Dover to Calais - 3am!

Ray helping us put on the decals

After a 5 hour trip for me (from Devon) to the campsite just north of Dover and Mandy's of almost 3 hours from Suffolk, we arrived at our first campsite near Margate.  We checked in, paid the remainder of our entry fee and got all the decals for the car.  Everyone was friendly and helpful, many being on the rally for the third or fourth time.  The Greyhound crew who were parked next to us helped us put our decals on the doors, windshield and bonnet of the car.  James (organiser of the rally), gave us all the route map for the following day.  Easy peasy.  450 miles.

With only a couple of hours sleep before setting off for the ferry, everyone convened in the bar to have a beer and meet the other teams.  Few bothered to pitch tents, preferring instead to sleep in their cars for the remaining two hours of the 'night'!  As my car was staying at the campsite whilst we were away, I tried to sleep in mine but found it had an internal motion sensor that set off the alarm every ten minutes or so.  I couldn't even pretend it wasn't me as the interior light came on with the alarm, lighting me up like a Christmas tree. 

The bar at the Two Chimneys campsite

At around 1.30am people got up, packed up and set off for the ferry.  We somehow managed to lose the screwballers in front of us and ended up driving through Kent International airport.



  Diversions then sent us off on a further 'scenic' route to the ferry at which point we thought it possible that we might miss the crossing altogether.  Neither of us are sure how, but in the end we got there in time to catch the earlier crossing of 3.15am.

VERY early morning coffee on the ferry to Calais