I 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 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.