2019 UK Adventure

The Ravenswood had a back garden that I was very envious of - but Nymans Gardens (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nymans) were spectacular. This is another National Trust property and well worth a visit. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the extensive gardens before heading to Arundel Wetlands where we spent a couple more hours wandering around and checking out the ducks and geese. The diving duck enclosure got Kevin thinking again - if we had the space he wants a large walk-in enclosure for birds (with waterfall etc).

We are zig-zagging around the country a fair bit to see as much as possible. I love the countryside (which is getting better the further west we go) and the old stone homes in the villages are super cute. I'm still not used to the ultra narrow roads but I think Kevin is enjoying them. Navigating is a lot easier now that we are aware of the postcode search (rather than using addresses) in the GPS.

Overnight at the George and Falcon, Warnford South Hampton.

Nymans Garden:

Arundel Wetlands:

George and Falcon:

While yesterday was a day of castles, today was a day of gardens. We started off early from Brighton to Birling Gap. The rocky beach and chalk cliff was pretty cool and I was happy to see the chalk cliffs. The pebbles are amazing - wish I could take some home with me...

We then headed to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens - yet another National Trust property. We spent all of our time here in the Gardens - so much time and effort has gone into these gardens.

The countryside is so pretty, and the narrow roads with hedges are just as I had imagined.

Our overnight accommodation at The Ravenswood was a very nice surprise - we expected accommodation and got another awesome garden. Thankfully we arrived with enough time to wander around the gardens and lakes.

Birling Gap:

Sissinghurst Gardens:

The Ravenswood:

And some pics from along the road over the last couple of days:

We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Wandsworth. Neither of us are city people and the drive from the airport to Wandsworth was eye opening. Once you are off the motorway, the streets are very narrow. It will take some time to get used to the roads and how people drive.

We weren't able to check in immediately (too early) so we left the car at the hotel and wandered around a bit, had a look at The Thames and looked for somewhere to eat (lunch/dinner), and somewhere to get cash. We didn't really do much for the rest of the day. Dinner was at The Ship, a local pub which seemed very popular (and very noisy).

We headed out the next morning - looking forward to getting out of the city and into the country. The first waypoint was Godstone (just to get us headed in the right direction and off the major motorways) then Sevenoaks and Canterbury, with the aim to stay overnight somewhere around Canterbury/Margate. The countryside is beautiful, but the roads are crazy narrow - and there is nowhere to pull off to the side or to park, anywhere.

Just before Sevenoaks we saw a sign for a Hillclimb and Vintage car show so decided to stop and have a look. It cost £10 to park in the paddock, but the vintage cars were pretty cool. We stayed for about an hour then continued on our way. Before Canterbury we stopped for drinks and met some bikers at a diner. We got chatting (as you do) and they recommended Broadstairs as a nice little seaside village. It was a good recommendation - we booked into The Bay Tree Hotel (free parking) on the Eastern Esplanade (water front).

After checking in we wandered around the town. Beautiful old buildings, narrow streets (see pics) and Viking Bay. I love the little changing sheds all along the beach. We had dinner at the Royal Albion - Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding.

Overnight at Bay Tree Hotel, Broadstairs.

Roads:

Vintage Car show (near Sevenoaks):

Broadstairs (SE England):

Our Hotel for the night.

The view out the front of the Hotel.

Friday was our last day in Singapore. The flight wasn't until midnight so we had time to do some more exploring. The Hotel was happy to store our bags for as long as we wanted so we checked out and hopped the MRT again to Marina Bay Sands to go up to the Sky Park.

The Sky Park was very disappointing. The views were awesome but I had expected (due to the name sky park) to have access to the garden on the top floor of the building. The observation deck only allows access to the very front part of the building (bow of the ship). Only hotel residents are allowed access to the pool, bar and gardens.

We wandered around the shops at Marina Bay - very expensive. There is a waterway in the middle of the shopping area, where you can get a sampan (like a gondola) ride - something a bit different.... We then went back to Raffles Place and walked to Boat Harbour for lunch. The restaurant hawkers along the river were very pushy, trying to get you to come into their shop for lunch and drinks (four dollar beer, four dollar beer)...

Mid afternoon we were foot sore and weary so decided to go back to the hotel and get our gear and head to the airport for an early check-in. The MRT to the airport as also good - not all underground this time. The MRT station is at Terminal 3 and we had to go to Terminal 1 so took the sky train (part of the airport) to our terminal. After waiting a while at the early check-in lounge we finally dropped our bags and then headed out to explore more of the airport. We found the rainforest waterfall that I had heard about - it is amazing. The airport is huge.

Then it was the waiting game again. Our flight was delayed and we took off at about 1am. What a long flight! 14 hours in the plane felt a lot longer. I'm glad we don't have to do this again for a while...

We arrived at Heathrow at about 7am, then waited in the long immigration queue to enter the UK. It was after 9:30am when we finally left the airport. We have a night at the Holiday Inn Wandsworth - to get some rest and prepare for the road trip and head out tomorrow to explore South-East England.

Marina Bay Sands - view from Sky Park:

Marina Bay shops - Sampan:

Gardens in the MRT

Boat Harbour:

Raffles Place:

Tanah Merah:

Changi Airport:

Heathrow:

Day 3 in Singapore. We caught the Big Bus to Suntec then out to Jurong Bird Park. On the way there it poured with rain. All the motorcycles pulled off to the side of the road to wait for the rain to ease. Very tropical - even though it was raining, it was still hot and humid.

The Bird Park is a big place to walk around. Our tickets did include the little shuttle that goes around the park, but it was crowded so we walked instead. It worked out better anyway - we saw more by walking. Again there are a lot of pictures. There are some extremely large walk-in aviaries that Kevin drooled over, the largest would be the one with a 100 foot waterfall.

We arrived back at the hotel late afternoon for a short break (and a change of clothes) then headed out to the Gardens by the Bay for the light show (yep, more pictures below). This meant another trip on the MRT, which was not a problem. Trains come every 2 minutes so there's never a long wait! The stations are unusual - there are walls between the platform and the trains, with sliding glass doors that open when the train arrives and the train doors open. Very smooth and efficient...

Jurong Bird Park:

Gardens by the Bay light show:

MRT: