s busy working, ploughing up and down doing what farmers do.
Lunchtime saw us at Wingham and the Red Lion. Ploughman’s lunch for Beatrice and a Tuna Jacket Potato for me was a good pub lunch. Once again we had to have a look around and find something out about the place, which we were told hadn’t change much in the last 172 years. Up on the wall was one of the journals, which were used in1750 when it was a local court, showing all the details of the proceedings etc? Many black & white photos all over the place added to its charm.
The foundations of the inn date back to 1285 and can still be seen.
Near Hearne Bay we could see out in the distance built in the shallows waters of the pale slate ocean a huge wind farm.
Houses in rows like Lego land. The rolling Kentish downs to the chalk white cliff and to the beauty of this county of Kent.
Here we could also see the Turner like yellow skies, the high cloud, the filtered light,
He really captured it so well and can be seen in most of his paintings.
We really could have stayed here and enjoyed the people and a few more drinks, but it wasn’t to be, as we had to keep on going, we were a long way from St.Margaret’s.
2.30pm and at least a three-hour trip home and not knowing what we might find on the motorways we set off.
Would you believe it, not congestion, not a breakdown no queuing we were home before we knew it. Even avoiding the trucks pushing their size about by pulling into the middle lane with hardly a blink of a light and the white vans bearing down on you we managed to stay out of trouble. No overtaking on the inside here, except for a couple of idiots, the motorway discipline is good; keep left unless overtaking is followed by everyone with most cars doing at least +80 mph or more! Strange really as the speed limit is 70 on the motorways. Saw some police and had the satisfaction of seeing them pull over one of those ‘white vans’, which must have been doing at least 90 to have been stopped.
It all very safe as long as you hold your own, keep up with the traffic, watch out for trucks pulling and of course those dreaded white vans.
Today we decided to make use of the car and go touring.
How far could we go? It looked like it was going to be another great day. How lucky are we!
So it was down to the M3 and on to the M25 and having gone the wrong way delayed our progress by at least half an hour. Back on the right track-heading south we set off to find the M20 and on to Folkestone and Dover.
On this motorway, which is only a dual carriageway we were dismayed to see, thankfully on the other side, a huge truck being retrieved by a breakdown vehicle, causing a 7-mile traffic queue! I don’t think I’ll ever complain about traffic snarls in Sydney again having seen that. They do have a fantastic system where you can ‘push TA’ button on the car radio and get updates on the status of all the major roads in the country. It just unfortunate if you are stuck in one of the jams but at least you get to know why and very often it’s just as a result of traffic congestion. Too many car and trucks! Keith would be very familiar with all this I’m sure.
When the motorways work its possible to cover miles and miles very quickly at a steady 80 mph. Luckily that’s what we were able to do except for a few places when we were reduced to 40 or 50.
We wanted to get to the coast and it wasn’t long before we had Dover in our sights having of course stopped off for the morning’s cup of coffee.
As we came down the hill we could see the white cliffs, the ferry terminal with some loading and many others making their way across the channel to France, which we could see clearly across the slatey grey ocean, shimmering in the bright sunlight. It looked so close.
We parked the car in the town centre and walked around the mall. The Roman painted room, the local museum we could only give a cursory glance to.
Dover Castle towering above the town looked very majestic. What a shame we didn’t have enough time to check it out.
It was then back to the car and chopping and changing our mind we decided to travel some of the B roads.
Along the B2046 it took us through some great countryside. Rolling hills, sheep grazing and farmer’s busy working, ploughing up and down doing what farmers do.
Lunchtime saw us at Wingham and the Red Lion. Ploughman’s lunch for Beatrice and a Tuna Jacket Potato for me was a good pub lunch. Once again we had to have a look around and find something out about the place, which we were told hadn’t change much in the last 172 years. Up on the wall was one of the journals, which were used in1750 when it was a local court, showing all the details of the proceedings etc? Many black & white photos all over the place added to its charm.
The foundations of the inn date back to 1285 and can still be seen.
Near Hearne Bay we could see out in the distance built in the shallows waters of the pale slate ocean a huge wind farm.
Houses in rows like Lego land. The rolling Kentish downs to the chalk white cliff and to the beauty of this county of Kent.
Here we could also see the Turner like yellow skies, the high cloud, the filtered light,
He really captured it so well and can be seen in most of his paintings.
We really could have stayed here and enjoyed the people and a few more drinks, but it wasn’t to be, as we had to keep on going, we were a long way from St.Margaret’s.
2.30pm and at least a three-hour trip home and not knowing what we might find on the motorways we set off.
Would you believe it, not congestion, not a breakdown no queuing we were home before we knew it. Even avoiding the trucks pushing their size about by pulling into the middle lane with hardly a blink of a light and the white vans bearing down on you we managed to stay out of trouble. No overtaking on the inside here, except for a couple of idiots, the motorway discipline is good; keep left unless overtaking is followed by everyone with most cars doing at least +80 mph or more! Strange really as the speed limit is 70 on the motorways. Saw some police and had the satisfaction of seeing them pull over one of those ‘white vans’, which must have been doing at least 90 to have been stopped.
It all very safe as long as you hold your own, keep up with the traffic, watch out for trucks pulling and of course those dreaded white vans.
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