Despite our flight out of London being delayed and being an hour late we arrived in Singapore 20 minutes ahead of the original arrival time. We must have had some good winds blowing or the pilots put their foot to the metal.
I'm currently in the BA lounge and the next flight depart at 19:25. next stop will be Sydney and then Canberra.
No more post from me. That's it. Bye for now
I woke once during the night, because I hadn't put the phone on silent and someone who I don't know phoned and didn't leave a message. I finally got up around 7. I opted not to have breakfast included at this hotel, as it would have been a tad to expensive, so shortly before 8am, I went for a walk.
There is still a huge amount of new buildings going up along the river. I was heading to Southwark Cathedral, as I wanted a photo of it.
This was taken from a side entrance. I never did find the front of the cathedral, as it was blocked off because of some other building work.
After that I wandered back to the hotel. It was lovely and cool when I first went out this morning but it soon heated up. I'll be checking out at 11am but will have the luggage stored at the hotel, until I'm picked up this afternoon and taken to the airport. Might post something later.
I was picked up at 3;30, even though the driver had asked if I could be ready by 3:15, which I was BUT I was waiting at what I knew to be the main door to reception but apparently there was another door near where the concierge is located and that’s where the driver was waiting. Why she didn’t phone me when I wasn’t there, I have no idea. I phoned her when she hadn’t shown up by 3:30 and thats when I found out about the other entry. DUH.
The traffic out of London was slow to standstill. It took an hour and 45 minutes to get to Heathrow T5.
Then the check in. You have to scan your passport, enter your flight # and your boarding passes are spat out. I think it was there that I lost my flight itinerary list. As I had my boarding passes, I wasn’t concerned. Time was running out. Now that I had my boarding pass, I could then check my luggage. Some woman sent me to a self check-in gate. When the guy there saw my flight time, he sent me to a desk where a person did all the paperwork and not me. After that it was through security, which was okay this time. I took everything out and remembered my pedometer this time. Every thing went through without a hitch.
Went to the lounge but didn’t eat anything as I knew that a meal will be served on the plane shortly after takeoff. I was expecting the gate to be shown on the board but instead there was a notification that the flight was delayed half an hour.
Once the gate was announced there was the walk to the elevators that took us down to the train as the gates were at another part of T5, a short train ride away. I can remember landed at a similar gate a few years back and we walked for about 20 minutes to get to the terminal proper. I certainly got my exercise after that long haul flight. I think I’ve walked about 15,000 steps today but not 100% sure. Will check that when I get to Singapore. Original flight was due for departure at 19:35. Then it was delayed until 20;05.
Pushback started at 20:10 and we finally lifted off at 8:30 pm.
This it for today
Woke at 5:30, turned over and went back to sleep until the alarm woke me. Packed everything up and went down to breakfast around 7:45. Just had juice & toast as I'm not especially hungry this morning. The suitcase is being collect around 8:30.
We departed Cambridge just before 9:30am and our first stop was at the Newmarket Stud Farm. Its a huge establishment with many houses for the workers, a couple of race tracks that are used at different times of the year. I think our informant said that there is over 500 acres in the property. The way they test the mares to see if they are fertile and which ovary is the better one for conception etc. was Interesting to hear about. We saw a few of the stallions being taken from their boxes to the paddocks. Some more feisty than others, though this isn't the main stud season.
We departed there around 11:15. Had our lunch stop at a large Service Stop and got away from there around 12:40 ish.
Charlie (tour leader) & Michelle (our driver) had worked out where we were all staying and decided to drop us off at our hotels, etc, instead of the usual drop off place. Being only 6 of us on the tour, made that an easier decision for them and I know that I was very happy with their decision. Nothing like door to door service. If any of my friends haven't done a "Back Roads Tour" before, have a look at them. Max of about 18 people and you do take the back roads. My tour was fabulous and thankfully we 6 all got on well together.
After being dropped off at my hotel and checked in, I went for a walk. Up the road, around the corner, over the Tower Bridge and back again. Back to my room to sort the luggage for tomorrow and then had an early dinner at the hotel's restaurant. I have managed to pay cash for everything until our visit to
Back to my room to update the Blog and download some photos on Flickr AND work out what I'll do tomorrow morning, before I have to check out at 10am.
I might do an update before checking out tomorrow BUT it most likely won't happen until I'm back in Canberra.
Night all. Not many steps today. Only 6,319
Woke at my usual holiday wake up time, at 5:30am and went down to breakfast around 7am. every one else must have been sleeping in, as we have a late start this morning, of 9:30am
After packing things away for the day, I went for a walk. First up I headed for the train station, just up the road from out hotel on Station Road. Turned left and walked for a couple of block and then turned left again and came out on Station Rd again. Turned right and then at the intersection of Station Road and Hills Rd (?) I saw that there was a memorial to the !st & 2nd World Wars, so paid a visit. I continued on along Hills Rd for a few blocks, crossed over the road and started walking back to the hotel. Lots of people out and about, either walking or riding bikes. By the time I got back to the hotel, I'd already done over 3,000 steps, so a good start to the day.
Michelle picked us up at 9:30 and we were taken to the University area, to go for a punt along the Cam River, which runs through Cambridge and at the back of the various colleges. Only the 6 of us on our punt and the young man who did the punting filled us in on various bits of local info about famous people who have attended Cambridge University, over the years, such as Sir David Attenborough. An enjoyable excursion and so very peaceful for a while.
After that we then visited the Kings College Chapel but didn't stay there for very long as it was so noisy. We then, after getting mislaid a few time, visited the Wren Library. No signposting.
From there Rosanne & I walked back to the main part of the colleges, her to visit a bookshop and I checked out a local market behind Great St. Mary's Church. We then decided to have an ice cream for lunch and while sitting outside, Len and Cynthia came by, so they also bouta dessert and joined us. By then it was getting close to our departure time for heading back to the hotel, so we started walking to where we were to be picked up.
Michelle soon arrived but Jackie & Duncan were running late. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were going to cop a fine for parking where the bus was but the parking inspector was originally from South Africa and spoke Afrikaans, as did Charlie, who is also originally from Sth Africa. Anyway, the 2 of them had a lovely conversation for about 10 minutes and Jackie & Duncan arrived during that time and we didn't cop a fine. Win, win.
I think we were back at the hotel sometime around 3. None of us could get into our rooms initially, so had to have our keycards re-set and all is well. Dinner is at 7pm tonight but we are all meeting for a drink or 2 at 6:15. I'll finish this off after dinner tonight.
Dinner was lovely. A drink, paid by Back-Roads and a second one on Charlies tab, was very nice and was certainly enough for me. The food was delicious too AND not too much, which has happened at other hotels, or maybe I just don't eat as much as I used to. I certainly enjoyed all 3 courses tonight.
Back in my room before 9:30 and packed what I could ready for tomorrow, even though it's another late start. The luggage doesn't need to be out until 8:30 and we are departing at 9:30.
I'll put the TV on for a short while, to see what is happening in the world and then it will be lights out for me. Night all. 10,081 steps today
5:20am Wake up
7:35am Breakfast
8:00am Bag out
8:44am Depart Lincoln
Another fine & sunny day forecast. Fairly flat countryside. The summer crops have been harvested and the winter crops.
Because we were ahead of schedule re our Burghley House visit, we stopped in Stamford to have a coffee & fill in some time. Off again at 11:05am and arrived at Burghley House shortly after.
A magnificent House, built by William Cecil, as home to the dynasty that he founded, Burghley is one of the largest and grandest surviving houses of the sixteenth century and a wonderful example of the great Elizabethan 'prodigy' houses, built to honour the Queen. Conceived by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I and built between 1555 and 1587, Burghley is a testament to the ambition and vision of the most powerful courtier of the first Elizaethan reign.
We had a couple of hours there and I spent all that time, just going through the house. Didn't get to the gardens before we departed at 2:00pm.
We visited Ely cathedral and also the Cambridge American Cemetary & Memorial, before arriving at our hotel around 5:15.
After checking in and after the luggage was delivered, I sorted the clothes for the next 2 days, freshened up and went downstairs around 6:30, to meet up with Rosanne, Jackie & Duncan for a pre-dinner drink and then we had dinner together in the hotel.
Finally got back to my room after 10pm and updated this entry.
I'll post some photos tomorrow morning before we head out for the day.
Goodnight from me. 8,093 steps today
The alarm woke me this morning. The room has air conditioning, so it was easy to sleep last night, even though the aircon did turn off some time during the night.
I eventually went down to breakfast just before 8am and apart from Rosanne not being there, there were the Backroads group plus leader & driver and about 5 other people. The place seem deserted. I just had toast, OJ, coffee & yogurt & fruit. I left just on 8:30 and there must be a large tour group staying, as I think the majority of them decided to have breakfast at 8:30, so the breakfast room filled very quickly.
We left on your walking tour, crossed the road and were at the Lincoln Cathedral. Apparently Lincoln is celebrating the 1940's this weekend, so there was a display of cars and a bus from that era, just outside the Castle walls. Many of the locals were dressed appropriately for that era. I was almost arrested by a bobby but he decided that he needed to arrest a man, so I was saved from that ordeal. Lots of local stalls either selling their own wares or selling on behalf of a charity.
We all visited the Castle and viewed Lincolns' copy of the 1215 signed Magna Carta. There are only 4 original copies that survive. Two are kept in the British Library (one of which was badly damaged by fire in 1731), one in Salisbury cathedral, and one here in Lincoln castle.
Rosanne and I wanted to take the hop-on hop-off bus around Lincoln but had just missed one and didn't want to wait for another hour, so to fill in the time, we visited the Cathedral and as the admission price (Charlie had bought the tickets earlier and handed them out) included a walking tour within the Cathedral, we did that, to fill in the time. By the time that the Cathedral tour was finished we managed to get on the next hop-on hop-off bus. We only did the one loop, which took just under an hour. There was a stop conveniently outside our hotel, so that gave us time to go to our rooms, freshen up and have time to go back to the Cathedral for the Choral Evensong at 5:30pm
The choir was magnificent and I wish that I had had my phone out, so I could have recorded some of the songs. The service lasted just under an hour and we caught up with Jackie at the end of the service. Back at the hotel there was a wedding reception going on. I think the whole show started this morning and has been going on all day. Anyway, Duncan came down and the 4 of us decided to have dinner in the hotel, so one of the tables in the bar area was set for 4 for dinner. Then Michelle our tour driver arrived, so we had another seat set and the 5 of us ate dinner. The local staff were fantastic. We had a lovely meal. I had a Salmon starter and a 3 ice cream dessert. Rosanne & Michelle opted for the Lamb main, Jackie only wanted the 3 ice cream dessert and Duncan had the Salmon starter and I can't remember what else. Great company and great discussions.
Back in my room around 9pm and will pack, ready for our departure tomorrow on our way to Cambridge. Breakfast from 7:30, bag out by 8am and we depart at 9am.
That's it from me for today. Photos posted on Flickr. Night all and only 5,8956 steps today.
Awake at 5am. Showered, dressed, sorted the luggage to put out before I went down to breakfast at 7:20. Another light breakfast and then went for a walk around the grounds.
We were all onboard and departed the hotel at 8;45, to visit the local St Mary & All Saints Church and had a photo stop to see it’s twisted spire. It is so big that it's often mistaken for a cathedral and, in fact, it's the largest church in Derbyshire.
There is a wedding story about that. The most popular story about the Spire is that it was so amazed to hear of a virgin being married in the Church that it twisted round to try and see such a wonder for itself.
We departed there about 9:10 on our way to Sherwood Forest, where we arrived at 9:50
We departed Sherwood Forest at 11:35, after a walk through part of the forest, on the way to our lunch stop in Newark.
Arrived in Newark around midday. Charlie took us on an orientation tour and then left us to have lunch. We all ate at a riverside eatery next to the River Trent. It was called The Swan & Salmon (I think) I had a starter size seafood salad. Very fresh and delicious.
Back onboard at 2.30pm, for our trip to Lincoln where we are staying for the next 2 nights.
Arrived at the hotel at 3:20 ish.
I had hand washing to do and Rosanne just wanted to rest. We agreed to meet in the bar at 6:30pm for a drink. A large drink. :). Were chatting away when Len & Cyndy came in. They had changed rooms because of the state of the 1st room they were put in. Apparently Charlie took photos of their 1st room and will be forwarding to the company. Apparently an old dirty room. Mould in the bathroom, filthy carpet etc. Not nice at all. My room is dated but it is clean. Shortly after that, Duncan arrived. Jackie had gone to their room and he was in the bar to buy a bottle water. He eventually left around 9pm. I hope Jackie wasn't to thirsty.
Len, Cyndy, Rosanne & I all left shortly after. I was back in my room by 9:30 and will be heading for bed once I update this and post some photos on Flickr.
Photos posted. Steps today 9,405.
I woke at 5am this morning and decided to get up then, as I was wide awake. Showered, washed my hair, dressed. Ran the hairdryer over the washed socks, to help dry them and then tried to find out why my photos wouldn’t sync on the MacBook. Tried a number of googled suggestions but nothing is working.
I won’t be able to post photos on my Flckr page until I find a way of getting the pics to sync or a way of getting them onto my hard drive.
Went down for breakfast around 7:15ish. Not especially hungry so just had toast, coffee & OJ. Back to my room to put things away and then left to have a quick walk around. Have found a quick way to get from my room to the outside.😁😁
We were all early today, so got away at 8:45am on our way to Chatsworth House.
We arrived at Eyam Village first up at 9:30 ish. It’s known as the Plague Village. You can read more about that here. https://www.eyamvillage.org.uk/
We departed there at 11:15 after listen to the bell ringers practicing, then had a photo stop at the Monsal viaduct and away again at 11:35.
Arrived at Chatsworth House at 11:50.
Viewed the house and finished that just before 1 pm. By then I had met up with Jackie & Duncan so we all then got on a train being pulled by a tractor that went around some of the gardens further afield. That only took about 15 minutes. We then went to a cafeteria for some lunch. After that, they headed for one of the hothouses and I headed for the fountain.
The bus departed at 3pm for Bakewell. 30c outside according to the onboard temp gauge.
We spent about 45 mins in Bakewell and departed there at 4:35. Its their Festival week and the places is very busy.
We should be back at the hotel around 5:20.
Dinner was at 7pm and the meal was delicious. I had Fried Seabass Filet for the main and Chocolate Chip Brownie with vanillas ice cream for dessert. Great company and fun conversations. finished dinner just before 9pm and headed for our rooms as the bags need to be out st 8am and we are travelling again tomorrow, leaving at 9am for Lincoln.
No more photo on Flickr yet, as I still can't get the photos to sync on my MacBook. :(
Night all. Steps for today 14,108
EDIT UPDATE - Photos now posted
The alarm at 6am woke me this morning. A nice sunny day outside. After sorting the luggage and packing everything up ready for a new day, I put the luggage outside the door and went to breakfast at 7:20.
I was the 1st one there. Michelle arrived soon after and then Cyndy & Len.
I decided to have a hot breakfast and ordered Royale Eggs. Soft poached egg on a muffin with salmon slices. Delishes. I’ll have to start taking photos of my food.
I went back to my room and then decided to go looking for reception, as we didn’t go there when we checked in. This hotel, has various areas with rooms all over the place. To get to the. Dining room, you had to go up to the 1st floor, walk along a couple of corridors, walk through a function room, down some stairs, along another couple of corridors and there is the dining room.
Similar instructions on how to get to reception but after the last arrow, nothing. Obviously I eventually found it but boy, what a rabbit warren. Certainly walked a few steps just to check out..
We got away at 8:55am. 1st stop was at a Captain Cook memorial at 10:15. 2nd stop was at the Rievaulx Abbey, at 10am.
We departed there around 10:15 on our way to York.
We were on the outskirts of York around 11:15 and Michelle dropped us off at 11:30ish. All to meet again at 2:30pm
Charlie did an orientation walk and we then did our own thing. Duncan & Jackie, went looking for a loo. Rosanne & I tagged along. 40p to have a pee in York.
We then went into a M & S and had lunch in their Cafe and on the way out, bought something for dinner tonight.
Rosanne wanted to do a hop-on-hop-off tour, so I joined her on that. I had visited York back in 2000 and spent a few hours there way back then, so was happy to see other parts of the city apart from the CBD/ Shambles etc..
We were all back onboard the bus at the appointed time and on our way to the Ringwood Hall Hotel & Spa, Chesterfield.
It’s been warm today. The wind a bit brisk on occasions but no sign of rain.
According to the bus temperature weather gauge, its 14.6c inside the bus & 25c outside.
We had a quick comfort stop at a sculpture park and were back onboard and on our way again by 3:45.arrived at the hotel around 5pm. Filled in the appropriate paperwork and went to my room, 134, where the luggage had already been delivered to.
Sorted out the clothes for the next 2 days and did some hand washing.
Rosanne & I had arranged to meet for a drink around 6:30pm before heading back to our rooms to eat dinner. We chatted to almost 8pm then headed back to our rooms. Turns out that her room number 2xx is actually on the ground floor of the hotel. At least my room 134 is on the 1st floor. I'll check the grounds out properly some time tomorrow.
For some reason, none of the photos that I took today are syncing with my MacBook, so I can't post any photos on Flickr.
I'm heading for bed and keeping my fingers crossed that it will fix itself overnight. Otherwise I might not be able to post any more photos.
Night all. Only 8,119 steps today
EDIT UPDATE. Photos have now been posted. I think it was an internet problem with the hotel.
My first non coughing night, so had a good nights sleep. Only had to get ups once during the night.
Finished up-dating the blog for yesterday and posted photos from yesterday too.
I had a good nights sleep with no coughing but now get a runny nose. I need to find a pharmacy today to buy more tissues.😁
We got away at 9am and it’s a wet day.
Captain Cook worked at a local drapery shop in Staithes, where he would stare out the window, longing to be out to sea.
We arrived in Staithes around 9:30 and walked down the main narrow road to the harbour. A very pretty coastal town.
Michelle drove the bus down the narrow road and we climbed on board around 10:15 and we were on our way to Whitby.
We arrived in Whitby around 10:30. After taking photos of the Captain Cook Memorial, then visited the Museum. The museum was quite interesting and the guy who was talking was very well informed.
After that was lunch time and back to the bus at 1:30.
A small fish & chips was still to big for me, but I have now had fish & chips in England.
We were soon at the Abbey after that and we were meeting again around 2:45.
From the Abbey we are heading through the. Moors National Park where we had a photo stop. On the road again at 3:15.
3:20 and we stopped at the heartbeat town, Aidensfield and then back to the coach after the steam train went through at 4:20pm. Back on board at 4:40 heading to the hotel.
Arrived back just before 6 pm.
Dinner is again at 8 pm and tomorrow we head for York
Breakfast at 7am, bags out at 8am and we depart at 9am. I’ll finish this after dinner as I’m going for a walk.
Before dinner started, Charlie handed out envelopes to us all, which said that the visit to Sandringham was cancelled and we would be going to Burghley House & Gardens. We all knew that months ago. Apparently Charlie didn't.
The food, once again was delicious but again, I could not finish the main. It was a mushroom risotto. I don't think I'll bother with 3 course dinners again. Far to much food for me.
Dinner finished, we all stayed talking and then looked at our watches and decided that bed was next, Got back to my room at 9:45pm.
Have posted some photos on Flickr. Steps. 12,163
Night all
Monday July 15
I had another crappy coughing night though not as bad as the previous. Went down to breakfast sometime after 7am. Just had toast, yoghurt, orange juice and a banana. A very nice hotel and the shower was the best of all the hotels so far. Easy instructions to follow and not having to try and guess what various taps did.
Checked out around 8:30. Our driver, Michelle & van arrived just after 9 and we 6 plus tour leader Charlie, were loaded onboard, along with our luggage and we departed around 9:10am
10:00am and we were at the borders.
Farewell to Scotland and hello England.
We stopped at the Berwick Garden Centre at 10:25 for a comfort stop. On the road again at 10:40.
11:20 photo viewpoint of Alnwick Castle.
It has been in the hands of the Percy family since 1309.
Dropped off at 11:30 departing at 1:30pm
Walked through most of the rooms in main part of the Castle
Walked down to the gardens where there are a couple of cafes but I opted for a gelato for lunch. Very warm in the sun. Around 18c according to the weather app. On reflection, Margot Moore, I should have given the castle a miss and headed straight for the gardens as you did, as there wasn’t any time let to see any of them. :(
We all met Charlie at the appointed time and are now on our way to Durham Cathedral. According to the buses temperature reading it’s 16c in the bus and outside 23c
The 1.5 hrs we had there passed fairly quickly.
Michelle arrived early to pick us up and we were all ready. Left Durham just before 5pm on our way to Gisborough Hall Hotel.
it's now after 10pm and I'm heading for bed. I'll finish this off tomorrow and post photos tomorrow. I need a good nights sleep. Night all.
We arrived at the Manor House (Hotel) around 6ish from memory. Being just the 6 of us it was a very fast check-in and I don't think it was done through the usual reception area. We were given our room keys, ticket off our choices for our 8pm dinner sitting, shown where our rooms are (very close by) and told how to get to the dining room.
I spent the next hour or so getting close ready for our 2 night stay and doing some hand washing,
When it came time to leave for dinner Roseanne and I were leaving at the same time as Charlie, so he showed us a shortcut.
I bought a medium wine. Very expensive. Thankfully I only had the 1. We were also given a free wine with dinner. The meal was delicious and plentiful, so much so that I couldn't finish the cheese & biscuits that I opted for the dessert.
In bed by 9:30ish and light out shortly after.
