Gaznjo World Cruise 2023: Dover – Are they blue birds I can see over those White Cliffs.

The port of Dover marks the midway point in our cruise … well in sectors anyway. Having been a few times before we had to be a little more creative about where we were off today….

Dover Castle and the White cliffs in the distance

this is the bus company that runs the shuttle into town, which also does a round trip stopping at Dover Castle and the White Cliffs visitor centre. Approx cost 8pd

close up of the White Cliffs

And the winner was….. “Margate”, Kent's typical Seaside Holiday town…. For me, memories of the Entrance at Xmas came flooding back, but this was on a much larger scale.

Penny arcades line the streets along with Dreamland, Margate's version of Luna Park. Pavilions dot the long sandy beach while Art Galleries, vintage shops, and trendy Café’s.

Desperate for a Cream Tea, we had to settle for Victoria Sponge

Murray's smiling face just before he realized how lucky he was with his decision to wear the oil skins... but that is another story

On our mission to find the Margate Shell Grotto. We walked past some of the wonderful architecture of Margate including Tudor House. It is the oldest building in old Margate built in 1525, originally a yeoman farmer's house. The building seemed to have held a bit of status with its distinctive showy features, like glazed windows and two chimneys at a time when it was flashy just to have one.

Tudor house ... currently closed so we couldn't go inside

Some great street art was also dotted around the town

Tucked away in a back street is the entrance to the shell grotto

The Shell Grotto was discovered accidentally in the 19th century, and to this day no one knows who built it, or why. According to most accounts, a farmer and his son were digging a duck pond in 1835 when they struck upon the underground cavern. Sending the young boy down into the crevice to inspect, he returned to tell of the many passages, rooms, and chapels completely covered in shells.

Nowadays to visit, you just need to enter the little shop pay your 4pd, and head down the staircase that leads you to this amazing piece of artwork...

Covered in millions of seashells… Only discovered by chance, no one knows what this extravagant shell collection really means or why was it built in the first place. Could it be witchcraft, a smuggler's cove, or a Pagan religion? Or was it created by an excentric introvert perfectionist who preferred to while away their time meticulously working on this work of art? Every single inch of the wall and ceiling is completely covered and not just randomly but beautiful symmetric patterns adorn the surfaces

Since writing this, I have also read that in 2007 a domed cave was discovered under the Palatine Hill in Rome, also adorned with shells... so maybe it was the Pheonetians that built it.

this example display is there as you enter the grotto, it is to show what the shells looked like before all the colours had faded to the current shades of grey. This is also the only display that you able to actually touch and feel.

There has been some restoration work using the shells found on the ground, but it is a long and expensive process, especially as all the works are privately funded.

We visited Dreamland but none of us were persuaded to try the roller coaster.

This is the oldest wooden rollercoaster still in operation in the Uk

Walking along the waterfront in the brilliant sunshine, we felt foolish, as we were dressed expecting cooler conditions.

Tides out....

Margate is very arty.... Here is a bronze cast of a local artist, standing in the water just looking out to sea. Apparently, there are more of these dotted along the coastline.

the little stalls with the Old Kent market

Even a red bus that serves as a food truck

Interesting Murals dotted around the town

Lots of game arcades found along the water front

One of Margate's Tidal Pools.... built to capture the seawater as the tide goes out, so you can swim without the long walk.......

After being picked up again we drove around to Broadstairs, though we didn’t get to visit the village but had lunch at the Botany Bay, which was very nice.

Pimms...... mmmmm

Delicious Fish Sandwich

Drove past the Viking Ship at Ramsgate on the way to Sandwich.

A bit further along we visited the small village of Sandwich, one of the medieval cinque ports. The village lies on the banks of the river Stour and before it silted up, it was wide and deep enough for the large sailing ships to dock…. It currently is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the UK.

Now our guide was pretty good today, and did a wonderful job taking Sandie and Barry to an Airplane museum while we walked Margate.

Except he was one of those guides that kept reminding you that we had seven hours and if we paid him an extra 100pd we could keep him till just before sail away. Generally, we can get a lot done in seven hours and we had already paid him 500pd. (Convert that to Aus and that is nearly $1000)

So probably in hindsight, he left us a little too long in Margate, we actually sat around waiting for him to return and pick us up, then as lovely as lunch was, that also took a fair chunk of our day… Now that we arrived in this beautiful village town of Sandwich he was trying to hurry us along and suggested that we walk down just one of its lovely little streets, before heading back… or of course, pay him extra.

The trouble was by the time we arrived in Sandwich everyone was starting to shut up shop…. What, it is only 3pm! As lovely as our lunch was at the restaurant, there were so many quaint places here in Sandwich, we could have easily sat in the sunshine in one of the quaint cafes and just had that little extra time here.

lovely church on the outside... vintage market on the inside.

Dodging our driver so he couldn’t find us, we wove around the streets and lanes, but finally, he tracked us down and we were back in the van and heading to Dover.

Four of us asked to be dropped off in Dover, where wandered around on an unsuccessful mission of trying to find a cream tea at that time of day…. It was a long walk but a pleasant one back to the ship…