Cambridge

So we’re massively behind in our blogging, so our apologies for that. We’ve been so busy trying to cram stuff into what little time we have, that there’s barely enough time to stop and think sometimes! Our aim is to have caught up before we get back home, so there’s some serious blogging to be done...

Our last full day in England saw us catch early train out to Cambridge, to visit the university, and in particular poke around the town where I was born. Cambridge greeted us in typical England fashion – cold, gloomy, and a persistent drizzle that is the signature of English weather. Nonetheless, we powered on from the station, and were soon greeted by an awesome sight – the Kings College, Cambridge University. The college is inspiring on so many levels – its age, architectural grandeur, its sheer size. Words of mine shall never do it justice, so hopefully some of my pictures will! At the back of Kings College was, funnily enough, The Backs, which is a vast expanse of green bordering the river running through the colleges. As odd as it sounds, it was open day at the University, which meant that all of the colleges were actually closed to the general public – so unfortunately we could only admire from afar, without being able to delve further into the colleges themselves.

After taking numerous photographs of people punting along the river (inclement weather and all, some people are just hardier than us I think), we then began the mission of finding Churchill College. Churchill College is where dad undertook his PhD at the time I was born, and as such was my home for over two years. Some people never move far away from their towns of birth, or visit regularly as a matter of course, and those places end up being just another town or city in the world. Given that this was the first time I’d returned to England since leaving, 25 years ago, this was something a bit more meaningful, a bit more special.

But first – we had to find the college. Of course, the tourist map we had concentrated on the prime Cambridge University colleges (Kings, Trinity, Magadelene etc), but not the newer colleges like Churchill, we were off on quite a mission to find it, since no one seemed to really know where it was. We walked halfway around Cambridge, because that’s what the map told us to do, and arrived at Clare College, where the guard told us to walk all the way back to find it... by this time we had been trudging around in the rain for close to an hour, with no signs or indications of the existence of Churchill College. Disheartened, we started wandering back, and happened on, of all things, a hop-on hop-off bus tour map, which had the name of the street on which Churchill College was located! Refreshed by this discovery, we marched off in completely the wrong direction, before realising and turning around, this time in the right direction (it was still raining mind you). Finally, after what felt like close to two hours of walking around in the rain, we came across the promised land – Churchill College.

Now, on to the next challenge – finding our old flat, Flat 25. Thankfully, this wasn’t as bad a challenge as the first one, I simply asked the security office! They were incredibly understanding as to my mission, welcomed me back to the college, and directed me to Wolfson Flats. At this point, the sun had come out, so we headed off in the right direction... and there it was, finally – Flat 25, Wolfson Flats, Churchill College, Cambridge. The place I spent my first years, and the first time I’d ever been back since leaving for Brunei and Australia. It was strangely nostalgic (strange because I couldn’t remember anything from that period), but a nice feeling nonetheless. There was a stroller out the front of the flat, which seemed to indicate that someone was home, so we didn’t get too close, but we did take stalker photos of the front of the unit. Looks like someone is going to be starting life off there too... that’s a nice thought.

Anyways, the rest of the Cambridge is stunning – the old architecture is awe-inspiring (once you’ve navigated around all the loud, obnoxious tourists who take photos of absolutely everything... and no I’m not that bad!) and the university really inspires you to want to study there. Makes UNSW and USyd seem a little lame by comparison, but I guess they don’t have over 800 years of history to fall back on. There are cobblestone streets everywhere, and the main centre is blocked off from traffic between 10am and 4pm, creating a fantastic village atmosphere, even in the rain. And the food isn’t too bad either J

So all in all, a successful day – lots of Cambridge discovered, and the all important Wolfson Flats. Almost makes me want to go back to university...