Thursday 20th July 2017 – Horsely, England

The campsite is, in theory, only 25 minutes from Calais port but we immediately found that we had to make a diversion to get around a ‘route barreé’, one of many that we have made during this holiday. Unfortunately, there was no signed diversion so we had to let the satnav guide us down some rather narrow lanes.

Security was very tight at the port with armed police and army on duty and many vehicles were stopped to be searched for illegal immigrants but, fortunately, we were not. The checks took longer than normal and certainly longer than at Dover but we were still in plenty of time for the ferry. We were more than 10 minutes late leaving and spent the crossing racing the DFDS ferry that was supposed to leave 10 minutes after us but left before us. We lost. We then had the longest ever wait to get off the ferry and must have been one of the very last vehicles off. Good job that we weren’t in a hurry.

We stopped at the Maidstone services on the M20 and just managed to squeeze into the area reserved for caravans and motorhomes. Many of the places were taken by cars and we saw a number of motorhomes and caravans that had to either leave without stopping or park in inappropriate places in the car park. A parking enforcement man walked passed me and I pointed out the problem. His job was to check that people were paying a charge if they were there for more than two hours but he said that the management were aware of the problem and had plans to do something about it – we will see! Much better signage is needed as I am sure that many of the car drivers probably didn’t realise that the spaces were for caravans.

As always, the motorways were very busy but the journey was uneventful and we were soon at the East Horsley campsite.

That is the end of this sojourn. We are spending a few days here to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson. On Sunday we are meeting friends at Lords to see the Women’s Cricket World Cup Final. We were lucky to get tickets early (it is now a sell-out) and were delighted to hear that England have made it through to the final. We are really looking forward to watching the match from the recently refurbished Warner’s Stand. Come On England!

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip around Denmark. It is a lovely country, the people are very friendly (everyone speaks English) and the archaeology and its presentation is first class. If you are thinking of a visit to Denmark, we thoroughly recommend it. Just be aware that, with a few exceptions such as public transport and fuel, the cost of living is very high.

Have fun!