Boredom led me to explore my own town.

I am bored and clueless, sick and tired of filling in job applications online and not getting hold of any job (FYI I’m a double Masters with good grades but still unemployed. Please do not study a lot unless or until it is necessary, otherwise you may be left in a dilemma and end up doing a PhD). By the way I envy all who have jobs! Checking emails and changing my facebook status every five minutes, how sad is that! Sigh, I so dislike such lengthy moments in life, and currently I have been experiencing such conditions quite frequently, but thankfully I do not feel depressed or suicidal. My family is away and I am home alone desperate to go out somewhere, but the problem is where to?!! Now having a friend is very important and not just phone or facebook friends but a real friend, whom you can talk to, go out with, enjoy and are there (in person) when you need a shoulder to support on! Yes well similar sort of case is mine and now I realise how important is it to have friend where you live. But having friends in Maidstone is not my fault, it just never happened. Enough with my sulking now!

Anyways, so I went online to check for the buses as I hold a special bus card (which is especially for people with disabilities) on this card the passenger goes free. I was browsing the Arriva bus website for places to visit in and around Kent. Well they are many but the timings suck, they aren’t frequent enough. If I plan to visit the beach or Blue Waters, I’ll have to leave at around 11 o’clock and make sure to be back at around 4 o’clock in the evening, which also includes the travel time that is an hour each way. Aaa well! Therefore I shall go to the bust station today at 2 o’ clock and figure out where to visit next. Thanks for your help! By the way would anyone like to join me as they’ll go free?!!

I am bored and clueless, sick and tired of filling in job applications online and not getting hold of any job (FYI I’m a double Masters with good grades but still unemployed. Please do not study a lot unless or until it is necessary, otherwise you may be left in a dilemma and end up doing a PhD). By the way I envy all who have jobs! Checking emails and changing my facebook status every five minutes, how sad is that! Sigh, I so dislike such lengthy useless moments in life, and currently I have been experiencing such conditions quite frequently, but thankfully I do not feel depressed or suicidal.

My family is away and I am home alone desperate to go out somewhere, but the problem is where to! Now having a friend is very important and not just phone or facebook friends but a real friend, whom you can talk to, go out with, enjoy and are there (in person) when you need a shoulder to support on! Yes well similar sort of case is mine and now I realise how important is it to have friend where you live. But having friends in Maidstone is not my fault, it just never happened.

Enough with my sulking now! Anyways, so I went online to check for the buses as I hold a special bus card (which is especially for people with disabilities) on this card the passenger goes free. I was browsing the Arriva bus website for places to visit in and around Kent. Well they are many but the timings suck, they aren’t frequent enough. If I plan to visit the beach or Blue Waters, I’ll have to leave at around 11pm and make sure to be back at around 4pm in the evening, which also includes the travel time that is an hour each way. Aaa well! Therefore I shall go to the bus station today at 2pm and figure out where to visit next. Thanks for your help!

Anyways, so here I am, it turns out I am too late for things to do around Maidstone but as I was going beside the river bank back home I saw the Kentish Lady river cruises. Decided to go down and ask around about it and booked myself in for the 3o’clock boat ride for the next day. I went back home and put my mobile camera on charge and began browsing on the internet information about the Medway River and its cruise. I found out that the River Medway is almost (geographically speaking) entirely in Kent, England, and flows for 70 miles that is 113 km from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it joins the River Thames. It was a natural river but partially man-made and has been opened to navigation over 250 years ago when water-borne transport was in its glory and used to transport cargo like fruit, vegetables, live stock, industrial materials, etc. Today the river between Maidstone and Tonbridge is maintained as a public right of navigation, enabling water users to experience the delightful scenery of the Garden of England and that is what exactly I am going to be doing on Sunday the 25^th of July 2010 at 3:00 pm.

The next day I woke up early as usual. It was bright and warm outside. Had breakfast saw a bit of tele then watched a movie at home. Soon it was 2:15pm time to leave the house. There I was zooming away down towards the river on my motorised wheel-chair. It takes 35 minutes from home if the roads are empty. And yes, as it was a Sunday the roads were fortunately empty. I love going by the river side it’s so peaceful and calm. I was there on time exactly at 3. The cruise was there all packed with tourist I felt as I was the one they were waiting for. At the moment I thought I have been living in Maidstone since five years but never checked out the river here. Well now I am glad I did as it was an experience to remember. As I boarded the boat one of the crew members guided me to my place which was thankfully the outdoor corners of the boat, which was great. But the only issue was I was unable to hear the commentary which informed us about the historical background of certain locations at the river. Well you can’t get everything in life, in order to gain something you loose something, and yes, got great views and lots of fresh air.

Soon the boat moored out of the dock at the Archbishop’s Palace. In the seventh and eighth century it was a royal gift given to the Archbishops of Canterbury and traditionally a home for travelling Archbishops from Canterbury. It is an historic 14th-century building on the banks of the River Medway in Maidstone, Kent. The building is today principally used as a venue for wedding services. As the boat slowly drifted along the calm flowing river I saw many other private boats, canoeists and fishermen alongside the river bank. As the day was bright and warm they were many people cruising on their own private boats and many hired rowing boat.

Soon we were passing through the town centre and shops like Asda, Tk Max and House of Frasier can be seen on either sides of the river. After passing through the urban area we soon entre the majestic sanctuary of the river. They are a variety of birds, trees of all sorts on either sides, it’s like the Mississippi River in North America just without the alligators. Further ahead one can see people sitting and enjoying the glorious heat of the sun and as it was a Sunday many were fishing along the river banks. Along either sides there are path ways built that are wheel chair accessible as I have myself been on them which run alongside the river bank up to the Millennium Park. The boat ride is an hour long; it goes all the way to Allington and back. There are opportunities to look at the locks and parks near the river and enjoy the views of weirs, meadows, pastures, medieval bridges and coast houses. There are several villages on, or close to the rivers which can be seen on either sides of the banks. This fantastic river cruise provides ample occasion for the traveller to explore and take refreshment. I managed to take quite a few pictures but I thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise as the boat gently cruised down the river. The day was warm and I could feel the sprays of water coming on me and the cool breeze, it was all marvellous and I do recommend this journey to all visiting Maidstone. The best part is if you wish you can meet me, just email me at nadiahmed@excite.com. And the town is almost fully wheel chair accessible so no worries there. Many thanks and hope to see you soon, Cheerio.

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