We arrived in Chatham, Kent, on Saturday. It was about two and a half hours from Bedford, and the GPS was supposed to take us around, but not THROUGH, London. But as the photos of our car on the Woolwich Free Ferry crossing the Thames near Greenwich attest, we found ourselves perilously close to London. After a brief period of nervousness where we didn't know whether the ferry was even crossing on Saturday, and wondering if we would need to swim, we eventually saw the ferry turn up, and we boarded for a thrilling, action packed, five minute hop across the river.

Eventually we found ourselves in Kent, and managed to find our hotel without much difficulty. We caught up with my aunt and uncle, Fran and Dave, and my cousin Glen and his wife Michele, and went out to dinner at the Running Hrse, a Harvester restaurant. It was a lovely evening, despite an hour long wait for a table. The food was great, and it was absolutely awesome to catch up with my family. Laughs were had all round, with plenty of Ridge-style bad jokes and puns...

On Sunday we dropped Ralph off at his hotel in Greenwich, and then crossed back into London territory through the Blackwall tunnel, on our way to Southend. We drove to Westcliff-on-Sea, down by the coast, to where my grandparents used to live. We found the house, and met the current owner who bemusedly let us photograph his house. We then went down to the waterfront. A fierce wind blew along the length of the esplanade, and the sun shone furtively through the clouds. In spite of this, it was quite nice, until we encountered the hordes of holiday makers down the "city" end of Southend beach. Right next to the pier, which stretches out 1.3 miles to sea, was an amusement park to rival Ranbow's End. It had the feel of the rides at the Easter Show, but the quality of the rides was closer to Rainbow's End. we didn't go on any of the rides, filled as they were with children, but just gawped at the unusual sight of a beach filled with attractions. Usually, in New Zealand, the beach "is" the attraction. But here in Southend, where there isn't a lot of nice white sand, I guess you need something else. It was also somewhat funny to see people determined to enjoy their summer, dressed in hoodies and sweatshirts down at the "beach", or shivering in the cold as they gamely applied sunblock! Funny, at least, until I realized we were stuck in this weather with them...

We walked out onto the pier (£2 each please). We could have taken the train, but we needed to be nimble and flexible, if we were to stealthily scatter my grandmother's ashes from the pier. The wind made it challenging, as we had to pick our moment to avoid scattering her into anyone's face downwind, or back into our own. We were mostly successful, though remembering how particular Nana was about keeping things tidy (she was very fastidious), I had to grin to myself as I realised how ridiculous it would be if I was caught and fined for littering...

On Monay, Jaime and I went to the Historic Dockyards in Chatham with Fran and Dave. We got to go on board the HMS Gannet, an old clipper, HMS Cavalier, an old destroyer, and I took the guided tour through the HM Ocelot, a decommissioned spy submarine from the Cold War. Very cool! We also went on the rope making tour, which on paper sounds about as interesting as the "teaching people to watch paint dry" class, but was really interesting. Honest! It was helped, immeasurably, by a tour guide who was largely in character for the period of history in question, and was a proper "Chatham-ite."

It's been great to spend the last few days in Kent. The weather has been mostly dry, if dependably grey. We have a great view from our hotel room of the River Medway, and can see Rochester Castle on the left, and the Historic Dockyards on the right. But the best thing has been the time spent with my aunt. I've only seen her twice in the last 20 years, so we've had lots to talk about and catch up on. And just like my dad, she's a great conversationalist, with the same wicked sense of humor - she still won't let go of the fact that 20 years ago I persuaded her to climb Rangitoto Island with me and my sister Nikki. It's probably a good thing that England doesn't have any volcanoes, or Fran might be in real trouble...