Kent the Garden of England

The first night off the plane we rode the Tube and the train to get to the in-laws. Outside the train station I spotted my first Urban Fox and I took that to be a good omen.  I spent most of the first few days exploring the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre and learning the local streets in case I get lost trying to find my way to shops. My real pleasure though was how green it is around here. They told me Kent was the Garden of England and with Tundbridge Wells being central Kent I have seen why it has achieved that name.

At the in-laws flat they told me they had a pond out back and I couldn't resist going down to explore. On the first trip we got a surprise, an Urban Fox was cleaning itself in the middle of the path. We stopped and watched it for a few minutes before making a loud enough noise to get its attention and it ran off into the bushes. I brought Geoffrey down to the pond with us and he loved the fact that there was a old stump to rest on while we walked the edges looking at the Ducks and Moore Hens. We made a couple of visits to the pond during the first week. It is such a picturesque place to sit and wait for the nature to reveal itself.

The end of the week we wandered down to the Pantiles. This is where the infamous wells of Tunbridge Wells are located. It is full of shops and touristy things to check out. The waters from the Chalybeate Spring can actually be sampled in the summer so I am looking forward to being able to do that next year. 

Another great local attraction is Calverly Grounds. A local park and recreation area just off behind the BBC store. It was a lovely spot to stop and rest after doing some serious shopping. I just love how many natural areas there are in this part of the country. It is quite a contrast compared the images in my mind when it came to England. I guess I was basing my ideas of the country on London alone which is a bad habit to get into. I have learned there are so many lovely and different places to explore and I can't wait to see more of this wonderful country. It has been very welcoming in the first week and although it will never remove Canada from my heart, I figure there is room for it as well.

Just goes to show that no matter where you go in the world as long as you explore you will find things to leave you in awe and wonder. Keep on dreaming,

~Diligentdaydreamer