thursday, 14th of august - 70 km by bike, 60 km on the ferry, 12 km by bike

where is it, the ferry to england? 

as i wanted to say goodbye to hilde, i had to wait until the restaurant opened again at 10. but then of course i was offered breakfast as well and time flew and i didn't start cycling until 11.

the ferry was supposed to leave in dunkerque, sat nav said 53 km to go, i wanted to get the one at 2 pm.

hilde's food and good spirits had strengthened me, so i cycled like i hadn't done for a long time. dunkerque at 1:45! 

but no ferry, no sign of it. not even a tourist information to get information. at last a waiter in a restaurant helped me out - 15 km more! ok, i can reach it for 4 pm!

cycling again (bit late cause it wasn't easy to find the right way), partly slipstreaming with others. 15:20 first sign for the carferry!

as i tried to follow the signs it turned out to be a fast road, cars only, no bike path!

i had to ask again, but this was france now, no english spoken. a rubbish collector then drew a little map for me on an old cardboard (reminded me of john mckie) - first roundabout (petit!) 3rd exit, 2nd (grande!) 2nd exit - straight on then until i was there. and it worked! 15:40 at the ticket office! 

'16:00 ferry full, and it's too late', said the french clerk at the desk. ok, ferry 18:00. that means i would be in dover at 19:00 (2 hours travel time minus 1 hour time difference) - pretty late to get there, but i might still make a few good miles towards london.

however, two hours to wait, meant making friends with others who had to wait, too - that fortunately made my first british money. 

from the harbour to dover isn't far to go, but i was pretty confused cycling on the wrong side. i tried to get out of dover, but the sat nav led me up the hill. it was starting to get dark. so i began asking people for a place to stay. first, a man and 3 young women, one of them pregnant. they had great fun with me and my story (is vienna near amsterdam?) but no space. and they warned me not to get stabbed. it got darker. 

then a better neighbourhood, nobody to take me in. a woman said she would have, but she couldn't do that to her daughter. but she knew a youth hostel downtown. getting real dark now.

i tried to find the hostel - no chance, probably long closed. i stepped into a bar to ask. one of the guests (old man) 'yes! take 209!' the waitress 'no! that's for ex prisoners!' another guest gave another tip that didn't work - almost midnight.

this is the end, i thought, only 150 km from london!

then a girl i hardly understood because of her accent knew a real hostel! but it was full. the manager gave me a card with a little map of dover and pointed on it and said 'try there!'

i couldn't find the place. last time to ask here, otherwise i would take a room. and the man i asked spoke proper english and knew the place. little hostel just round the corner. 

i happilyi told my story to the manager, but he said no!

in the background a german guest of the hostel yelled "we have a bed left in the german room, if you don't mind! it's only 15 pounds ', he hadn't heard the part about the money. but! i had 10 pounds! and some euros left!

that had to do and it did - this was not the end!