The Coast Road to Folkestone or is it?

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Wednesday 29 July 2015

Today we start our homeward journey. It will take two and a half weeks, visit three countries, and traverse half the globe, not to mention seeing more wonderful sights. With everything back in the car we say our farewells to our daughter and son-in-law, programme Polly to take us to Eastleigh near Southampton, and leave London.

After driving through leafy suburbs we join the dreaded M25 and then the M3. Traffic is busy but free flowing so we cover the hour and a half journey to Eastleigh quite quickly and arrive on time. We have a coffee appointment with Ann, our son-in-law's mother. The one hour catch up extends to two hours and it is time to move on. We had a lovely time sharing stories and having lots of laughs.

We intend following the coast road to Folkestone because that is part of England we haven't seen before. To find the easiest way east Polly has offered to take us as far as Chichester and we'll take it from there. We have been to Brighton before but it seemed to be a good place for a coffee. We arrived at the busiest time of the afternoon. The weather is not swimming weather so everyone is catching up on some retail therapy. What we discovered did not encourage us to stay. It was bumper to bumper traffic, parking was impossible and the temperature was somewhere around 15. Help us Polly, we want to move on.

Escaping from Brighton was slow going but once on the open road we discovered we were driving north on the A23 which soon became the M23 and heading for the M25 eastbound. Too late to sack Polly and take an alternative route. At least we were moving along quite quickly. The M25 soon joined the M26 and on to the M20. Big signs appeared warning us of Operation Stack and that we should find an alternative. Operation Stack involves parking truck and trailer units, heading for France, on the M20 (about 40 kms) until there is room on ferries and trains to get them to Europe. Cars have to divert. Many cars divert early. We carried on until the last minute before we are directed down the A20. Polly is beside herself. Our trip to Folkestone is going reasonably well. Traffic heading north is backed up for many kilometres. The locals are quite disgruntled by the whole exercise. This time of the year people are heading away on holiday and produce is being transported across the Channel. The end result is gridlock.

We arrive in Folkestone about an hour later than schedule but not a worry. We wonder what it would have been like driving the coast road. Who would know. We have a night in Folkestone before crossing the Channel tomorrow. The news is full of items about illegal immigrants trying to get to England. How this will affect our travel plans tomorrow we do not know. Just have to be up early and be prepared.

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