Giant Anteaters and Row Boats

Jo had to work today so Mike joined us on another exploration.

We decided to get out of London and headed to Canterbury. This city is about an hour and a half from London. Unfortunately, about half way our train was stopped while they looked for somebody who was on the tracks. When we did get going 40 minutes later there were an awful lot of police about. The one advantage of the delay was that our train trips were free.

After arriving in Canterbury, we found the centre of town and obtained the mandatory pasties. First up we took a rowing boat trip on the river through the middle of Canterbury. Our old mate Henry VIII reappeared and we floated past the oldest school in Europe. Good way to get an introduction to the city and see it from a different angle.

The reason we had come this way was the Howletts wild animal park. This park is about 15 minutes outside the town and is a conservation project focusing on at risk animals. The

park is outstanding with massive enclosures giving the animals a lot of space. They also work on the philosophy that they are there for the animals not the visitors and all the routines are built around this. The animals are not locked away at the end of the day – they decide what they do. From my perspective the tigers and gorilla were the stars but Janet definitely fell in love with the giant anteater. We spent all afternoon there and could have spent more time.

Back to the city by cab where we did a short exploration of the cathedral. Obviously the centre of the city is built around the cathedral and its massive history. Things kicked off about 1400 years ago and it is very impressive. Lots of restoration work happening and of course our mate Henry VIII makes an appearance.

Dinner was at a local pub which was lots of fun even though there was no fish. Two hour train trip back to the city and bed called.