Marsh frog

When I woke up, I found Fred in his cycling gear. It was such a sunny day that I couldn't resist going out, too. I didn't even stop for breakfast! We cycled down to the station and caught the train from Peckham Rye where we changed to a train to Dartford. We haven't explored Kent that much and we've now discovered that's it's easy to get to from where we live and not that far. And it has good cycling - hooray!

At Dartford, we found a seat in the sun at the station caff where I enjoyed buttered toast and tea for a decent price. Perfect. We headed off to follow part of Sustrans Route 1, from Dartford to Rochester. The start of the ride took us swiftly past the mega-shopping centre Bluewater. The cycle path runs along, but is very separate, from the duel carriageway. It was wonderful to zoom down the empty cycle path in the sun, wind through our hair (no cycle helmets as most of the route is off-road), and alongside people trapped in their hot, steel boxes on the road. It was a day to be cycling or drive in an open-topped car - there were quite a few of those around.

At Northfleet, we cycled past old warehouses and factories by the River Thames. At Gravesend, the path ran along by the railway with vast green fields to the north commanded by humming lines of electricity overhead. We came across a lizard basking in the sun and while we were admiring him, we heard the most extraordinary sounds coming from a pond... we looked for birds, but saw nothing. Then it dawned on me that we must be hearing frogs! A whole frog chorus! After much gazing into the pond and seeing nothing, I spied this fella way out in the pond and promptly snapped him. Evidence.

The frogs made the day magical - it's such a wonderful and unexpected sound.

We cycled past more fields and plenty of orchards and finally made it to Rochester. Down by the Medway, we encountered a Russian Cold War submarine. Bizarre. It was sad to see the derelict area around the river where you can view the submarine. Signs said that the riverfront decor had been created in 2010, but it's obviously not the tourist attraction that it should be.

Then the train home, sunny, cycled out, and happy. A perfect day.