Today we would be catching the ferry and going back home. I really didn't want to and thoughts of just heading east from here crossed my mind. Knowing that wasn't really an option, I resorted to simply refusing to wake up. Something that Aidan soon fixed with a strong coffee.


We packed up sleepily and pumped up the tires for the last time. I finally learned how to use the electric compressor.

Back on the road towards Calais we stopped at a supermarket and bought as many bottles of wine as we could fit into the panniers. There was a tiny old lady milling around the supermarket. She was using one of the childrens' shopping trolleys, she was so tiny!

We were closer to Calais than we had thought - only 50km! But this time we found the D940, a beautiful coastal road we had been meaning to take on the way down. It rolls along the grassy hills through tiny villages and around sand dunes. Shame it was so busy. There was some sort of race going on and the runners had priority over everyone. Spectators lined the roads. And if there was a couple of kilometers free of people, we were stuck behind some Belgian car or other, who insisted to drive exactly half the speed limit! And when I stopped to take a picture of the white cliffs across the channel, they would attempt to run me over in slow motion.


Despite that we arrived at the port sooner than expected and for an extra £20 each we were allowed to squeeze onto an earlier boat. Bumped into a German couple who were off on a one week trip along the south coast of England. We ended up chatting for the whole crossing. He rides a yellow V-Strom and is taking all her luggage too. Apparently he is an electrical engineer and travels loads. She just passed her test and this was her first big bike trip on a lowered 650 Bandit. When asked for recommendations, we sent them to Brighton

Back in England it was sunny along the coast, but inland above London where we were headed, it was cloudy. No sooner had we stopped to put all our extra clothes on, did it start pissing down with rain! All the while, to our left and to our right and behind us the sun was still shining. Eventually the sun started shining again, but it still rained and the reflections off the wet road blinded us. I almost rode into a traffic light. Grrrrrrr! Welcome back to England

After a loooooong freezing ride we finally got home and dropped the bikes off in the garage.Then exhaustion took over and we curled up in bed with an Indian takeaway, a huge tub of ice cream and a movie

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