Day 28 - Friday 24 September - Bognor Regis to Folkestone

Fairly standard night and breakfast. Still think it's probably the best hotel we've had so far this trip.

I went for a walk down to the beach while Stu was getting ready. Not a terribly nice beach, and separated every twenty metres or so with walls to stop erosion. Walked west to get a better look at the circus tent looking thing. Didn't find out what it was until I looked it up just then - it's a Butlins Holiday Park.

Beach at Bognor Regis

Bathing Boxes at Bognor Regis

So we headed off. First stop was Brighton to have a look at the pier and the Royal Pavilion. Was quite surprised that Brighton actually has no sand beach at all - it's all small rocks!! Bizarre. Found the place very noisy (from traffic) and not very pedestrian friendly. Was quite happy to get out of there before our first hour of parking was used up.

Grand Hotel, Brighton

Brighton Pier

West Pier at Brighton, finally destroyed by fire in 2003

Brighton Pier

Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Brighton Clock Tower

Next headed for a view of the Seven Sisters at Beachy Head. As we pulled up there was sun on the cliffs. So jumped out with just my camera and headed off down the path to get a better view. Well of course, that was my first problem. Five or ten minutes later, just before I got to the cliff, it decided to start raining. Rather a lot. So I ran for the cover of a tree (which was actually quite successful I have to admit - an Australian native would offer no such protection from rain). Waited waited waited. Finally it stopped so went down a bit closer to take some photos. As I was heading back, the sun started to come out on the cliffs. But this was of course after I'd left the best position to document them. It was just fail on so many levels.

Seven Sisters at Beachy Head

Getting stuck behind flocks of sheep is a minor hazard travelling in England

Decided to skip another view of the cliffs and a drive through Eastbourne in favour of getting to Dover at a reasonable hour. Actually went past the Long Man of Wilmington which I'd not listed in the day's activities thinking we'd be going around the coast.

Long Man of Wilmington

Drove drove drove. Stopped at a Scottish Restaurant for lunch.

Saw France on the way into Dover :)

And finally made it to Dover Castle just after 4pm. The place closes at 6pm. And it was raining. Have I mentioned how much it rains here? Decided to go in anyway. £13.90 each. We definitely should have gotten English Heritage membership :/ They asked us if we wanted to go on the 5pm secret war tunnels tour and we said yes. But that was way at the bottom of the castle, and the tower etc were way up the top. Which meant we had a grand total of half an hour to explore the castle :(:(:( Which was a shame because it was a very cool castle to explore. Rather than directing you in one way and out another, you can go in and just explore little nooks and crannies and rooms and stairways and corridors. It was a lot of fun, but we just didn't have the time to do it justice :( In fact I actually managed to lose the sweetie which was quite stressful because we had to get down to the tunnels.

Dover Castle

Entrance gate at Dover Castle

Dover Castle

Interior of Dover Castle

Corridor in Dover Castle

View of Dover from the top of the castle

Top of Dover Castle

English Channel from Dover Castle

Dover Castle

Dover from Dover Castle

St Mary in the Castle church

Dover Castle

Interior of Dover Castle

Dover Castle

After much stress, we both made it to the tunnels by 5pm. But of course you can't take photos :(:(:( So was really stressed out and then grumpy as well. Blah!! But it was pretty cool to see the tunnels anyway.

Entrance to the tunnels

So left when the tour was done and headed for the hotel.

Stopped at the Battle of Britain Memorial. It was raining. A lot. And windy. Which was bad for my camera but in one way it was good because there was noone else there. Had the place to myself. Managed a couple of photos, with and without rain on the lens.

Battle of Britain Memorial

Supermarine Spitfire Mark I replica at the Battle of Britain Memorial

Battle of Britain Memorial sign

Got to the hotel. Internet access is a pain cause you really need a wifi username and password for each device. And the fire alarm has gone off for ten seconds tonight. Yay. But the nicest thing about this hotel is its location, with an outlook to the English Channel. Can see France! :) The moon over the water was amazing before.

Went out to get a pizza for dinner. At the local Pizza Hut. Most expensive pizza I've ever eaten. £11.99 - which is $25AUD for a standard size pizza!! Gah!!!! Just a plain old pepperoni pizza. Insane, totally insane :( Still, it was actually quite nice.

Hoping for five minutes of sunlight tomorrow morning to see the cliffs, that's all I'm asking. It can rain the rest of the day, but some sun on the cliffs would be nice... kthxbai!

Photos on the Canon: 242

Photos on the Sony: 7

Photos on the Video: 6

Videos on the Video: 10

Steps walked: 15414

Pounds Spent: ?

UK and Japan 2010

Day 28 - Friday 24 September - Bognor Regis to Folkestone

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