Day 40 St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe to Dover: Journey's End

"Sara, they're going for the water!!!"

After calming down, contemplation...

For an OS map of today's walk click here.

This last day of the walk was beautiful, though we did not set out well-rested. Ken's allergies had gone wild the previous evening and early morning (interestingly, the same thing had happened on the last night of our Coast to Coast walk in 2008). Even the antihistamines didn't seem to help much, so his sneezing affected his sleep. Nevertheless, after a leisurely breakfast we set off on the path to St. Margaret's Bay.

We stopped at the small local shop to buy drinks, and Ken felt a bit teary at the thought that we didn't need to stock up on snacks for the trail anymore. I was thinking that it takes 30 days to form a habit, and we have certainly gotten into the habit of lacing on the boots, stocking up on snacks, filling our water bottles, etc.

The Traditional Ice Cream by the Sea

 It was a partly sunny day yet not too warm, absolutely perfect walking weather. We got down to the rocky beach at St. Margaret's Bay and sat on a slightly dilapidated art deco-styled bench, enjoying views of the ocean, ferries from Dover, some white chalk cliffs, and people out and about (though it was very quiet when we first arrived). I bought us some Magnum ice cream bars, because I knew that you couldn't go to the sea in England without having ice cream. We sat and enjoyed our treats companionably. I went down to look at the rocks and dip my toe in the ocean. I loved hearing the sound of the gulls and smelling the sea. We soaked up the scenery till 11:00, then began our walk along the cliff path to Dover. Because chalk erodes, sometimes it was a little scary, but overall the paths were far enough back from the cliffs themselves for us not to feel too alarmed by the heights. We could see France hazily in the distance, and enjoyed the distant sea views as well as the beautiful pink, blue, white and pale yellow wildflowers up close.

Sara Loves the Beach

Leaving St. Margaret's

 

On the Cliff Path to Dover

The White Cliffs...and Dover Harbour now in view

Dover Castle from the Cliff Path

Journey's End

The walk down to Dover was pleasant, and we found the end of the North Downs Way marker on the Esplanade—even though we had followed our own trails to get to Dover, it seemed a suitable ending spot for us. We had a long hug, and then took many, many photos, and got an English couple passing by to take one of us together. We then went down to the beach and dipped our toes in the water, and I again looked at the pebbles at the seashore.

Boot-Dipping at the Beach

It seemed strange to be done walking, though of course we still had to walk places. Our B&B host arrived at the same time we did, so that we were able to leave our packs at the B&B. We were extremely grateful for that, as we had a steep climb up to Dover Castle. We got to tour the wartime tunnels there (the 1940 evacuation from Dunkirk was organized from these tunnels in the cliff under Dover castle), as well as the medieval castle keep and tower, the Roman lighthouse, and the church. We squeezed in everything we wanted to see and left at the closing time of 6:00 p.m. For having finished the walk, we ended up doing a lot of walking up hills and stairs at the castle—we even ran a bit, to catch a "land train" that would take us from the tunnels up to the medieval castle.

For dinner, we went to a fish and chip shop (AKA 'chippy') near our B&B; it seemed appropriate to have fish in Dover. The fish and chips were good, as were the mushy peas and onion rings. It was a happy conclusion to our day and our walk. I'm glad that we have one more day before heading home, just to transition from walking to other aspects of life.

25,685 steps, 19.263 km, 757.4 cal
OS getamap measured distance: 5.68 mi (9.14 km) —does not include touring Dover Castle

And of course, like 2008 at the end of the Coast to Coast walk, the seals must come out at the finish line!