The White Cliffs of Dover

This past weekend we took a gamble and set out for Dover, about 2 hours away. It was rainy in Windsor and the forecast for Dover was light showers. We arrived to beautiful sunny skies and warmer weather. (We found out later that it rained all day in Windsor.) The White Cliffs are really gorgeous. From the top of the cliffs you can look across the English Channel and see France and you can watch all the boats go back and forth between the two countries. We spent the whole day there hiking for about 4 1/2 hours. The kids did really well, I was tired by the end of the day and they were exhausted.


Smith was not allowed out of the backpack the whole day because I was scared he would run off the cliff!

We saw the wild ponies which we read you are not to feed them or pet them. Some other kids tried to pet them and the ponies bit at them.

The kids were given backpacks with activities in them like a scavenger hunt, magnifying glass, compass and binoculars. They had to follow the markers to find their way.

Beautiful, Gorgeous, Wish you were here!

We came across this crevasse which was straight down. Of course Michael had to stand close and it made me very nervous.

Then after me telling him to get away from the edge, he climbed down onto a little foothold, with Smith on his back!!! It made me sick. Thank goodness Smith was asleep and not squirming in the pack.

Then to top things off Michael had Aidan crawl to the edge and look over. What is wrong with that man? Doesn't he know I am deathly afraid of heights and don't want my kids anywhere near edges?!

Taking a breather after my almost heart attack!

Smith woke up for the family picture but I still wouldn't let him out of the backpack.

I think he does these things just to bug me.

We hiked to this lighthouse with the Union flag flying. Very pretty.

On our hike back, we took a slightly different path and came across a way to get down to the beach so we went and we are so glad we did. It was a long walk down with a lot of switchbacks. Mary and Aidan are at the end of one.

We almost got to the beach when we saw this ladder that we had to go down. The kids thought it was fun.

The beach was not sand but was black rocks the size of golf balls. The sound of the waves crashing on the rocks was very cool.

The Ladder.

The White Cliffs were very cool. I think they are the best thing we have seen here so far. I thank Nicole for giving me the suggestion to go (I looked and looked but never saw The Grand Shaft!).

After The Cliffs we drove into Canterbury for dinner. We ate at the Old Buttermarket. It was good while we were eating and then not so much! English food is getting a bit tiresome.