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Singapore UK and Europe 2019
  • MF's travel blog
Sep – Dec 2019

Singapore UK and Europe 2019

A 105-day adventure by MF's travel blog Read more
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    September 2, 2019
    MF's travel blogTravelerSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Almost time to go

    September 1, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Not long to go now before we head-off to our first stop in Singapore for 3 nights. Hopefully back sometime mid-December (or when our finances run-out). Plane leaves tomorrow morning at 2.30am ( when I made the booking I thought it was at the civilised time of 2.30pm - ahh well😕). We’re packed (sort-of, that’s my blue bag on the left, Anne is still trying to fit the kitchen sink in her luggage 😛).

    Cheers for now........    Read more

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    At Brisbane Airport

    September 2, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    It’s just before 1.30am and we’ll board in 1/2 hour or so - what an ungodly hour to fly!!!!! Hopefully I don’t get a snorer next to me (no such luck - it’s Anne 🤭)

  • MF's travel blogTravelerSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    Singapore

    September 2, 2019 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We’re here - only 7 1/2 hours by plane but not much sleep. Booked into hotel (well priced but it is literally the size a a shoe box (I’d guess a women’s 6). A walk around the city and Orchard Rd - sorta got lost and 15 kms later were back at hotel. Hot humid and showers!!!! Dinner then an early night...

    Ohh, there must have been a huge storm/cyclone a few days ago - a ship got blown onto one of the city’s buildings !!!    Read more

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    Singapore Day 2

    September 3, 2019 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    This really is a modern sophisticated city but still really proud of its history. Went to the National Museum this morning then onto the Gardens by the Bay with a stop for lunch at Lau Pa Sat for a local lunch. Left hotel at about 9.30 and got back at 9.30. We’ve walked over 35 kms in the last 2 days so we can eat and drink whatever we like except for beer - $14 for a “pot”. I knew I’d given up alcohol for a reason- I’m tight🤔. The city is very very clean and people very friendly.Read more

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    Last Day in Singapore

    September 4, 2019 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    This is a great city and you could easily stay a week - great food (cheap restaurants have fantastic food at a really good price) and people really are quite friendly and helpful. I’m not sure why but strangers seem comfortable in coming up for a chat. Had the usual couple of people come up and offer directions, but also some others being a bit more personal.

    One local guy stopped as we crossed paths and critiqued my face telling me it was a lucky face and that I would have 3 very good pieces of luck in my lifetime (I’m about 2/3 of the way through so I guess there will be a plethora of good luck shortly). The last time a random walked up to me like that was in Nimbin and he just tried to sell me drugs!! Next I had an elderly lady (in China town) offer to remove a couple of moles on my neck for $5 a piece....

    When it rains here it really is a tropical downpour - I was out for a walk this morning and out of the blue (almost literally) it felt like someone just decided to tip a bucketful water over me. At least it cooled things down.

    Anne has her little bit of luxury- a massage (I think she needed it after all the walking).

    Dinner tonight then and early to bed - we’ll have to be at the airport about 7am.

    See you in Paris tomorrow night (15 hours flying, so that should be fun).    Read more

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    Singapore to Paris

    September 5, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Up early for the flight to Paris. Left at 9.40 am local time and got into Paris at 8 pm after a 2 hour stop in Dubai. We were a bit late getting away - there must have been 8-9 planes lined up on the runway waiting to take-off.I’ It actually was a pretty comfortable flight but super tired by the time we got to our (small) studio apartment for a 4 night stay. Anne made me find a mini-supermarket to buy food!!!Read more

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    1st Day in Paris

    September 6, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Woke up after not a lot of sleep - but the view out of our window was pretty Kewl and we are in Paris!!! Breakfast then we head into the (sort of) city centre. Do we get our selves organised on the metro or do we walk. Set-off on foot after stopping at a near-by cafe/bar/bistro for a coffee and a hot chocolate. Anne said it was the best coffee she’s ever had (last one she’ll get - I have no idea what I ordered). We walked, and walked and then walked a bit further (let’s just say it was further than Anne expected). Had lunch (the French do a good baguette 🥖) went to a couple of gardens then headed back. In all we walked over 20kms - let’s just say tomorrow it’s the metro 😁).Read more

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    Paris day 2

    September 7, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Okay - set off after breakfast and stopped at the same place as yesterday for coffee and hot chocolate - got the same coffee as yesterday for Anne (I had no real idea but the guy behind the bar remembered my very bad attempt at French from yesterday and remembered the order!!!). No walking today, got metro tickets and headed to the Louvre (this place is so big you could be here for a week and not see it all). A stroll along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the L’arc De Triomphe - Lamborghinis and Ferraris everywhere- reminds we pick up the Dacia Duster on Monday (not quite a Lambo😛). Ice cream then back on the metro home. Didn’t walk as far as yesterday, but still nearly 13km (mostly around the Louvre - Anne said we have to cut down on the 🚶‍♀️, but then we would have to cut down on the pastries ☹️). As I write this it’s 8.15pm and still very much daylight - have a look at last pic.

    Mary the Sphinx pic is for you - Anne thought you would like it 😁.    Read more

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    Last Day in Paris

    September 8, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Still adjusting to the time change and we’re waking up pretty early. Took the metro into “Bastille” to have a walk through the biggest food market we’ve ever seen - fruit, vegetables, meet, fish, bread/pastries and other stuff we had no idea of🤔. I love panettone (an Italian sweet bread) you can usually buy only around und Xmas time. There was one that weighed about 25kgs - Anne only let me buy a small piece and then ate most of it!!!!. Lunch then back to do some washing at a local laundrette - needed a hand to translate how to work the machines and still got it wrong.

    Tomorrow will be an exciting day - pick up the car and then drive to Amiens. Hopefully remember to stay on the right side of the road and get out of Paris without running into anything....    Read more

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    Drive to Amiens

    September 9, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Got up got organised and caught an Uber to the Renault car pick-up centre. Morning traffic in central Paris is a disaster but we got there (roughly) on time. Car was ready and it only took about 5 minutes and we were ready to go. It’s brand new (I get to put the first dent/scratch on it, but won’t feel too bad as every car in Paris has at least 4 - one for each side). Orientation consisted of pointing out the fuel cap - I don’t think he had much faith in me as I hopped in the passenger seat as we went to head-off. Man it takes some getting used to driving a manual sitting on the left of the car, changing gears with your right hand, trying to remember to stay on the right side whilst negotiating peak-hour Paris traffic (which seems to last all day ☹️). First intersection that I had to turn at I put the wipers on instead of the blinker, and when trying to change from first to second, my left hand could find a gear stick so it just put the window down - we had only gone about 200 metres so this should be fun🤭. Anne said I “kangaroo-hopped” the car but she was totally wrong as I actually stalled it twice when I couldn’t find the gear lever). Anne was wondering if Renault had ever had an insurance claim within 3 minutes of a car being picked up. Streets incredibly narrow, and incredibly busy with cars just parking pretty much anywhere you shouldn’t. Sometimes the space between oncoming traffic on your left, and parked cars on your right is just a bit smaller than the car your driving - physics says it’s impossible, but you fit without hitting anything (or at least just keep driving without looking back). We finally got out of Paris (and though I tried hard not to, ended up on a toll road). We got to Amiens in time for a walk around. France likes its churches so Amiens has its own “Notre Dame”. More tomorrow.....,Read more

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    Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux War Memor

    September 10, 2019 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We had a really good day - started with breakfast in our studio apartment then a wake-up coffee for Anne before we set-off for the Sir John Monash Centre Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. It’s dedicated to the Aussies that died on the Western Front, including the 10,700 with no known grave. It’s a magnificent (if very sad) place. It was special to Anne as we were able to find the name of her grand-uncle,Samuel Hardwick, that died at the front. It also reminded me that many returning of the returning WW1 soldiers settled around Stanthorpe and named their farms, and the little hamlets/rail sidings and the roads linking them, after battles (of the Somme and Western Front) in which they had fought - Amiens Rd along with Amiens, Messines, Bapaume, Passchendaele, Bullecourt, Pozieres and Fleurbaix. After there we went to a town called Albert to see another museum, this time underground, that gave a history of the battle of the Somme particularly showing the reality of trench warfare.

    We got back to Amiens for a brief rest and dinner before we headed to Amien’s own Notre Dam Cathedral (every city/town/village has a huge church or cathedral and mostly named Notre Dam!!!). It is huge and quite fantastic (the Catholic Church does like it’s edifices🤔). After dinner at the apartment we went back for a 9.45 light show at the Cathedral- again quite magnificent, the pics don’t do it justice.

    Tomorrow to Calais for an overnight stay before heading by car ⛴ to the UK.

    Ohh I took a pic of a tiny car😁.    Read more

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    Drive to Calais

    September 11, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Up reasonably early (breakfast in the apartment) and packed the car ready to head-off. But first we had to walk down- town so Anne could have her morning-starter Café Crème to kick the day off. The drive was just under 200 kms and staying off major roads took about 3 hours with a brief stop for some French pastry. At one stage we passed a very Ditch looking windmill looking thing and I thought Anne’s navigation had brought us to Holland!!!! One of the small villages we passed through had a road closure and a detour sign pointing to the left. This would have been fine if there were further signs getting us back on the road but there wasn’t ☹️. We ended up doing a couple of 3 point-turns in dead-end streets and then going down an increasingly narrowing country lane getting caught behind a 🚜. We stopped to get out to have a look at what was being farmed, which was something we don’t see in Australia very often (if at all), - sugar beets. I actually had to pull one of the ground to see what it was, then a vehicle came up behind us so I threw it in the paddock and 🚶‍♀️back to the car pretending “nothing going on here”. Eventually we made it back to the road. It was overcast,with occasional rain most of the way, but the trip was ok. When we got to the hotel we were staying overnight there was a father and son from Austria with an old MG the dad had done up. They were off to the UK Goodwood for an MG rally that would end up in Spain. We had a chat with them (they were pretty excited), the young fella was drinking an Austrian 🍺. I’m not sure how many he’d had, but it was more than one🤭. They asked if I wanted to try one of the beers but I politely declined 🤔. The hotel was cheap - it was clean but we got what we paid for (a very very basic room, not even a kettle for tea/coffee☹️). Drove into town for dinner (Anne had fish and chips and I had the best toasted ham and cheese panini - most of the cheese was on top!!!). My attempt to order in French failed miserably, the waiter said he thought I was speaking Spanish 🤨). A quick reconnaissance of the car terminal then back to the room. Looking forward to the car ferry trip tomorrow (hopefully no hassles at the border - when you tell immigration that you don’t have a ticket back to Australia, they ask a few more questions 🙄) and then driving on the left (even if driving from the passenger side). With any luck London tomorrow.Read more

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    Calais to London

    September 12, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Up reasonably early, breakfast then off to the Ferry terminal to board a P&O car ferry. Boarding was easier than I thought - through French border control for a an outbound passport stamp, collect a boarding card, then through UK immigration and a very quick check of the car that took about 30 seconds (open the boot, make sure no stowaways in the spare- tire compartment) and that was it. Got lost on the drive to the boarding area (cars line up in lanes ready to drive in). It’s a big dock and easy to get lost especially if you don’t follow the arrows, we had a couple of cars behind (us as we went around in a big circle). Finally we found the marshalling area. I went for a walk and when I came back to the car I had a walk around to see if there were any scuff marks and tapped on the passenger window to talk to Anne. When the window wound down a strangers face was looking at me - I was at the wrong car!!!. I could hear the lady laughing at me as I walked away. Funny thing was that she then went for a walk, and when she got back she went to get into our car 😛 - I got to laugh at her 😁. The Ferry is huge (9 levels I think) with cafes, duty free shops, bars and pokies (for a minute I thought I was back in a Qld RSL) - all for a 90 minute crossing. The white cliffs of Dover are quite a sight just before docking. It was good to be back driving on the left side of the road (if slightly awkward sitting on the left side of the car). We made it to our (again little) apartment (we’re actually on the outskirts of London in East Croydon, but it’s only a 15 minute train ride into the CBD). Tomorrow (hopefully a lucky Friday the 13th) we’ll organise oyster travel cards and head into the city....Read more

  • MF's travel blogTravelerSingapore UK and Europe 2019

    First full day in London

    September 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Up not too early and down to the kitchen/lounge for breakfast (the apartment includes a free breakfast and I am getting tight in my advancing years). We’re about a 20 minute train ride from centre of London so we bought a couple of Oyster cards for train travel. Got to London Tower Bridge on first attempt (lucky we followed Anne’s excellent sense of direction). Did the tour then off to Trafalgar Square, St James Park then Buckingham Palace before on to Hyde Park. It’s pretty warm in London at the moment (sunny and 25 degrees) so almost every square inch of open grass has a pasty white Englishman, with no shirt, sunning themselves - makes it hard to eat lunch in the park ☹️. Plenty of other wildlife as well (particularly water birds and squirrels). The squirrels, especially, are so used to people they come up to you begging for food. We caught the tube few times and only got lost (i.e. went in the wrong direction) when we followed a businessman that was catching the tube for the first time - apparently he’s usually limousine driven. On the way back to the apartment, from the rail station, we stopped at a local pub and Anne had her first warm English beer (turned out to be a cold Coors from the USA 😱). We🚶‍♀️ about 17.5 kms for the day.Read more

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    London - a lazy day

    September 14, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Nice slow day with a bit of exploring of Croydon. The centre has a huge pedestrian mall which was used as a market - plenty of fruit/vegetables, fish, cooked food and clothes. Basically everything was £1. My shoes have all but given up, but still couldn’t bring myself to replace the old faithful pair, even for one pound. Lunch then back to the apartment. Walked back later to one of about 6 barbers, all within a 5 minute walk, and got basically a head-shave (Anne doesn’t think it’s a good look).

    Barbers are normally pretty chatty; but nobody wants to talk about Brexit!!! It is all over the news, but no-one has any idea of what is going to happen. Luckily (I think) we’ll be back in Europe by October 31.

    I thought once we got to England we could stop having to pay to use a public toilet. No such luck and the conversion rate in London is shocking - 30 P converts to one pee and no change given !!!!!    Read more

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    London day 3

    September 15, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Another full day in London - breakfast then train and tube into Camden Town for the markets (yes I know - we go to a lot of markets 🙄). These really are huge with well over 1,000 outlets and shops. Heaps and heaps of bag shops and Anne likes to visit each one (you’ll often find me loitering outside). Had lunch on the “Italian food alley” didn’t get what I ordered and got charged almost twice the price - I think that was supposed to be part of the Italian experience 🤨.

    There’s a canal that runs through the middle that works on a lock system (with manual wooden gates) and it was fascinating to watch a boat come through dropping about 3 meters.

    Next, my highlight of the trip so far - a trip to the Beatles Abbey Road studios and I got to walk over the pedestrian crossing made famous on the cover of the Abbey Road album😃. It was Sunday afternoon but there was still a heap of people all disrupting traffic doing the same thing (I was much more considerate of traffic - but I’d hate to live and drive around there).

    Got back about 4.30pm needed and had a rest.

    Ohh and we saw Simon Pegg the movie ⭐️.    Read more

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    London to Liverpool

    September 17, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Up, breakfast and then a 400 km drive to Liverpool. London traffic - yuck. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get out of London (maybe - 35 kms) and on to the Motorway. Speed limit is 112 kph but just about everyone goes a lot faster (most of it is 3 lanes). Drivers religiously stick to the slow lane unless overtaking and are incredibly courteous - if you put a blinker on to change lanes, the car behind you flashes their headlights to let you know it’s okay to pull out in front of them. We did get passed by a AMG Mercedes chasing an A8 Audi both doing what must have been well over 200kph (we were doing around 125 and they went past us like we were standing still). As they went passed, the air pressure bubble gave our car a bit of a shake and scared the daylights out of Anne. We stopped at a service centre (they call them “welcome break”) and apart from fuel, there are coffee shops, burger shops and newsagents. They even have a bar with pokies!!! We got fuel and a coffee. We stopped at Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare) and had a look at Anne Hathaway’s house (was going to cost about $40 to go in so we just peered in through the bars around the house/garden). The town had apples and pears growing wild - we even picked and ate some blackberries. We probably would have stopped overnight if we hadn’t already booked Liverpool. We got to Liverpool about 4.30pm. We had booked an “Aparthotel” - when we got there they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom apartment (even had a bath !!!) Dinner at a near-by Pub and then an early night. Looking forward to seeing Liverpool (and more Beatles stuff) over the next couple of days.Read more

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    Liverpool 2nd day

    September 18, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Up and breakfast (pretty much the same as most days - maybe I don’t need to repeat that every day 🙄). Spent the day on the Liverpool docks - now done up for sightseeing. Went through the Beatles museum - for anyone a great experience, for a Beatles fan, just fab(4)ulous. Had lunch then through the maritime museum. Had a section on the sinking of the Lusitania and also a section on the Titanic. Liverpool had been heavily involved in the slave trade and there was a very large area devoted to that. Very sorry piece of history- it does make you think. After there we went for a visit to the London Museum that had a large exhibition on John Lennon, particularly after the Beatles. Liverpool really does use its Beatle’s history to its advantage and it draws tens of thousands every year. The city should be paying them millions of pounds a year !!!! After the museum we visited the Beatles statues (too much Beatles is not enough 😛). You could easily spend 4-5 days here.

    Tomorrow off to Edinburgh.    Read more

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    Liverpool to Edinburgh

    September 19, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Up, breakfast (there did it again) then headed off to Edinburgh. We were stopped at a set of traffic lights, in the centre lane (of 3), with a blinker flashing to go left but very undecided 🤷‍♂️. A work van pulled up besides us and a man wound down his window and asked if I wanted to turn left in front of him. I said I would probably make up my mind when the light went green as I was “sorta” lost. He had a laugh then asked where we were trying to get to. When we said Edinburgh he gave us a rough idea (go straight ahead and good luck) but was amazed we intended to drive 245 miles in one day!!!!! We stopped at Penrith (Cumbria) for lunch (at a church cafe) and a walk around - a beautiful typical English town. We took a scenic 80 km drive before getting to Edinburgh. Wow, this country-side is beautiful, green fields, sheep, cattle and lots of baled hay. Makes you feel all the more for the drought ravaged farms back home. Got to the Airbnb we booked for 4 nights - first impression (before getting inside) was ohh 😲. The door to the building was between two shops and graffitied. The apartment is on top at the fourth floor with 85 steps and no lift!!!. I had to carry my and Anne’s bag up (had to walk up 2 times - Anne’s is over 30 kg ☹️). I had to have a rest between floors. The outside might be ordinary, but the apartment itself is fantastic. Central heating, Really great kitchen, comfortable lounge, good bathroom (with probably the most complicated shower tap I’ve ever seen), comfortable bedroom and fantastic views (sunset over other houses/buildings was just glorious). Looking forward to the walking tour of Edinburgh we have booked for tomorrow.Read more

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    Edinburgh - 1st full day

    September 20, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We had booked a “free” walking tour of Edinburgh, unfortunately Anne pulled a muscle in her back moving her bag (told you it weighed at least 30 kg 😛) and we had to cancel ☹️. So being the thoughtful person that I am, I went off to explore by myself 🤭. Walked up to the “old town” and did a general reconnaissance of the area. Hopefully Anne will feel better tomorrow - I did bring back some muscle pain spray (told you I was thoughtful 👍).

    We did some clothes washing using the washing machine (it’s in the kitchen and so is the clothes line!!!). The machine has the fastest spin cycle of any washing machine on earth - at one stage I called Anne into the kitchen as the machine looked like it was lifting off the floor. It literally sounded like a jet ✈️ about to take off. The clothes came out all but dry.    Read more

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    Edinburgh day 2

    September 21, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Unfortunately Anne’s back hasn’t improved very much so she spent most of the day at home while I went for a walk down to the Leith water front. Leith is the port of Edinburgh. It’s a typical water front in that it is a bit “rougher” looking than Edinburgh. Having said that, it’s full of quirky cafes and bars along with art shops and markets etc - a great place to have a wander around. I should add that Edinburgh is considered the safest city in the UK, and we’ve never felt unsafe walking around of an evening. I followed the “Waters of Leith” (it’s the rivers name) all the way back to the centre of Edinburgh. It’s a beautiful area with parks and gardens. Had a look around the @new town” part of Edinburgh before heading back. We had dinner at the apartment (I cooked 2 beautiful microwave dinners to make it easy for Anne 🤔) and then Anne thought she would be okay to go for a short walk - we went to an Italian restaurant (like most towns/cities you can’t walk 50’metres without passing one) where we had dessert sitting outside. Getting down the 85 stairs,from the apartment, wasn’t to bad for Anne, but the same 85 stairs on the way back was a bit more of a challenge, but Anne made it (sort of) easily. After 2 days cooped up inside it was just what Anne needed. The only thing on TV is the Mentalist and the Aussie show Special Ops - both shown back to back (I think Anne has watched about 15 episodes of each 🙄).
    The weather (everywhere including here) has just been terrific. It’s been cool, say 15 degrees, but once you’re in the Sun it’s quite warm
    - just T-shirt weather). The apartment has central heating that comes on about 6.30 pm that, if anything, gets too warm. Looks like we are about to get to taste some UK weather though. Forecast is for cold and raining, from tomorrow, for the next 14 days (yay).    Read more

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    Edinburgh last day

    September 22, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Anne is much better today so, after I had a sleep-in, we went late morning for lunch. Plus, Anne was ready to do some exploring. Cloudy/overcast and drizzling today so we rugged up and bought a second ☂. Ended up at yet another Italian restaurant (when we get to Italy we’ll probably have Scottish meals). The waitress was a uni student (studying here) from Bulimba who recognised our Aussie accents (We gave her a £3 pound tip- not so tight now 🤷‍♂️). We had a walk through “town” and then to the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens. Saw a British TVR - great looking car.

    I cooked dinner again tonight (okay, I bought some microwave meals) and then because too much Italian is not enough Italian, I had some tiramisu.

    Tomorrow we head further north to Dunkeld.    Read more

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    Edinburgh to Dunkeld

    September 23, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Up (not to early for Anne but I was having breakfast by 6.30 am) then a final tidy-up and finish packing ready to head-off after a great 4 days in Edinburgh (if you don’t take Anne’s bad back into account). Taking heavy bags down 85 steps is a lot easier than carrying them up!!! It’s only about 110 km to Dunkeld but we took the scenic route. We stopped off at Hopetoun farm for a break (after all we had been driving for almost 30minutes) of coffee/hot chocolate and scone (for me). We then stopped at town of Linlithgow, the birth place of Mary Queen of Scott’s. I asked a local about the castle just off the high street. Apparently it’s a palace and the locals don’t take to kindly to it being referred to in any other way🤭. A fantastic structure built some 700 years ago. The palace is surrounded by magnificent grounds and has its own lake - the stop was worth it. Then onto Dunkeld - took a couple side-roads (read sorta got lost) and drove down some skinny one lane country tracks with stone walls on either side. The country-side is so lush and green, with sweeping hills and forests, it makes you think about the drought back home. Dunkeld is a real revelation, beautiful old country Scottish town built on the free flowing river Tays. The town is thought to have first been settled well over 1,000 years ago and the cathedral (every town/city seems to have a cathedral) building commenced almost 800 years ago. We’re staying at the Royal Hotel Dunkeld (you can tell it’s a popular town with visitors - $140 p/n for a small pub room). We did a walk near town (and had a drink at a pub overlooking the river) then had a rest before going to a small pub for dinner. Anne had chicken & mushroom soup and I had sticky pork loin with haggis balls (don’t ask - look it up 🤭).Read more

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    Dunkeld

    September 24, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Up not to early and had breakfast (in our room at the pub - using coffee mugs as bowls for our cereal, we took it in turns to eat as we only had one teaspoon, how tight is that😛). We then drove to Hermitage National Park - what a beautiful place with a walking track that follows along the banks of the fast flowing river Braan. Looked like it was going to rain but it held off. Plenty of waterfalls, one of the locals told us we were a month early as during October the salmon swim up the river and waterfalls to spawn. Apparently it is quite a sight as they make their way up. On the way back we stopped off at the town/city of Perth for a look around. When the British came to Australia they were not a very inventive lot when it came to naming towns and cities - they just took the names of UK places (Perth, Liverpool, Newcastle- there’s even a Dunkeld in Australia!!). Paying for parking in Perth was so complicated that by the time we worked it out it had cost us £2 and it was time to go. We went through Birnam (tiny village) and had a look at a Beatrice Potter museum then stopped at a Loch to do some (not very successful) spotting from a bird hide. Dinner at a local pub and get ready to head-off to Ayr (there’s another one!!!) tomorrow.Read more

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    Dunkeld to Ayr

    September 25, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It was foggy, misty and overcast when we left Dunkeld - some British weather at last☂️. Took a scenic route and stopped for a coffee at the not very aptly named village of Muckhart) pretty little village and good hot chocolate👍. There are some absolutely terrific motorbike roads in the UK - maybe one more European motorbike trip left in me (but not according to Anne). The beach at Ayr Scotland is about as good as the beach at Ayr Queensland - not very. No wonder Poms love Surfers Paradise. Went out to dinner - Anne had a scotch fillet (very fitting) and I had ribs that turned out to be big enough to feed a whole family, I only got through about 1/2. Tomorrow to Arnside.Read more

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