With less than two hours stopover in Hong Kong we headed for the Qantas lounge anyway. By the time that you are processed as a transit passenger it doesn’t leave very much time at all before you are re-boarding the plane! For the last couple of days in London I kept thinking there was something that I wanted to check on the internet. Somewhere over Russia I remembered that the project that I had been working on at the office before going on holiday was supposed to ‘go live’ on 30 June. Gosh, I must have been having a great holiday [View Full Entry]

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We were up early this morning to finalise our packing and have a quick breakfast before driving to Heathrow. It was 8.00am as Marilyn and Jim waved us goodbye from their front doorstep. Bernie already had Edna programmed so we put ourselves in her hands for the trip to the airport. We expected that she would take us on the M25 around to Heathrow but, no, we travelled on residential streets for most of the journey along the A4180 and A312 before a short section on the motorway and then into the airport. It was quite a congested journey and our [View Full Entry]

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Over the last couple of days we have discussed with Marilyn and Jim where we might go on our last day in England. With the weather so lovely it was a toss-up between the Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Wisley, at Woking and National Trust Property, Cliveden, at Taplow. In the end it was decided that we should head to Cliveden as it would involve less travelling time. So, when Jim returned from his appointment with the dentist, we headed off along the M40 turning off at Wooburn Green towards Maidenhead and Taplow. Cliveden has extensive gardens overlooking the River Thames. In [View Full Entry]

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If anyone had ever told me that I would go sightseeing in London wearing shorts I would have laughed at them. However, this morning dressed in shorts, we caught the train to South Kensington so that we could visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. As with most museums in London the V&A has a vast collection and it is not really possible to do it justice in only a couple of hours! We really only skimmed the surface with a fairly quick stroll through Europe 1600 - 1800, China and the Islamic Middle East, Sculpture, Medieval 300 - 1500, Japan, Fashion, [View Full Entry]

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This morning we headed down to Reading to catch up with Janet and Phil who are currently staying in an apartment there. Reading is a very picturesque town with the Thames River, the Kennett River and the Kennett and Avon Canal running around and/or through it. We went out to lunch with Janet and Phil to a very nice restaurant on the canal. After lunch we enjoyed a stroll around Reading where Janet and Phil were able to share the local knowledge that they have acquired over the last week or so that they have been in town. We headed back [View Full Entry]

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This morning we headed up to London via Mottisfont Abbey and Garden … yet another NT property!! We are really giving our reciprocal membership a work out on this trip. The abbey ceased to operate after the dissolution (1536-40) when it was acquired by William Lord Sandys who converted it into a house. The abbey also has an extensive rose garden that it is renowned for. While June is THE month to visit Mottisfont for the roses we suspect that they may have taken a beating with the rain that we had on Thursday night. While the gardens were still quite [View Full Entry]

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With a heatwave being forecast for the weekend, we headed away from the coast today hoping to avoid the crowds. We drove north to Wimborne Minster and then took the B3078 towards Cranborne. At Moor Crichel we took once again to the lanes and motored through Gussage All Saints, Wimborne St Giles and Boveridge on our way to Sixpenny Handley for morning tea. Jim seems to know all of the best eating places within a 30 mile radius!! After morning tea we drove on to Tollard Royal where King John had his hunting lodge and used to go hunting on Cranborne [View Full Entry]

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We had thunderstorms during the night and it was still rather wet and miserable looking this morning. Not to be deterred by the weather - which we were assured by the morning show weather reporter would be clearing - we headed off with Jim and Marilyn to explore Dorset. We headed around Poole Harbour to Wareham before driving into the Purbeck Hills with the intention of visiting Tyneham Village. Tyneham Village was temporarily acquired by the military during WWII. The only problem is that they still haven’t given it back!!! Since it is still used as a rifle range the road [View Full Entry]

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We had an early start this morning so that we could catch the ferry over to the Isle of Wight from Lymington. We were aiming to catch the 10.45am ferry so wanted to arrive in Lymington by about 10.15am. We pulled up at the ferry terminal closer to 10.25am and with no booking we were told to join queue 5 and we would be fitted on the 10.45am ferry if possible. When loading started we inched our way forward to the head of queue 5 and it was looking like we were going to be first on the 11.45am ferry when [View Full Entry]

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I spent the night feeling rather queasy and not much better come morning. I would blame the Indian food, but I ate exactly the same thing as everyone else and no-one else has complained of feeling off colour?! This morning we finished off our packing and loaded the car. Luggage for two is a much better fit in the Ford Focus than luggage for four! About half an hour before we aimed to leave Albert called an insurance company to discuss the cost of household and contents insurance. He was expecting this to be a quick call, but 45 minutes later [View Full Entry]

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