London to Canterbury - Day 36

Date: September 23rd, 2009
Distance: 70 miles
Country: England
Song of the Day: In My Tree - Pearl Jam

Woke up and said goodbye to Dasha this morning. Thanks for letting me stay, it has been a blast! Good luck with the jobs.

Next I finally got around to doing the tourist thing. I went over and saw Parliament and Westminster Abbey. I would have gone inside, but they were charging 15 pounds! Geck. Plus I didn't want to stay that long. I needed to get out.

I did have one other place to see just outside of London. I wanted to see the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. I wasn't going to stay long, but the place was great. Not only did they staff help me find a place (behind locked gates) to put my bike, but the stuff they had was fascinating. Well, if you are a science get that is. They Have H1, H2, H3, and H4. The first three are even running. How cool is that? They also have some of the old telescopes used by various people over the years. The best part was, it is free. (I gave a donation of course.)

I really should not have spent so much time there though. It was getting late and I still had lots of miles to cover. I didn't really get going until 3:00. The route out was pretty lame. I fumbled my way out of London with more dead reckoning and asking people for directions. Then got lost about half way out. It turns out that each little town has a "High Street", so be sure to get on the right one. I didn't, but you could learn from my (many) mistakes.

I did stop for a kebab. Which was nice. It was really like a bread sack stuffed with meat, and some veggies. If bet you could do pretty well with a "meat sack" restaurant in the states. Couldn't finish it, so I left half for later. Don't do that. By the time I got back to it, it was cold and gross. I did stop for some milk to go with it, and that was glorious. I love milk. The cold kebab was a bust, but the milk really made up for it and gave me the energy to keep going.

Which I really needed. It was dark for a long time before I got to the camp site. Very glad I got the lights for my bike. I finally got into the campground at around 11:00. When I talked to the guy, he said they were full and sent me down the road to another one. "You can't miss it," he said. Well I did. I spent an hour in the dark looking for this damn place. Frankly, I don't think it exists. I think he just sent me off on a wild goose chase.

Instead I got to experience the joys of wild camping. I found an overgrown track off the A2. I didn't think I was really going to find anyplace because it was covered in bushes and quite hilly, but about a hundred yards down there was a nice flat spot. So I pitched the tent. I didn't want to get into my sleeping bag all gross, so I had a quick sponge bath and got changed. I do like having a nice shower better. It worked though, and I had free a place to stay. But every time a chestnut fell or an animal started rustling around I would wonder what was out there.

-Dravis