bruises already

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fell off already (Sonya)! going down hill too fast and then tumbled sideways after hitting deep gravel at bottom - hey I thought it was meant to be all flat until Switzerland!
we passed Bluewater, and then it actually felt as if we had left London when we encountered a chorus of frogs.
arrived in Chatham (where Nig's great great grandfather was held on a prison ship (naughty boy stole a pair of boots) and had 7 years hard labour in Aussie as a result.
Made an illegal entry into the dockyards and had a quick spin around on the bikes
stayed the night in an old Oast house (now converted to YHA hostel) see pics- they have big conical roofs. think they were used for drying hops and other produce - pretty funky!
next night camped in Canterbury on a farm - lambing season underway and a very cold night amongst the apple trees before the big push in the morning for the ferry to Dunkirk - a beautiful day to leave England, after passing through picture perfect Kent villages and country lanes.


April 16 Day two NCN route 1
Abbey Wood to Chatham, Medway YHA £32, £14 food
62 km avg 13 k, hot no wind, poor road design, bad gates which you have to lift your bike over. Stayed in oast house.

April 17 Day three
Chatham to Canterbury, 74km, overcast and sunny cooler, a few hills, left 9:30 arrived 5:45. changeable light wind. Food and mug £10, camp ground £10, shorts (Nigel sore arse) & pump, £50.

April 18 Day four
Canterbury to Dover, ferry to Dunkirk, Dunkirk to Grande Synthe
64km Ferry £15 for passenger with bike x 2
Camping 15.80 euro
Refreshments on ferry £9.50
Supermarket 13 euro

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Comments

[spacecat]

Hope you packed the arnica...
Hi guys great pix...I am looking forward to keeping track of your travels...have fun bonker bikers!! ^*^

[Thea and Tony]

go for it!
Great to get link to your blog site thanks!! What an adventure! pleased to read that you are headed this way. We will enjoy following your trail online. keep safe!

[Guy]

Ouch!
Sonya - Not surprised to hear that you came off your fully loaded bike. Glad it wasn't serious. Nigel - Perhaps you should lend out your Maori Tiki lucky charm. Good luck to you both in France.

[Georgie]

Word up
Hey this blog is cool! I'm a big fan of the map feature especially - hehe. Well try and stay on your bikes at until you've cleared the continent at least ;)

[Fiona]

I love the pictures of the rape flowers and Oast houses. Keep sending nice pics. love Fi.

[Sarah H]

very impressed
Hi Guys, Wow, I'm very impressed already! The website is great. Lovely to be able to see where you are and to hear about how you're doing! love Sarah x

[Michele]

All the best!
Hi guys! Wow, this diary is amazing! And so are your plans. I'm really looking forward to a bit of armchair travel as I follow you around the world. It's giving me the travel bug again!! All the best!! Michele

[Mum and Dad]

Tauranga Here
Hi, website updates are great. Have you seen our email after arriving home at googlemail.com. Feeling rather tired now. Do we communicate with you via this website or by your email address. What happened re Gisborne, please update on this. Love Mum and Dad

[Ian Matthew]

Hey, I'm impressed - I'm definitely going to be keeping up with your travels over the next few months and it will be great to see you again at the end (with your tree trunk biceps!)