Homeward Bound

Day 133  Thursday 11^th August 2011  

Well, here it is. Our last day, 133 days since we left England and we are now at the very point of setting foot on English soil again (or in our case putting our tyres back on English asphalt). A kind of mixed emotion hit me as we set off through Dunkirk town back to the motorway. No more searching for hotels each day, no more border crossings, no more packing and repacking the bike each day. I was really looking forward to seeing Gina, the kids, mum and granddaughter Immy. It had been a long time away from home and I kept daydreaming about the long straight section of road leading out of Stratford-upon-Avon to my home in Alcester and I could picture myself riding along it with only a few minutes before I would reach home.

However, before any of that we had to conquer the 200 or so miles from Calais. The first hurdle was at Eurotunnel. The robbing bastards.......  I pulled up and asked for two tickets – 110 euros each for a crossing that if booked online would normally cost no more than 40 euros.  This was the final straw for me and Eurotunnel. Having been robbed of a refund of a crossing not taken last October (£66 lost) and now them asking us for over £100 more than the crossing should cost then they can go stuff themselves – it will be the ferry for me next time.

Still reeling from the sting of paying through the nose for the crossing we waited to board and had a coffee. The crossing was swift enough and we were soon discharged onto the M20 for the final ride of this trip. 

Mark waits patiently by his horse

Mark had said that this last bit would go very quickly and he was so right. By 10.30am we had reached the Longbridge roundabout where Mark waved his goodbye as he headed north up the A46 towards Coventry and went in the opposite direction towards Stratford-upon-Avon. A real happy/sad moment all bundled together. Our joint sojourn was now over and this final leg was on my own. Only a few miles left.

I reached the head of the road outside Stratford that I had daydreamed about earlier and it was everything that I had wanted it to be, an empty road and a tear in my eye but happy to be minutes away from a welcoming kiss and cuddle from Gina.

Thank you for reading my blog – I may add some more bits later especially a reflection on the trip as a whole. Maybe things that we took and didn’t need, things we wished we had taken and tips for any other travellers that may be useful but first I want to get back into the swing of things.