Cambridge: not the Waikato town of the Church cafe, Ma Bakers and Karapiro rowing regattas

Back in the rowing days, I could probably have directed any driver from Auckland to Cambridge with my eyes closed, the dog leg turn onto Marshmeadow Road being the hairiest bit. While quaint and country-like, Cambridge Waikato is again very different from Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. Lots of clever people do very amazing things there, and Sophie has family nearby in Ely. We decided to catch the bus up for a night, to wander around town and have Sunday dinner en famille. I didn't have to go to work on Monday so let Sophie get up at the crack of dawn, while I was the lucky recipient of a local tour from Sophie's aunt, and then met up with Rachel from school days. She had just handed in her PhD and very generously spent the day showing me around, including some peeking behind the kinds of closed doors I couldn't get through in Oxford.

Sunday dinner club with homemade cider

Early morning mist, Ely

Muddy ponies in the school ground, Ely

A few commuter bikes on the platform at Ely, awaiting the Cambridge connection

Clever friends means access into colleges

We happened to be there during interview time for the colleges' next intakes. Overheard a few amusing conversations in some rather plummy accents, of students reporting back to mummy and daddy after their interviews, as we walked through the grounds.

St John's college (99% sure)

Tables laid for dinner, where gowns are worn

The bridge of sighs. Apparently referring to the sighs of students crossing the river to go to exams.

Rachel and I were walking through one of the colleges, catching up on the years (and getting the inside scoop on Cambridge life), when a friend of hers called. Turns out phone-friend was in a lab with another friend called Greg, who unknowingly to Rachel, I know from uni in Wellington. Off we went to the post-grad common room for cups of tea and lunch, before perusing a few shops, and then a train for me back to London.
You can take the kiwis out of New Zealand but we really can't get far without finding each other again.

Impromptu reunion in Cambridge