That's it ... more rain over night and the clouds descended..
So we packed all the wet stuff up and set off for home
We had got the tactics wrong, and missed the opportunities, waiting for the big clear up. We should have gone up the hills and taken our chances.. we also did not understand about local weather conditions, and how the clouds hang in the valley ... also how the layering can be different on the plateau. All good learning for the future trips, but frustrating at the time.
On the way home the car behaved all the way to Calais docks, we checked in at the ticket booth, and progressed to immigration.. the car stalled and would not start ... so we pushed it on to the waiting area.
Now the problems began ... getting back to a phone (no mobiles in those days) on the land side was difficult, finally getting through to the rescue services they said we should wait and a tractor would come and tow us on to the ferry.
We waited, the ferry came and loaded up, and then went ... no tractor. The next ferry came, and a tractor dragged us to the ramp and the loader asked us to wait .. we waited, the ferry filled up, we waited, the ramp closed and we still waited .... they did not want to have a crippled car on board. In the mean time the tractor had disappeared.
The next ferry came and went, and then the following one was at our ramp... we had finally reached the limit of our patience, so when the cars started loading, we jumped out and pushed .. into the queue and on board.
We had finally got on the way home ... arriving at Dover, we waited until the other cars had disembarked, and then pushed .. all the way around the port ,.. we were grateful the overhead ramps were not there as they are to-day ... and pushing through customs we pulled into the service station at the exit to the port. A short call to the AA and we were soon on a transporter heading home to Crawley ... the simple bit.
A kind of fitting end to the trip.
So we packed all the wet stuff up and set off for home
We had got the tactics wrong, and missed the opportunities, waiting for the big clear up. We should have gone up the hills and taken our chances.. we also did not understand about local weather conditions, and how the clouds hang in the valley ... also how the layering can be different on the plateau. All good learning for the future trips, but frustrating at the time.
On the way home the car behaved all the way to Calais docks, we checked in at the ticket booth, and progressed to immigration.. the car stalled and would not start ... so we pushed it on to the waiting area.
Now the problems began ... getting back to a phone (no mobiles in those days) on the land side was difficult, finally getting through to the rescue services they said we should wait and a tractor would come and tow us on to the ferry.
We waited, the ferry came and loaded up, and then went ... no tractor. The next ferry came, and a tractor dragged us to the ramp and the loader asked us to wait .. we waited, the ferry filled up, we waited, the ramp closed and we still waited .... they did not want to have a crippled car on board. In the mean time the tractor had disappeared.
The next ferry came and went, and then the following one was at our ramp... we had finally reached the limit of our patience, so when the cars started loading, we jumped out and pushed .. into the queue and on board.
We had finally got on the way home ... arriving at Dover, we waited until the other cars had disembarked, and then pushed .. all the way around the port ,.. we were grateful the overhead ramps were not there as they are to-day ... and pushing through customs we pulled into the service station at the exit to the port. A short call to the AA and we were soon on a transporter heading home to Crawley ... the simple bit.
A kind of fitting end to the trip.