It's all over, we're at Dover!
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2007
1
42
Trip End
May 18, 2007
Dover, United Kingdom
Monday, May 21, 2007
Well, the final day of our adventure had arrived. We had mixed feelings about it, whilst being very keen to see family and friends it also meant that we were at the end of what was a very special time in our lives. Coming into Dover was not as spectacular as we had anticipated, white cliffs of Dover were not even visable! the fog was terrible and we had also arrived two hours early for some reason, think we should ask for a rebate on our cruise cost! Our family were making their way to watch the ship arrive but as we came in early they all missed it. It was so exciting to get a text from our cousin to say that she was there on the dock looking at our ship, what a great surprise!
We raced to the back of the boat, I'm sure it has a proper name!, to wave to her and my Uncle and Aunt who were there with her. We jumped for joy at the sight of them and couldn't wait to get off and see them. After a while they were joined by other members of the family and to our delight they all came down to meet us, we were very touched that everyone had made the effort for us. Family was the only thing, other than friends, that we missed on our trip so to be surrounded by them as soon as we landed was brilliant. A great moment that we will treasure with all the others we have had along the way.
Our patience was tested by Costa who wouldn't let us off the ship because some passengers hadn't registered their credit cards to pay their bills, no not us! so like true school fashion we were all to blame! Then they changed the story to 'we can't let you off as we still haven't got your luggage off'. Goodness knows what they had been doing since 6am, it was now 9am and they were indeed still getting luggage off with a crane! We felt really sorry for our family on the cold dock side, at least we were in the warm. Finally the call came to say we could get off and we raced for the exit! It took no time at all to get off and then collect our bags, we just prayed we didn't get stopped for a search, well we didn't even get stopped to check our passports, so much for heightened security!
What an emotional scene it was, lots of tears of joy to see the family there, just brilliant. We all made our way to the cars, and took off to a cafe for a cuppa and a chinwag all together. After a couple of hours we all decided that it was time to endure the M25 and make our way back to Letchworth. As we made the journey we noticed just how green everywhere was, a very different story to when we left in January. The sun even came out. Traffic was really heavy compared to any roads we had been on lately! Arriving back in Letchworth was very odd, while we were looking forward to being at home we knew that the novelty would soon wear off! Mum and Dad were there waiting with the kettle on and we were then joined by the rest of the family for a welcome home gathering.
To end our Travelpod we would just like to say what an amazing four months we have enjoyed. We met many lovely people along the way and went to some spectacular places,we feel truly lucky to have been able to do it, we hope you have enjoyed sharing our adventure. Our thanks to everyone who responded along the way, it was always great to hear from you. Till the next time......!
