Ruth in Spain!: The White Cliffs of Dover with no blue birds over.

and so to Dover we went. Just over a one hour train ride from St Pancras Station and we were there. Unbelievably, there was no information or sign post to point us in the right direction to get from the station to the town center, the information center or even to the cliffs. After wandering about we finally found the information center - closed! Coffee time and while we were having our coffee we decided to get a cab to the white cliffs, we didn't know how else we'd find them or get to them. Happily for us there was a taxi just outside the cafe (coffee was crap!) and asking for a ride to the cliffs didn't sound as silly to the driver as it did to us. Turns out there is a visitors center, cafe and shop (of course) up there and the ride only cost a few pound. The cab driver gave us his card and told us to call him when we wanted a ride back, to which we replied thanks but probably we'll walk back. Turned out that this was rather an ambitious notion.

After consulting the map and guide board re the walks along the cliffs we decided to do the shorter walk, not the 50 minute walk to the lighthouse mostly because there was a fairly fierce wind blowing and also the lighthouse was closed. Once we got to the end of the short walk and then went up onto a higher path and could see the lighthouse gleaming in the distance we changed our minds and trekked off to see it. We were pleasantly surprised to find, attached to the side of the lighthouse, a really lovely cafe which was open and doing a roaring trade. What else could we do but go in and enjoy hot tea and scones.

Actually the walk was really good fun because the wind was mostly on our backs, rather chilly though, and it was fantastic to be in such a wide open, green space with what looked like the edge of a village in the distance to the left, the sea on the other side of us (at the bottom of the cliffs) and France visible in the distance. I actually received a message on my 'phone, in Spanish, welcoming me to France! We had a bit of a laugh at that one, I have yet to be welcomed back to the UK.

The walk back was something else, that's for sure, because the wind was now howling into us with full force. At times I went backwards and certainly felt that I was going to be blown off my feet a few times. Fortunately this track wasn't right along the cliff edge so there wasn't any danger of being blown over the edge. Blew the cobwebs away, that's for sure.

We didn't see a lot of the actual cliffs because we were on top of them but did see a fair bit and also the port which seemed to be very busy with big ships, possibly ferries, coming and going one after the other. There is a boat trip which takes people out on the water to see the cliffs and I think that this is probably the best place to see them from. I also expect that it probably only operates in the summer tourist months. None the less, we were quite happy with what we'd seen. No sign of any blue birds though. The cliffs weren't as white as I expected them to be but I guess that in stronger sunlight they'd look whiter and also possibly looking from from a distance from the sea perhaps.

Once we got back from the tracks along the cliffs we sat and looked down on the port below us and watched the coming and goings for a while. It was quite busy and fascinating and we spied a tiny little fishing boat ploughing up and down through waves, sometimes out of sight and seemingly swamped by the sea at times but would reappear again - up and down, up and down. A real sea sick ride. The big ships just charged through the water so we didn't realise how rough the sea was until we spotted the little boat battling along. We gave it a cheer when it made it into the shelter of the port. And then we'd had enough of the chilly wind and the cafe and shop beckoned.

It was warm and calm inside and while we were inside we decided that we'd spent a fair amount of energy walking about and battling with the wind so telephoned the cab driver who promptly came and delivered us to the station and the train was only a few minutes away so we didn't have wait at all until we were on our way back to London and on to Brixton for pizzas and crib.

All in all we were happy with our day but thought that Dover could do a better job in terms of information and being visitor friendly.

There's also the enormous castle sitting up there on the hill overlooking the town and which we had to go past on the way to and from the cliffs. We would have loved to have gone in but didn't have the time, We'd actually been walking for quite a while. It was on winter hours and closed at 4pm with last admissions at 3pm. Apparently there are tunnels underneath it which date back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte and can be explored. The castle certainly looks worth a visit and so maybe we'll get back there before heading back to NZ.

So much to do, so much to see, so little time. And now - here's some photos

almost there