Kent and on to London

Friday 16 May

Off to England today but there is no rush as the train doesn’t leave Brussels until noon and hotel check out is 11:00.

Check in at the station was similar to an airport, boarding pass through a machine to open the entry gate then all luggage through the x-ray machine and passengers through the screening machine. After collecting our luggage we proceeded to the Belgium counter for a passport check and thought next stop would be the waiting area but no we then had a UK passport check.

When we were called to board we had quite a walk along the platform as the escalator deposited as carriage 14 and we were in carriage 2. The train departed within a few seconds of the advertised time and we were soon speeding through the Belgium countryside at up to
300 km/hr.

About an hour after leaving Brussels we noticed large green chain wire fences topped with barbed wire on both sides of the line, these were built to stop refugees trying to cross to England through the tunnel, shortly afterwards we entered the “Chunnel and popped out the other side in about 25 minutes. An hour and forty five minutes after leaving Brussels we arrived at Ebbsfleet International Station near Gravesend in Kent.

Avis had our car waiting and a signature on the bottom of the form saw us on our way and we were at my cousin’s home in Maidstone half an hour later.

Saturday 17 May

The weather forecast was correct, rain! We hadn’t planned anything for today so we were content to sit around and talk; I think after all the walking we have done over the last weeks it was good to do nothing.

Sunday 18 May

We awoke to clear skies although the breeze was rather cool, we had suggested we go out for lunch so my cousin thought Port Lympne (pronounced Lim) would be a nice place to go. Imagine our surprise when we pulled up at a wild life park and not the seaside.

Port Lympne is owned by the Aspinell Foundation and has the largest and most successful gorilla breeding colony in the world. We started on their African Safari, one hour on the back of an old army truck fitted with bench seats, driving around the large enclosures with various animals roaming free. At the end of the drive we walked for about three hours past the many exhibits but decided we wouldn’t have lunch in the park but would go to a little country pub appropriately called the Tiger Inn.

The pub was an old derelict building which was purchased by the local farmers and restored and is now run as a co-operative. Lunch was nearly supper as it was after 4:30 when we arrived but meals were still being served so we had a tasty pork roast whilst .sitting in a little cosy dining room. After a pint or two we left the pub around 6:30 to drive back to Maidstone, a rather late lunch.

Monday 19 May

After breakfast we drove down to Tenterden to visit another cousin, we have done the trip many times over the years and took a wrong turn early in the trip, however the roads are sign posted so well it only took a few minutes to work out our slight detour and get back on course.

When we arrived they were baby sitting their four year old granddaughter who is called Amber, the same as our first granddaughter. Rather than eat at home we drove to a nearby garden centre which has a very nice restaurant and enjoyed our lunch surrounded by seedlings and plants. After a four hour talk fest we headed back to Maidstone.

Tuesday 20 May

After breakfast we headed for London, one problem with driving to London is if you stray into the Congestion Zone you are charged eight pounds or ten if you don’t pay by midnight. Before leaving I accessed the Automobile Association web site and downloaded three pages of instruction how to get from Maidstone to Earl’s Court. Without these instructions I doubt if we would have found the hotel as roads suddenly become one way and we had to drive in a loop to get back on the road when it became two way again.

We eventually arrived at the hotel after being directed by the instructions which appeared to have us driving around in circles, our last turn from a main road was only 200 m from the start of the Congestion Zone; well done AA. Because parking was almost impossible we dropped our luggage at the hotel and continued on to the Avis depot to return the car and walked back to check in. The hotel is only a few minutes walk from the Earl’s Court and West Brompton underground stations so it will be easy to get around in London over the next few days.