In other's footsteps of greatness we will go...

Sat 28 May our mobile journey begins and is just the beginning of a new love/hate relationship with English roads and our navigator, TomTom.

Jane's simple writing desk

Chawton, in Hampshire, is the original 17th century home of England's Jane Austin, where she completed her most famous novels - Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, etc. It is exciting to walk in her footsteps as we wander around a delightful cottage garden that Jane, her mother and sister once enjoyed. The home is sparcely furnished and as we walk from room to room, we take in the simplicity of the lifestyle they once endured. Jane's simple little table and chair that she dedicated to her daily task of writing is both inspiring and humbling. She didn't need a big desk or a computer! Amazingly, even Max enjoys this delightful interlude.

The Austen's house and garden in Chawton

The M25 takes us straight to Dover - it's not my preferred highway (it's fast and furious) but we get there quickly and safely. This is to be our first experience of a B&B - The Norman Guesthouse - the owners are friendly and welcoming, and the room small but nicely decorated. We have to share a toilet and bathroom.

Dover reminds us of Picton and Lyttelton in NZ. There are a few places to eat but they're not easy to find. And of those available, you can have almost anything with chips and peas!

 

At the gunnery with the regimental barracks
 in the background

Sun 29 May introduces us to a full English breakfast - cereal, sausages, bacon, fried eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, toast, fruit juice and coffee. It's a perfect start to our steep walk up to Dover Castle. It's cold and windy with a sea haze that comes and goes. Max takes over my spare red beanie and, like Where's Wally, I can spot him a mile away.

Dover Castle sits above the spectacular white cliffs and was originally built as a medieval fortress by King Henry ll and then later used during World War ll and the Cold War as a defence base.

View from the castle tower overlooking the
port of Dover

We take a guided tour through the Secret Wartime Tunnels - a maze of corridors that, on the first level, were used as a hospital during the war. We experience an audio that follows the arrival of an injured Mosquito fighter pilot as he is stabilised and then operated on. We smell the disinfectant from the operating room, the oldness of the equipment, the cooking in the kitchens as we move from room to room. We see the tiny bunks used by army staff, mostly women, and experience blackouts and the sounds of bombing. We don't know if the pilot survives or not.

17th century life reconstructed inside the King's keep

We take a mini tour-ride to get our bearings then visit displays in the Great Tower (or Keep) where King Henry ll once ruled and lived with all his cronies. The chambers have all been recreated as he would have lived in the 17th century. We climb endless spiral steps that lead to the tower and, in a blowing gale, look down on the town and port of Dover. We also explore medieval tunnels only to discover that they lead to nowhere and that we have to climb hundreds of steps back up again. A reasonable amount of fitness makes these escapades bearable.

The white cliffs stand guard over the busy port

After an hour's rest, late afternoon, and a refuel with chocolate and orange juice, we head off (in the car) to walk across the tops of the white cliffs. It's windy and the sea mist still lingers but it's exuberating to stand high above the port and sea trying to imagine what it was like during the war with the drumming of fighter planes in the skies above and when 3/4 of Dover's homes were destroyed.

A lucky shot of the people-shy Exmoor

We very naughtily write our names on the post in natural chalk (it'll wash off in the next rain) and I try to photograph the wild/shy Exmoor ponies that graze nearby.