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We were up Early, weather looked ok so we had a breakfast of cheese and bacon sarnies before starting to pack up. Just as we were about to take the tent down it started raining so we dragged everything back into the tent and sat it out. Eventually the rain stopped and we rolled up the damp tent and left the camp site about 9am. Cycling was a bit tougher today, bit of a headwind and off and on drizzle. Through Benenden, past Bodium Castle, Cripps Corner and into Battle. There was some draining climbs and by the time we made it up into Battle we were fairly damp. Kez being uncharacteristically optimistic cheerfully told me how we were ok because ‘my pants are dry and the eggs are in my hat!’.. Well that’s ok then. We got a bit stressed with the traffic and tourists so popped into a book shop for a new OS map, glanced at some historic castley thing and headed on. Leaving Battle we spied a pleasant little pub, locked the bikes up and relaxed into a warm nook with a pint and a ploughmans, and watched as the sun emerged and fell cheeringly onto the blossom outside.
Reaching Fairfield Farm campsite at Pevensey was a relief, the sun was still out, and a warm breeze rippled through the tent, drying it almost instantly and allaying any fears we had that after the rain this morning our whole trip would be spent in a damp tent. Kez knocked up a very decent meal from a Mattesons sausage, cous cous tomatoes and peppers, while the resident gang of bolshy ducks stuck their beaks into anything that looked remotely bread bag like. It’s probably bad form to stuff one in our non-stick Trangia pot I thought, and left them alone. We showered and relaxed a bit, at least until Kez realised she’d left a sock in the shower block, which gave her the right arse, so she stroppily turned round and tripped over one of the tent ropes, landing heavily on her knees. ‘BLOODY HELL’ I shouted, anxiously watching our wonderful Hilleberg tent list alarmingly to the side, then ‘… Errr are you ok?’
As the sun was going down we wandered up the road to ‘The Heron’ pub. A good old booze session put the smile back on Kez’s face and we decided it would be nice to stay another night here, and have a little day trip down the road to Eastbourne for an explore, an icecream and a stroll up the pier.