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Cottenham, Cambridge and Southend-on-Sea

August 24, 2010 @ 12:58 By: gordon Category: UK Trip 2010

imageI spent four days with Rob, Yuki, Lisa and Emma after Rob and I arrived back from Scotland and Hadrian’s Wall country. Rob had to work the first couple of days so I hung out with Yuki and the girls.

On the first day, we headed into Cambridge to take the girls to a fun fair that was in town. After the fun fair we wandered around Cambridge for a bit, including going to an old-fashioned candy store where the phrase “like a kid in a candy store” was demonstrated by more than one of us.

Friday saw me and the girls head to a maze in a cornfield, which kept us happily occupied for most of the morning. Rob met up with us for lunch and afterwards he headed back to work. Yuki had to work in the evening, so Rob, the girls and I did a little geocaching before heading to dinner at the restaurant Yuki works in.

Yuki had to work on the Saturday, so Rob, the girls and I headed off the Southend-on-Sea for the day.

Southend-on-Sea-train Southend-on-Sea is the stereotypical English seaside resort town with a beach made primarily of pebbles and amusement parks along the shore. Southend-on-Sea also boasts the largest pier in the world that’s open to the public. At about a mile long, the pier boasts a train that takes people and supplies to the end.

We had lunch at the tip of the pier and then took the girls on a couple of rides in the amusement park before heading off to find a coffee shop.

On our way back to Cottenham, we stopped at a Go Outdoors store. Go Outdoors is a chain of huge camping stores. If you want to go camping and they don’t have what you’re looking for, you probably don’t need it. I picked up a Vango Banshee 300 tent, which I’m really looking forward to using in the near future.

2 Responses to “Cottenham, Cambridge and Southend-on-Sea”


  1. Mike Weir says:

    Gordon it sounded like a great trip my wife are heading to England and sounding area next year. Have never been over seas so looking forward to it. Did you get a chance to fit any hamming into the trip?

    • gordon says:

      I did have a great trip! There are still a couple of “installments” to go before I’ve recounted the whole trip. I had hoped to blog it in a little more timely manner, but I was having too much fun. 🙂

      I didn’t have a chance to play radio while over there. There isn’t a paperwork-free reciprocal operating agreement with the UK, though you can get a certificate from RAC that will allow you to get a temporary license. I left it too late so I didn’t have the cert. Besides, I couldn’t bring my radio kit anyways because of the weight allowance (which I was a bit over but didn’t get charged extra for).

      I’m thinking of heading back there next summer to check out Wales. One recommendation I have for you is don’t try to see it all at once — you’ll spend all your time rushing from place to place without actually experiencing anything.



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