Back to the UK

Just a quick entry tonight, as we don’t have our UK adaptor at the moment and are therefore conserving the phone battery. Also there are some rowdy, obnoxious men at the bar next to me. Not very conducive to writing.

Woke this morning in Dunkirk to a fierce wind. Gusts over 50 mph. After consulting the ferry service website and weather channel several dozen times, we decided to head out for the ferry terminal as planned.

The ferries were all running at least 90 minutes late, but luckily we were allowed to board the 10 am ferry (which left at 11:30) instead of waiting for the noon ferry that we were scheduled to take.

The Channel was choppy but our enormous ferry plowed through the water with little regard for the weather. Unfortunately the two-hour crossing stretched to over 4.5 hours because of a backlog of ships that needed to dock before us, but we made it safely with no serious queasiness or anxiety.

Found our way to tourist info in Dover and got bike maps... and took stock of winds. Too gusty to ride. Too windy to camp.

This being high season, hotels are full. However, there were four beds in a ten-bed dormitory in the local backpackers’ hostel.

Per the name, “First and Last,” the kids have decided this is their first and last backpackers’ hostel. The place is a little rough, but the resident cat is nice. Strong winds have blown a lot of leaves into the front entrance, which is also a bar. The upstairs patio, above which loom the white cliffs of Dover, is cluttered with trash and junk. And the snoring in the dorm room has begun in earnest. Sleep tight everybody!

— Liv