Day 3 - into the garden

Apparently in the army the officers organise boxing matches on the third day of any exercise to diffuse the tension.

There were times when we could have hit each other on our day 3. We were saved by two things; the arrival of dear little Louise and the beautiful countryside which we began to walk through as soon as we left Rochester (which is itself a very lovely little city).

We spent the night at the Travelodge on the M2. It is clean and safe, but has absolutely no atmosphere, and isn't very near Rochester so we were reliant on taxi drivers to get us to and from the city. This they did, eventually, but waiting for them to come meant that we were late for breakfast. This didn't matter really as Louise who'd eaten before she set off, was very tolerant in waiting for us to breakfast at the excellent Cathedral cafe. As we left the grounds, finally ready to start our walking, a groundsman gave us some extra sponsor money. If you have the chance to visit Rochester do do so - it's lovely and the people are very friendly.

Very soon after we left the town, we were into the countryside. We didn't get onto the North Downs Way which we probably could and maybe should have done, but stuck to Bill's maps of the roads and the Pilgrims Way.

This didn't stop us walking along some really beautiful footpaths and had the distinct advantage that we also passed pubs and shops. The locals at the Windmill at Burham were particularly friendly and the landlord gave us both free drinks and some sponsor money.







The others loved the beautiful scenery, and reacted as anyone seeing something new for the first time would. For me it was different. I didn't feel homesick because in a very real sense I WAS at home, in the county where I was brought up. This was particularly evident when we met up with David, a neighbour from my childhood, and when we passed Boxley Waterworks, scene of many a geography field trip.



We were very hungry by the time we got to Detling, crossing the busy road via Jade's Crossing, and ate at the Cock Horse before trundling off for the last section of our day.

Ann-Marie had expressed dissapointment that we weren't going to be finishing at a Cathedral on day 3 and it's true there was no evensong or SS Wesley to greet us in Hollingborne, but as the sun set over the beautiful Kent countryside my mother was there to meet us, and to take us home to her house for eal supper and a rest for our feet.