Day Trips to Tonbridge and Cambridge

Day 1: Tonbridge

After two days of exploring London, it was time to switch things up once again, and change our sights to a town called Tonbridge, the place where Dermot’s dad grew up. This time, we set out in the car for a scenic drive with our fantastic tour guide for the day, Dermot’s aunt Julie.

When we arrived in Tonbridge, we met up with Dermot’s other aunt, Clare, and together, we all strolled through the town, walking through the places Dermot’s father and his sisters would hang out as youngsters, and also passed by the building where his father used to work. It was a bank at the time, but it’s now a pizza place.

After strolling through town, we drove out to see the house where Dermot’s grandparent’s used to live, and then to the neighbourhood where Dermot’s dad grew up, where Julie and Clare recalled some great stories about their time growing up there with Dermot’s dad. Dermot’s great aunt Pam and uncle Den still live around the block from Julie and Dermot’s dad’s old family home, so we stopped in for a nice cup of tea.

After our tea, we got back into the car, and drove out to a beautiful restaurant in the countryside for a fantastic lunch and bevvy at The Chaser Inn.

After lunch, we bid Dermot’s Aunt Clare farewell and headed back to Canvey Island. This would be our last night on Canvey Island, as the next day, we would be heading out to Stansted to visit with Dermot’s cousin Matt and his lovely wife Brooke.

Day 2: Cambridge

In the morning, we said goodbye to Dermot’s Uncle Roy, and we hopped in the car with Julie to explore yet another part of England. Shortly after arriving in Stansted, and meeting up with Matt and Brooke, we all headed into the beautiful city of Cambridge for some sightseeing.

Punting in Cambridge

When we arrived in Cambridge, Brooke had a little plan in store for us. She told us that the best way to see the world famous University of Cambridge is by something called “punting.” At this point both of us had no idea what she was talking about, but luckily, she went on to explain that punts are these shallow boats that people can commission or rent out to tour the River Cam, which weaves through the university grounds. The punt boats, aren’t rowed in the traditional sense – the drivers use long polls to dig into the river bed and push the boat forward. She noted that since the university is largely private, the punt boats allow visitors to see the “backs” of the university buildings without trespassing on the college campuses. Brilliant!

We really lucked out, and got our own punt boat and tourguide/driver! We were grateful to have an experienced driver with us – since visitors have the option of renting out boats and being their own driver, there were of course, a few questionable punt boat captains out on the river! Our driver was able to skillfully meander through the boats that had veered slightly off-course.

Overall our first punting experience was just so relaxing and beautiful. We would definitely recommend punting in Cambridge! So much fun!

Fitzwilliam Museum

After our punting experience, we continued to walk around the city, exploring the Fitzwilliam museum, walking by Charles Darwin’s old residence, and eating a tasty lunch at a local cafe. Just walking the streets of Cambridge was an amazing experience in itself, as the city is so beautiful and historic.

We left Cambridge, and headed back to Matt and Brooke’s for the best Chinese food we think we have ever had, and a movie.

The next morning, we could barely believe that a full week had come and gone, and that it was once again time to move on. Our time in England was so wonderful in so many ways, and we couldn’t be more grateful to Dermot’s family who showed us such a fantastic time.

We said goodbye to Dermot’s family and to England, and headed back to the airport to begin our journey back to Desta’s sister’s (we are so lucky to have such amazing family abroad!) in Glasgow, Scotland, where we had began over journey over five weeks earlier!