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We've been trying to get out of London when we can, so when the weather report said we were going to have a sunny weekend we thought we would take a day-trip out to Dover and walk along the White Cliffs. Most people don't actually take a trip to Dover they pass through the ferry terminal and get a glimpse of the white cliffs in passing. But we thought they would be worth a look as a beautiful sight and an important symbol for war-time Britain.


The cliffs were impressive and we enjoyed the walk, however it would have been a much better view from out at sea. It was quite a long day in the sun and embarrassingly enough we got sunburnt, yes you heard correctly, Australians got burnt in the UK which was quite hard to live-down at work the following day. But it was a pleasant stroll along the cliffs, past Dover Castle and the port.


As the sun was shining there were numerous people out on the cliffs and there were strangely a large number of people who had taken their deck chairs and were sitting in the sun in their swim wear overlooking the ferry terminal. We couldn't understand why they hadn't walked slightly further along the cliffs with a view directly over the ocean but then maybe they enjoyed the announcements from the ferry terminal "We have now arrived in Dover, for passenger safety all passengers must exit from the black and white doors" which is then repeated in French.


It is a strange phenomenon in Great Britain that as soon as the sun comes out everyone takes all their clothes off and lie in a park, or in this case on the cliffs. We've decided that this is mostly due to the fact that the weather is so changeable and therefore everyone tries to make the most of it. If the sun is out in summer there will be large numbers of semi-naked people in parks and green areas around the country!


Our only real adventure for the day was our walk back. We took a lesser used path thinking that it would indeed still get us back but after climbing and crawling through bushes and shrubs (when normal people would have turned back) we came to a steep incline and a 5m cliff (when slightly insane people would have turned back) and proceeded to climb it. It was touch and go for a while as Lara was close to tears mid cliff and Al had to pull her up using a stick while he too was precariously balanced as she couldn't read the next foot hole. Eventually we made it, bruised and battered and gave the people walking on the 'real path' a fright whilst jumping over the fence.


A long bus ride home and bright pink for work the next day. Who says there's never any sunshine in the UK?

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