Canterbury to Gillingham

Tuesday October 23, 2018, 36 miles (57 km) - Total so far: 7,177 miles

(11,550 km)

Day off yesterday. We weren't overwhelmed with Canterbury. I was looking forward to seeing the cathedral but you had to pay in excess of £10 to get close, which was disappointing! The little streets are quite nice I suppose. Do I sound terribly grumpy?? ;)

Most of today was a bit depressing. It's a bit of a shock to the system to come back to the UK after the cycling mecca of Belgium. Not only the provision (or lack thereof), but the attitude of some drivers (although I have to say that many are kind, patient, and offer waves of thanks). And I thought Kent was supposed to be pretty, but we spent at least 40km cycling through run down towns and grubby wastelands. So much litter everywhere, and the roads were mostly in terrible condition. Is this what's happened to the UK while we've been away????

Grumbling aside, we used cycle.travel to plan the route, and it did a good job of keeping us on cyclepaths and small roads, even if it wasn't particularly scenic. We'd recommend this tool highly - it knows where the national cycle routes are and uses them when they fit, but cuts off their wiggles to give you a more direct route. It also finds all the measly bits of cycle path that DO exist!

Things became a lot more scenic when we crossed the M2. I guess this is the edge of the Kent downs. Another hill to get up there of course.....it's far from flat around here! We paused to shop in Hempstead (another depressing half hour for me, waiting in the carpark for Ed while all the grumpy Mums and kids on half term came and went) and then headed for the YHA.

Medway YHA is less shiny than Canterbury, but in the process of being decorated so I expect it will be right up to scratch very soon. It's still great! We got a private room (with bunks!) for just £23. The kitchen is tiny, but at least there is one. And there's tons of communal space, a bike shed, and free wifi which WORKS.