Bexhill - East Sussex
Our accommodation and hosts were just fantastic. Could not have asked for a better stay in the English countryside ...especially being treated to really delicious full English Breakfasts in a beautiful setting. I am sure we have been spoilt for the remainder of our trip !!!
After unpacking the car we went to Bexhill sea front - to walk along the promenade and absorb some goood sea air. The beaches there are pebbles, the water looked a bit churned up like pea-soup and the wind was rather chilly, to make it feel like a Cape winter's day, but it was great walking along the promenade and seeing the traditional architecture and pavillion - where a cafe sells ice-cream for dogs !!
That is something we have noticed - there are lots and lots of dogs around and people tend to take them everywhere - especially on holiday (too expensive to leave them in kennels !) The fines are GBP1000 if you don't clean up after your dog - so there is not much "dog-evidence" around, dogs are mainly on leads and have muzzles. If your dog attacks anybody, you will go to jail ...so people tend to watch their dogs rather closely ! To keep large dogs when gardens are virtually non-existant does not seem fair to the dogs though.

The next day (after dragging ourselves out of really comfy beds - tough this tavelling life !) we drove to the white cliffs of Dover. Can't have been to England and not see this world famous landmark. We again set our TomTom to avoid motorways ...and it took us through all the little lanes and towns. We stopped in the seaside town of Hastings , then in the beautiful village of Winchelsea with its medieval church ( where Clint had a close and personal encounter with a stinging nettle - the predator of the english countryside !). The medieval walled city of Rye was our next stop - very quaint with beautiful cobble stoned streets lined with flower baskets. The town was filled with masses of tourists - mainly local tourists - and parking was a challenge of note.
That is another aside to note - parking is a major challenge in most towns and rather expensive (often about R50 for 2 hours ). Often we had to cut our visits short due to parking meters expiring ...and having to rush back to the other side of town.
From Rye we made our way to Dover. Dover Castle became extremely uninteresting, when the entry fee per person was seen to be £17.50 per person ! The walk along the white cliffs to the Lighthouse was really impressive and varied. The shear size and vertical drops were fascinating and at times quite scary - and somehow I don't think that the Health & Safety Officials have managed to get to this outpost, as there were no fences or any safety railings on the often crumbling cliffs. There were many foreign tourists enjoying the walks as well. It looked like a large group of Orthodoc Jews were on an outing here for the day, and I was amazed by the dress and especially hairstyles of the men in this group. I was later told that the women shave their heads and have wigs made out of the hair. All very strange ! The diversity in this country is incredibly interesting - from all corners of the earth and all religious persuasions. So much to learn !