First of all, Wifi is more like WoeFi wherever we've been so it's difficult to upload entries, hence the long epistle to follow. Although the title is Cambridge this entry takes us from our first site, Black Horse, to Cambridge as you will now read . . .
Thursday, May 22
After a terrific few days (five to be exact) we left the Black Horse Farm campsite and headed for Herne Bay where we hoped to buy a couple of second hand bikes to complement Le Van, but when we arrived it turns out that Mr Cycle Fixit doesn’t work on Thursdays! Plan B does not exist because we’ve now left Herne Bay and won’t be backtracking
. Guess we may have to buy a couple of new cheapies.
Anyway, we drove down to the seafront at Herne Bay, through some fairly ‘weather beaten’ areas and did not expect too much. In some ways we were not disappointed with part of the seafront lined with bingo halls and amusement arcades. Young mums with tats seemed to be the only inmates. Further down, however, it all changed. More gentrified and we enjoyed a very good coffee at Marcaras Café. Walked out on the Pier, most of which has been washed away by huge storms over the last 50 years. Talked to some local mums, with babies and found them to be very pleasant and helpful. Actually, everywhere we go we come across very helpful, kind people, most of whom have a close relative or friend living in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. Bit of an exaggeration but just a bit!
After Herne Bay we popped into Whitstable again heading for the beach. Much more arty farty than Herne Bay with the centre of attraction being Whitstable Castle, unfortunately closed today
. But we did enjoy the lovely gardens.
Well, that was enough for the day and we hi hoed for the little village of Upper Halling and a new campsite, not one of the Caravan Club sites so it’s far more basic but engaging nevertheless. Only two caravans for company plus a host of chooks, geese, ducks and goodness knows what else. No ablution block so we’re ‘on our own’ and using Le Van’s facilities in earnest!
Just finished a chicken stir fry and now settling down to watch a bit of drama on BBC One.
Friday 23 May
Bussed it from Upper Halling to Chatham, just past Rochester, joined the crowds in the local shopping centre for coffee and to replace Kathy’s sunglasses which had somehow absconded. A visit to the Community Hub, and a very helpful local provided us with plenty of information about the area. A 3 kilometre walk brought us to the Chatham Historic Dockyard where we crawled over a couple of ships including one built in 1870
. This was followed by a tour of the Ropery where we watched a team of three making a plus/minus 80mm rope using technology dating back to the early 20th Century. After the Ropery, we nipped around the corner to see how these buildings were used in making “Call the Midwife”. Yep! Our favourite soapie of the moment. At the Wheelwright Restaurant, we enjoyed a fabulous baguette followed by a coffee which bore no resemblance to any coffee we've ever had before! Can’t have it all.
Bussed back to Rochester to visit the Cathedral, a spectacular building of typical Norman architecture – very old, very medieval, very beautiful. We completed our tour with a visit to Rochester Castle, the roofless building is still open to the public and its many well worn steps lead on to galleries with the views becoming increasingly spectacular. Great exercise and we were sufficiently impressed to join the English Heritage Society. The bus trip home completed our day, but not before a glass of bitter for Peter and Pino Grigio for Kathy
. Tomorrow we are off to Cambridge.
Saturday 24 May
This morning we bought food supplies at Morrisons and Wellingtons boots by Prada? in a lovely shade of dull green. Cost a fortune, at £11 each, but we’re worth it. We took an unexpected and circuitous route to Cambridge, couldn’t enter any of the parking stations in the town as our monster vehicle was too high for entry and too wide to park in the street, so we headed straight for our destination, Cambridge Hill Farm. With no one to greet us, the only welcome was from the livestock, a mare and her brand new foal, several geese and a few baby rabbits. It’s now 10 pm and in between we christened our Wellies with a walk to a pub which wasn’t open, but we managed to find a social club which was - a friendly native signed us in! OK, we’re done – bedtime!
Sunday 25 May – Cambridge
Friendly locals suggested where we could park free on a Sunday and this resulted in us parking at the Botanical Gardens at 9am
. Short walk into Cambridge where we started the day with coffee and croissants. Booked a city walking tour. We ate lunch before we started, at a fabulous restaurant called Bills (fabulous because it was cheap and the food/coffee excellent). The tour was led by an elderly and knowledgeable ex-Cambridge University staffer. If you ever go to Cambridge, do the tour. It was tremendous. The two hours were mainly spent going through Trinity and Kings Colleges.
On our way back to Le Van, we decided to stick our heads into the Fitzwilliam Gallery and ended up spending an hour – a tremendous treat to see these paintings by well known French, Italian, and English artists. The gallery itself was rather awe inspiring in terms of its grandeur. Quite unexpected for a ‘drop in’ visit.
By the way, on our return to Le Van on both days, we were treated to lots of aerial activity due to the local Duxford Air Show. Peter was in heaven!
The Show goes on . . .
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Cambridge, Upper Halling, England, United Kingdom
Other Entries
-
1Still at home . . .
May 0819 days priorGerroa, Australiaphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 11 -
2The Emu has landed!
May 189 days priorFolkestone, Canterbury, United Kingdomphoto_camera8videocam 0comment 4 -
3The Show goes on . . .
May 27Cambridge, Upper Halling, United Kingdomphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 13 -
4Where did we ever find the time to work?
May 292 days laterYork, United Kingdomphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 6 -
5Further and further North . . .
Jun 015 days laterBerwick upon Tweed, United Kingdomphoto_camera9videocam 0comment 5 -
6Wet and Dry in Scotland
Jun 0610 days laterInverness, United Kingdomphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 8 -
7From the Far North to Glasgow
Jun 1317 days laterJohn O'Groats , Inverness, Glasgow, United Kingdomphoto_camera13videocam 0comment 12 -
8Carlisle to Chester and Beyond…...
Jun 1822 days laterStratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdomphoto_camera14videocam 0comment 5 -
9From Stratford to Folkestone and parts in between
Jun 2832 days laterFolkestone, United Kingdomphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 9 -
10The Crossing and trek North . . .
Jun 2933 days laterDunkirque, Oostende, Turnhout, Amsterdam, , Netherlandsphoto_camera14videocam 0comment 6 -
11North Holland and into Germany
Jul 1044 days laterHarlingen, Groningen, Hanover, Magdaberg, Berlin,, Germanyphoto_camera19videocam 0comment 5 -
12Dresden and thence to Praha (Prague)
Jul 2458 days laterDresden, Prague, Opatov, Czech Republicphoto_camera15videocam 0comment 13 -
13Ahhh Austria!
Aug 0267 days laterVienna, Grein, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Austriaphoto_camera20videocam 0comment 8 -
14The Alps and Dolomites - WOW!
Aug 1479 days laterTrento, Sola, Pieve Vecchia, Italyphoto_camera19videocam 0comment 12 -
15Italy - oh so Italian . . . .
Aug 2590 days laterFlorence, Pisa, Lucca, Deiva Marina, Albenga, Italyphoto_camera24videocam 0comment 11 -
16France - the beginning
Sep 10106 days laterAix, Avignon, Carcassonne, Sarlat, Bergerac, Bordeaux, Francephoto_camera25videocam 0comment 9 -
17Isle de Rey, Carnac, Le Poldu, the Centre
Sep 11107 days laterIsle de Rey, Carnac, Le Poldu, Chartres , Francephoto_camera24videocam 0comment 6 -
18Paris, Amiens and finally, Calais
Sep 30126 days laterParis, Versailles, Amiens, Wimereux, Francephoto_camera24videocam 0comment 12 -
19Ye Merry Olde England - reloaded . . .
Oct 16142 days laterEastbourne, Lyme Regis, Tintagel, Wells, Glastonbury, United Kingdomphoto_camera25videocam 0comment 8 -
20The Final Entry - London, Statistics and Thanks!
Oct 28154 days laterLondon, United Kingdomphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 7
Comments

2025-02-12
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Alex
2014-05-28
So...sounds like the typical SNAFU situation...Situation Normal, All F**ed Up!!!! No, only joking, it all sound fabulous! How are you finding Le Van...does it meet all your requirements? Hope the suspension is good..(heheheheh!).. Looking forward to reading the next instalment. xxxx
Laura B
2014-05-28
Enjoying this greatly so far! Would you consider enabling 'subscriptions' so we can get notifications of future posts? Thanks from Qld - Laura
Joan McMurray
2014-05-28
Ohmigosh that countryside is beautiful. You're looking rather debonair all dressed up and∫somewhere to go.
I'm so, so envious but my "cheery" thought is that I'll visit all these places in "spirit" I guess one of these days. Well Pedro keep up the Spanish there. Hasta Luego, Adieu - I think that's french though or whatever. Lotsa luvvies (slang) Joan. Keeping up with my Mandarin (lol)
Joan McMurray
2014-05-28
I didn't have to put in a password just to let you know and be a busybody. LUvvies again
Lin and Prue
2014-05-28
It gives us such a kick to see you guys doing it at last. Enjoy every minute!!!
Love to you both,
Lin and Prue
Prue
2014-05-29
Great posts you two. I'm so green with envy that Mark thought I was a plant and nearly watered me. Your occasional mentions of food remind me of some memorable meals I've had in British pubs, mostly memorable in the " OMG I wish I could delete that memory" vein. The worst are those you get taken to and advised on the menu choices by kindly souls who wax lyrical about how wonderful the food is and look intently at you the whole time you're eating, waiting for your agreement about how remarkably delicious everything is. A bit the way you two feel about our taste in films. Keep enjoying yourselves and keep posting
Smish
2014-05-29
Such a wonderful holiday you both are having. Sooooh pleased for you. Keep on enjoying. Much love, Smish xxxxxxxxxxx
Bruce and Kathy
2014-05-29
Hi Peter and Kathy
Great to read your blog. The RV looks fabulous. It brings back great memories to us - glad to see you handle the ups and downs of the initial few days with humour . You will love it.
Take care. Bruce and Kathy ( currently in Alice Springs !)
Susan Bennett
2014-05-29
I was going through my email and I thought that pseudonym was spam from someone unknown. When I realized it was from you two beautiful people, I quickly went to my computer to bring up your blog. You are amazing. You have endless energy and enjoy life to the fullest. I enjoyed the first blog and will now continue to the second one. Hope I did not miss any. I hope you are having great weather and having the time of your lives. Things are good are this end, but we will catch up when you come home. When will that be, by the way? Love, Sue
Susan Bennett
2014-05-29
I forgot to mention that Call the Midwife is one of my favorites.
Laurel and Derek
2014-05-30
Love reading your posts - thanks for sharing your adventure! Might want to purchase Le Van from you when you're done ...
Joan McMurray
2014-06-24
Hearing no more news have you gone into hibernation????? Lotsa luvvies Joan