At 6 am I woke up to the sound of engines starting. Some of my
neighbours were moving on. My attention then moved on to the crazed
tapping on the roof of ‘Bianca Bongo’. It was raining. Heavily.
I had no real timetable this morning. I planned to drive to the car
park next to the lighthouse at Dungeness, park up, and then walk to Rye
along the beach. I had checked the tide times and knew that the tide
would be low and I had also checked that Lydd Range would be closed
avoiding another detour.
I decided I would stay in my sleeping bag for another hour and hoped
the rain would stop by then. It didn’t stop and by the time the man came
to unlock the toilets at 7.20 am my bed had been transformed back into
the rear bench seat and steam was being forced from the spout of the
collapsable kettle signalling it was time for coffee and porridge.
After breakfast, I ventured outside and made my way to the freshly
cleaned and supplied toilets. My remaining neighbours where
‘self-contained’ and so did not have to worry about such things but I
suspected that, in the months to come, I would be spending a fair bit of
my spare time researching public toilets on the internet. God only knows
what Google’s targeted advertising algorithms will make of that!
Parking and sleeping in a car park, layby or some other place that is
not an official campsite, is apparently called ‘wild camping’ which is a
term I find a little odd because I do proper ‘wild camping’ in a tent or
bivvy out in the wilds.
While engaged in the act of proper wild camping, I adhere to the
principles of Leave No Trace (LNT) which aim to minimise the impact you
have on the environment, wildlife and other users of the area you are
in. One of the principles of LNT is to dispose of waste properly and
this includes human waste. In a nutshell, it would usually mean digging
a small ‘cat’ hole for the solid waste and carrying the paper waste out
until you can dispose of it properly and while this is fine for wild and
remote places such as Dartmoor is it not really appropriate for a car
park on a residential street opposite a row of semi-detached
bungalows.
Being self-contained has the advantage of not having to worry about
this at all and, presumably, gives you more freedom to wild camp in your
motorhome or camper van.
‘Bianca Bongo’ has no such facilities and so I must dodge the puddles
and endure the rain as I cross the car park to the toilet block.
By 8 am I had made my way up to the car park at Dungeness. It was
still raining and now it was windy too. I decided to sit and wait and
see what happens so I turned on the radio and made myself another coffee
while getting my waterproofs out of my rucksack and putting some snacks
in.
The chatter on the internet was that a storm was coming but the
weather forecast indicated that the rain would stop for a few hours
between 9 am and 11 am but return in the afternoon.
I knew that the first part of my walk would be along the five-mile
stretch of shingle beach to Jury’s Gap and that walking on shingle is
very hard work and slow going. I didn’t want the added challenge of
walking into driving wind and rain. I already knew I could do that, I
had done it many times before!
Sitting in the van drinking my coffee, dry and warmed from the small
gas stove that boiled the water, I considered abandoning the walk. All I
had to to do was start the engine and drive away. I could be home in an
hour.
Then I remembered what it is like to be at home, staring out of the
window wishing I was somewhere else. Anywhere else!
Just before 9 am I decided I was going for it come what may and put
on my waterproofs. By the time I jumped out of the van the rain had
stopped. Very quickly the wind was blowing the clouds away and patches
of blue sky were visible. Within a few minutes, the sun was out and the
day was completely unrecognisable from the one I had awoken to.
I started my walk.
The Route
Distance : 11 Miles
I parked in the car park next to the lighthouse and opposite
Dungeness Station which is part of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch
Railway. I then walked to Rye and was planning to catch the Wave 102 bus
back to the Pilot Inn and walk the short distance back to the car park
but managed to get a lift instead.