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Today’s port was Dover on the southeast coast of England. Dover is one part of a famous evacuation during World War II, when 338,000 Allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk in northern France. During “Operation Dynamo,” 800 naval vessels – including small civilian boats – helped rescue and transport these troops 60 miles across the English Channel to Dover.
Contrary to the famous song, there are no “bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover.” However, the cliffs are indeed white, thanks to their composition of chalk (finely grained limestone).
We are still recovering from our recent illness, so Gail opted to stay aboard ship. Russell took the shuttle bus into town, but only to pick up some office supplies.
We know many readers are curious about Dover. Fortunately, we were here exactly one year ago on a previous cruise. Here is Gail’s write-up of that lovely and memorable day.
Today in Dover we decided to take the shuttle up to Dover Castle, and from there walk to the cliffs. A local TI told us about a back way we could use… but “it can be risky.”
First, we toured the castle. The medieval tunnels were cool; I had no idea things like that existed. The castle itself had a distinct Edinburgh look to it – chunky and on a hilltop. After wandering through, we went in search of the route to the cliffs. The short cut was (as they usually are) hidden and not shorter. It was hard to read the maps and even find the way to the road that led to the other road.
But we found it… and heavens, it was a two-way track with no shoulder. We had to walk this for about 3/4 of a mile. We instantly understood the “risky” part of this idea.
We finally found a dirt path we assumed would take us all the way to the cliffs. But nope. We popped back out on the narrow track, and we continued playing chicken as we walked.
But my oh my, it was so worth it. We finally got to the cliffs at 1:00 pm.
We had the best time walking the cliff tops.
We had originally thought to do the three- mile walk along the cliffs. But given the time it took just to get here, we had to settle for less. Russell had a lecture that evening, and we needed to be back onboard to prep by 4:00 pm.
Before setting out this morning, we had gone to the ship’s café and grabbed stuff to make a picnic lunch: French bread, brie, black forest ham, cheddar cheese, blueberry muffins and bananas. Now, we chose a spot on a hill to sit and enjoy the view and the food.
Well, that was after my mini-panic attack as we scrambled up the steep slope with the adjacent edge. I just about gave up, but just couldn't let it overwhelm me. So with Russell lending a boost when I got scared, we made it to the top. I am so glad I didn’t give up.
We got ourselves settled, broke out the food, and said hello to a seagull friend. And that is about when the fog started to roll in and hide the rest of the cliffs from our view. We were no longer disappointed we had to cut our hike short; we would not have seen anything further along anyway.
Back to the present. In a repeat of last year, the fog rolled in just as we set sail this afternoon. We enjoyed our very last sunset at sea aboard our four-month world cruise. Tomorrow we will arrive at our final port. In the meantime, it’s time to pack!
