Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June

Tuesday was a bit of a write off! Heavy rain for most of the day and temperatures struggling to reach double figures. We managed a short cycle ride in the morning between downpours and the the LLW decided that she may as well spend some time on her legal work. Ray was sent off to the gym and swimming pool for a while. The facilities at the site are very good but I had been looking forward to swimming in the sea off one of the many glorious beaches on the island. Sadly it may not happen this week - too cold even for me.

Wednesday dawned slightly better. Intermittent rain but slightly warmer (13C) and very little wind. We called in at the Island Office to check some arrangements and then cycled across to Tresco Abbey and the gardens.

The gardens are in a spectacular location and have a collection of remarkable plants and trees from around the world. Apparently the gardens were first stared in 1834 and Augustus Smith assembled the plants with the assistance of Scillonian mariners whilst on their many voyages around the world.

As we entered the gardens we encountered more red squirrels than we have ever seen win one place. At one stage we counted 7 fighting over access to the nut feeder.

It was a delightful walk around the gardens and the planting is amazing, but the LLW was slightly critical that it was not better kept!!

Our cottage Spindrift at Sea Garden Cottages is lovely and as you can see the garden there is very colourful.

We ventured out again later for another cycle ride and found even more beautiful beaches with nobody in sight! 

Dinner was at the Ruin Beach cafe again and this time we had a table in the bar with the most fantastic views across the bay

Monday 10th June - on to Tresco

A cloudy day, still cool and with fairly heavy rain forecast. Top of the priority list was securing a taxi to take us to the quay at Hugh Town for our ferry to Tresco. We had called the Tresco office yesterday as requested and were informed that out ferry was 12:45. Of the two taxi companies on the island, one was fully booked on the Monday until 13:30 and the other was closed on Sunday. We think that the Otillo athletes returning from whence they came was to blame for taxi overload.

The trusty DJ Cabs did try to call us back early but the mobile signal is very poor and they failed to connect. However, we managed to speak to them after walking down the road to find a mobile hot spot and the pickup was arranged for 11:40.

After a very good breakfast we packed our bags, left them at the B&B to be collected later, and headed off for a walk. We had not gone far before the rain started and luckily a cafe was at close hand and we spent 20 mins nursing a flat white whilst the worst of the storm abated.

We then walked across the bay to St Mary's Old Church where ex PM Harold Wilson is buried. He famously visited the Isles of Scilly every year for holidays and owned a small house which can only be described as looking like a large garage!

The rain kept away and we were soon in the taxi and deposited on the quay awaiting our ferry. The Scillonian passenger ferry had arrived and large numbers of visitors disembarked to join those from two small cruise ships making Hugh Town very busy.

The sun came out and we had a spectacular but calm ferry ride to Tresco via Bryher. It's difficult to explain the beauty of the islands in brilliant sunshine but I hope some of the photos go part of the way to demonstrating this.

We disembarked on Tresco at New Grimsby and soon were on our way to Sea Garden cottages on the opposite side of the island at Old Grimsby about 1 mile away. Sea Garden Cottage are delightful; very luxurious with beautiful gardens and spectacular views across the bay to St Martins.

After settling in we walked back across to New Grimsby and ordered some provisions at the Tresco Stores, which they will deliver later, and picked up our hire bikes next door. The LLW was informed that a round the island cycle ride was now necessary, particularly since the weather forecast for tomorrow is very poor. We cycled up a few hills, around the southern part of the island and close to the Abbey Gardens before returning to Sea Garden Cottages via some off road tracks. A lovely ride and after a short rest we walked the few yards down to Ruin Beach Cafe where we had a really excellent dinner.

Sunday 9th Cycling around St Mary's

A mainly sunny but cool morning was perfect for our planned cycling around the island and after a good breakfast we walked the mile or so to Hugh Town and the cycle hire shop.

After much discussion and consultation about hills around the island, the LLW determined that e-bikes were the order of the day!

We had to wait a while before we cycled off as the Otillo race began at 10:00. Today's race is just under 40km and involves 4 islands with 8 swims, one of which is 2.6km, and the winning time is forecast to be about 4 hours. As you can well imagine I had to restrain the LLW from submitting a late entry.

The views round the island were stunning and we pretty much completed the full tour. However, the LLW was very organised and had her priorities sorted so the first stop was the Strudel Cafe. This establishment has two locations, one in Hugh Town and the other up country which is where we stopped. Run be a German lady, the most amazing apple strudels were delivered and quickly dispatched!

Saturday 8th June Arriving on the Isles of Scilly

An early breakfast and we were soon on our way to Exeter airport for our flight to St Mary's. The luggage allowance is very strict with virtually nothing allowed as cabin luggage so we were pleased when our bags had been cleared and we were on board.

The plane an Otter 2 operated by Skybus is a 16 seater and only one seat was vacant as we set off on our short flight. High winds resulted in a bit of bouncing as we ascended but one in level flight it was very calm. The flight was mainly over land, firstly Devon and then Cornwall before the plane took a sharp left over St Michael's Mount and flew the 28 miles over the sea to the Isles of Scilly.

The first site of the islands was quite magical and nothing prepares the traveler for the extraordinary number of islands and rocks in the archipelago. The weather was good with excellent visibility and we were soon on the ground and in our minibus on the way to our first stop, Porthenor B&B which occupied a beautiful position over looking the harbour and bay at Old Town.

Having deposited our luggage we walked into town where we encountered the Otillo race for the first time and many runners and swimmers were arrived at the finish line for the first day's event known as the sprint.  The main event is tomorrow Sunday where serious distances are covered across 4 islands!

We walked around the peninsular where there were extraordinary rock formations and lovely views across clear blue seas.

Dinner was at Bondy's Cafe very close to our B&B; Crab Curry was the speciality and very good it was too.

Friday 7th June on our way to Exmouth

After the Open Afternoon at Amberley School we headed off towards Exmouth and since it was a Friday afternoon there was no surprise that traffic was very heavy. However, this was exacerbated by very heavy rain which caused difficult driving conditions and slow going. 4 hours later we arrived at The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth where Ray had spend several childhood holidays. The hotel still has a lovely setting with impressive grounds overlooking the Exe estuary but the once very grand hotel is now less so and standards have slipped.

Saturday 2nd still hot in Singapore

Another hot and very sultry day in Singapore and over breakfast we contemplated the options for the day. It is too hot for any great exertion and for too much exposure to the UV.

It was decided that a trip to Chinatown and then a walk back to Clarke Quay and along the river front would be appropriate.

We walked down to Dhoby Ghaut, the metro station which seems to be the centre of all transportation in Singapore since it is at the confluence of 3 of the main metro lines.

Our hotel, the Fort Canning, is situated at the edge of Fort Canning Park and is close to what appears to be the most romantic spot in Singapore - an underpass!!

The underpass, which goes under the Penang Road, is certainly not grubby as are so many in Europe, and indeed it is spotlessly clean in true Singaporean style.  However, it is the last place we would have expected to be a venue for wedding photos. The first time we walked through the underpass we were puzzled to see photographers setting up their equipment at the bottom of a ramp and a staircase. Later we saw at least 4 couples being photographed in the underpass. We asked one of the photographic assistants why this was such a popular venue and she just shrugged and said it was just an attractive place!! We remain bemused but clearly Singaporeans think it is just the place for wedding photos!

We alighted at Chinatown and today Singapore is eerily quiet. We can only assume that this is the calm before the storm of the celebrations for the year of the Earth Pig which begin on Monday. Shops in Chinatown were full of mementoes and sweet treats to celebrate the New Year,

We walked back to Clarke Quay and along the riverfront until the LLW declared that enough was enough and a cooling cruise on a riverboat was required. This was perfect and the breeze created by the boats movement cooled us down considerably and we enjoyed all of the sites of Singapore from the water. It really is an astonishing city, with its melange of races, all strictly obeying laws and regulations and demonstrating patient courtesy to visitors, it seems the embodiment of a successful modern global city.

We then headed back to our hotel to have a rest and then start to get packed ready for our return to the UK. We are being picked up at 05:35 for our flight to Gatwick via Dubai at the end of what has been a wonderful holiday. It seems such a long time ago when we landed in Perth and we genuinely have enjoyed each and every day. We did decide not to compare places, days or experiences with one another whilst away but will review all when we get back.

Thank you dear reader for following my ramblings and I hope at least some were entertaining.

à bientôt !

Friday 1st February in Singapore

We are now well and truly in Singapore but it's worth a recap of our takeoff at Sydney as the weather was interesting!

We boarded the flight and after only a minute or so the captain said that the air conditioning was not working properly and since it was 42C outside he was suspending boarding until the aircon was fixed. This only took 10 minutes or so and we were very comfortable. Boarding recommenced and completed with perhaps only 15 minutes lost. However!! The captain was back on the intercom very soon after all had boarded to announce a further delay. The wind had suddenly changed direction to a southerly and the temperature had dropped to 26C in a matter of minutes. (southerly winds come straight from the Antarctic in this part of the world). A queue of aircraft readying for takeoff now had to taxi back the full length of the runway to prepare for takeoff in the opposite direction. We were not yet in that queue so no extra taxiing needed but we just had to wait until all others were in place. All in all we lost about an hour but made up half of that on the flight to Singapore. Takeoff was very bumpy as we headed straight into gale force winds but after about 10 minutes it calmed down and the huge Airbus A380-800 rumbled on its way to Singapore.

We arrived at our hotel just before midnight local time, which was 3am Sydney time, so there was no hesitation in heading for bed.

Breakfast was leisurely and we had decided to spend the morning at the Gardens by the Bay and wow were they spectacular.

Part of the gardens were the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest Dome, both of which were blissfully air conditioned and well as awesomely beautiful. It was now 32C and very humid which made walking around the gardens, and anywhere else for that matter, hard work.

The hotel we are staying in, the Fort Canning Hotel, is really lovely and the staff are impeccably efficient and charming but there is one drawback and that is a 1 km walk to the nearest station. Under normal circumstances that would be a doddle but in this heat and humidity and including a number of steps it is quite hard work.

We need a short rest back at the hotel before taking the metro to Clarke Quay and wandering along the river quays and having a very good Indian meal right by the river.

Thursday 31st leaving Sydney

We had a really delightful evening with Geoff, Genevieve and met with their four children before we wert out for dinner. Ray had quite a long conversation with Natalie who is studying Medical Science at Canberra University.

Genevieve arrived after we did having just finished a shift at the hospital and we headed off to a restaurant named The Nielsen, which is situated right on the waterfront at Shark Bay and backs on to Nielsen Park. In spite of its name it is Geoff's favourite swimming spot and favourite beach in the world. This prompted a discussion on the topic and we suggested Parakeet Bay on Rottnest Island as a candidate for the title.

Geoff is a big fan of electric cars; the family have two Teslas and we were driven to the restaurant in his  Model S. It was the first time we had been in a Tesla and its quite an eerie experience, very fast but almost silent.

The food was excellent, Ray went for the oysters and octopus and we spent more time there than planned which is always a good sign. An Uber driver was called by Geoff  and we were quickly back at our hotel the Rydges at Sydney airport. Whilst the room was very well insulated and air conditioned Ray complained that it was no where near as comfortable as the camper van and consequently he did not sleep very well!

The next morning the LLW was planning to visit some of her Stafford clients at their fairly new offices in the CBD at the junction of York Street and Market Street. We walked back to the airport and boarded the train to central Sydney about 09:00. A very smart new double decker train whisked us to Town Hall station and we quickly found the building where Stafford are located on the 18th floor. Ray was left to walk down to circular quay for a while. It was very hot (36C and climbing to 38C) and by the time he had walked the mile or so down to the quay, there was only one option, coffee and something to eat in an air conditioned cafe! It was not a day for too much more walking around but I have to regale you with yet another cruise ship spoiling the view of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I caught a bus back to St James' station which was a short walk from 31 Market Street, the location of Staffords office, and just before I arrived the LLW called to say she was ready. Back on the train to the hotel to collect our luggage and we are now comfortably sitting in the air conditioned Quantas lounge waiting for our flight to be called. I'll sign off for the present and be back on line tomorrow from Singapore.

I know I said I would sign off but whilst we realised that the broad band here was good, I have just measured it and its running at 150Mbs download and 165Mbps upload. That is the fastest I have ever seen!

Wednesday 30th leaving NZ

What a sad day; we leave NZ and have to return the camper van. Firstly a stop at the Dixon residence to say our farewells and to see Dave after his short stint in A&E at Christchurch (the result of a junior doctors strike - now why does that sound familiar). In typical Dixon fashion Dave stayed overnight (well for about 3 1/2 hours) in a Pod at Christchurch and returned to the airport using a Lime electric scooter.

Oli is still enjoying showing off his workman's safety hat, much preferring the back to front orientation favoured by so many baseball cap wearers.

Isla loves to demonstrate her climbing ability and occasional stops to pose for photos.

She also kept Rosemary and Oli entertained with her theatre show. Also in the audience were various selected cuddly toys.

Just time for a group photo and then we were off to Maui at the airport stopping to fill up the tank with Diesel at the BP station.

 We have a busy time in Sydney and as quick as we can after landing we head off to Geoff and Genevieve Norman's home in Vaucluse (near Watsons Bay) for dinner. Geoff is Chairman of Rosemary's client Stafford Capital Partners.

At the airport, Ray almost fell off his chair when he discovered that Newcastle United had beaten Manchester City 2-1. As they often say about football it's a funny game.