Hello all! We are from Liverpool UK and enjoy travelling to new places We decided to do this travel diary to keep our family and friends up to date with where we are See you on our return!!
Hi all Just under 5 hrs from our flight to London Heathrow Had a good day passing time visiting Sentosa Island Lots of attractions ie rides and MGM Studios but it's really just a huge theme park with lots of hotels and more being built Not somewhere we will bother with again and not anywhere to particularly recommend as a must do although there are some sandy beaches there and it only costs $S7.40 for the return trip - about £3.70 Well that's a fond goodbye until our next trip and blog Regards to all Derek & joan xx... read more
Hi all Just flown in from Melbourne Plane changed from A380 Airbus to Boeing 777-300 last week when we reserved seats but on arrival at Tullamarine Airport found it was a 747-400 and so seat choices didn't match Will take up with Singapore Airlines on return to Uk as didn't get refund of seat reservation costs! Still it was a good flight but for 1 hour all crew were confined to seats due to turbulence and all cabin services suspended. Better safe though. Arr ived to thunder and lightning and tropical storm and landing delayed due to a previous storm a few minutes earlier. We managed to land in the window between them - wouldn't have fancied coming in through the lightning and torrential rain It's 24'C now and humidity of 94% so it's not easy ... read more
Just back in Melbourne after 4 days in the Grampians about 200 miles north west of Melbourne Climbed to the Pinnacle and went to the Aboriginal rock drawings Had a great trip to Sovereign Hill Gold Mine with a trip 60 feet underground into the original mine workings. Very interesting as well as a nice bit of respite from the 32'C on the surface Our last day with Claire tomorrow before we say goodbye until May next year when she comes back to UK for Matthew's wedding. She's got her flight booked and got a good price with Qatar although it's still a lot more to buy a flight from OZ to Uk rather than the other way We are spending the last evening at the night time market at Victoria Markets. They only started last ... read more
Hello all We are just back in Melbourne after 6 days in Tasmania We have had difficulty with getting phone signals on the east coast and so have been unable to post a diary We arrived in Hobart on Friday 5th and stayed 3 nights at Cornwall Cottages in Cambridge near the airport. great location and facilities and all breakfast provisions provided including freshly baked bread made by Peta the owner. Met up with Sylvia, Joan’s cousin on Saturday and went to Salamanca Market in Hobart then on to meet up with Mia, Sylvia’s grand daughter and afterwards we met up with Sylvia's other daughter Erin and her daughter Connie. A real family get together! Later we went to Sylvia's home and met up with her friend Dianne and then went out for a pub meal. ... read more
Hello again all our friends Joan and I fly to Singapore tomorrow on our way to see Claire in Melbourne We last saw her on 6th January when she flew back after spending Christmas and New year with the family We'll keep posting when we can Best wishes Derek & Joan... read more
Saw the pelican feeding at San Remo and some good views on the Island Called in at Pin Oak Court, Vermont, the street that is used as 'Ramsay street' for the outside scenes in Neighbours... read more
Hello all Back after a 4 day trip along the Great Ocean Road staying for 1 night each at Apollo Bay, Port Talbot and Warrnambool. We travelled back along the inland route via Colac After we spent 1 night in Melbourne Joan and I went to Phillip Island for 1 night to see the fairy penguins as they came up the beach at dusk back to their nests. No photos allowed so it doesn't frighten the penguins as they come very close to you. Derek & Joan... read more
Travelled around city centre and visited National Trust properties. Reciprocal aggreement here so free entry. Melbourne Gaol and Como House are NT Lots of interesting covered lanes in the city centre Derek & Joan... read more
Arrived Melbourne and met at airport by Claire Great to see her again after more than 4 months Claire showed us around on first 2 days then she has been at work since so we've been around the city and out to the western suburbs to meet Tom and Joyce Boone, Joan's cousins Claire has 4 days off so going along Great Ocean road on Saturday to tuesday Derek and Joan... read more
Had a couple of nights in Singapore on the way to Melbourne We flew from London to Singapore on the new A380 Airbus Business Class great seats with lie flat beds fully horizontal rather than at 30' angle. Stayed at Swissotel Merchant Court. Good hotel in great location alongside river at Clarke's quay. Walked from Clarke's Quay to Raffles and around Marina Bay on first day and Chinatown on second morning. Went to 70th floor of Swissotel Stamford to the free viewing area - great views over Singapore. flew on to Melbourne on overnight flight.Derek & Joan... read more