day 15 map

waiting for eurotunnel

Sunrise while waiting for Eurotunnel departure

Onboard the shuttle at last

Finally on board the shuttle for UK

 The Hymer back home at last

Finally the Hymer is back on the driveway

Day 15 - Sangatte near Calais to home in the UK


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We sleep deeply and well here on the aire at Sangatte, perhaps with some sense that the end of the journey is near. No interruptions, no intruders and no sounds from outside, just darkness and silence. We set the clock for 05.45 and are up before 06.00. We take our frugal wash, a cat-lick my mother would have called it (will we ever be able to pour water liberally over ourselves again?), put away the bed and secure all the tops and cupboards.

The sun is rising in the east, in a totally clear and savage red sky. It is a stunning sight, it is also cold, -1˚C outside. We remove the levelling wedges and stow them away in the locker. The three other campers are still here, no others have arrived. We leave Sangatte in the red morning light and head for the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais, just a few kilometres away. The ornate Calais clock tower standing out black against the red sky. We watch the sun rise as we wait in the holding area for large vehicles at the Eurotunnel terminal.

The Eurotunnel terminal is deserted, no queues, no cars, no staff, and an automated check-in. Just one other camper on the car park. No one anywhere, just the window cleaner at the open but deserted terminal building… another of those bizarre images that remain with you. We check in, electronically on the screen, number plate recognition brings up our details without having to do anything. Just two British passport control officers in the office who ask where we stayed last night; I tell him Sangatte. I see his lip curl and a sneer on his face, he clearly hasn’t stepped out of British territory at Eurotunnel and has no idea what is going on in the real world. He looks at our details and ask if we have checked our own vehicle, including looking underneath (there are no ground staff to do it or search the vehicle). He is surprised when I say yes, so I explain that taking wedges out means getting down on the ground, you have a good view under your vehicle. I am not sure he believes me, but he isn’t going to step outside his cosy cabin into -1˚C and do it himself! He waves us through.

It is weird here too. We wait about 45 minutes to be called. There are five of us (motor homes) who board and a handful of cars (maybe 20) The only two ground staff we see (French) tell us it is deserted here all the time. We tell them that the website tells you all trains are full and there are no places. They are amazed… they did not know! We board and travel our allotted 35 minutes without event. We arrive in Blighty and give thanks for a safe arrival.

Our onward journey back is familiar: M20 to the M25, M40/42 to the M6 south of Birmingham, all the way to Lancaster: 330 miles. It is uneventful but we are amazed at the quantity of traffic on the M20 and congestion on the M25. Flights still coming in and out of Heathrow. The shopping malls open and the car parks full. People are everywhere, the services are full of cars, all fast food places are open and selling food, although eating in at the tables is not allowed. We are amazed! Everyone telling us there is lockdown in the UK, we look around and clearly there is not. Not yet... but it is coming, sooner than people think.

We get home about 4.00 pm, reverse onto the drive and the feeling of relief is hard to describe. Like the anti-climax of preparing for and then sitting a very important exam, afterwards… it is all over and very suddenly there is nothing. Nothing that you need to do and nothing that you want to do any more, just the heavy weariness of knowing that now you can stop.

Summary of motorhome journey

Total
miles
mpg average
speed
mph
hours
driven
331 33.0 47 6:58

Totals for this journey

2158 28.8 36 58:54