Monday 23 September 2013. Singapore to Brisbane then Canberra.

After a pleasant stay in the business lounge at Singapore Airport, we went to board our plane and at the usual luggage check prior to boarding Lyn got pinged for having a pair of scissors in her carry on bag. Not good. They confiscated them. She got them through Newcastle, Dubai, without them picking them up on x-ray.

Suitably admonished we boarded our Qantas Boeing 747-400 for the 7hr+ flight to Brisbane. The Qantas flight was part of the code sharing arrangement between Emirates and Qantas however we both felt that the Qantas food and service wasn’t a patch on the Emirates service although the staff were very nice.

We didn’t have a good start to the flight as sitting at the front of our cabin in seats 1A and 1B there was a couple with a very small baby which decided to throw up all over the seats prior to take off. This caused quite a kerfuffle with calls for medical assistance over the PA system for help from any Doctor who happened to be on board and staff having to clean up the mess. The staff ended up replacing half of the seat.

This whole business delayed our take off by about 30 minutes.

Our seats were 3A and 3B right in the nose of the plane and there was heaps of room and no-one walking past in the aisles however the 747 was nowhere near as quiet as the new Airbus A380’s. This of course is to be expected since the 747 model has been in service for 20 odd years.

The seats were the new design with the ability to convert them into lay flat beds. We both thought that they were rather hard though but apart from that they made quite good beds.

The dinner selections we were offered was rather limited in comparison to Emirates so we had to make do with soup and bread roll for a main course.

After watching a movie we settled down to try and sleep and on this flight Lyn was more relaxed as she was drowsy from the affects of taking an anti-nausea pill. We both felt that neither of us slept as there were regular bumpy bits which tended to make sure one stays awake, however we felt the rest did us good.

The cabin lights went on at about 4am for breakfast as they like to get it well out of the way before the plane lands. In this case that was about 5.30am.

After landing in Brisbane we had to collect our luggage and go through customs but as we were flying Qantas Business, we got fast tracked and were on our way to the domestic terminal by 6am to await our 8.35am flight to Canberra.

The Boeing 737-800 to Canberra was packed and the Captain attributed this to the fact that it was school holidays and Floriade was on.

A very smooth cloudless flight with great views of the Australian landscape ended what has been an epic voyage of discovery over the past 134 days and after 123 posts, ended the marathon effort of producing this blog.

 

Thank you all for sharing it with us.
 

Sunday 22 September 2013. Singapore. Last day.

Since we had to check out of the hotel at 1pm, we were planning to go on an afternoon tour of the bits of Singapore that were not closed due of the Singapore Grand Prix being on.

We had booked the afternoon tour on the previous day with one of the concierges at the Days Hotel where we were staying but waited in vain for the tour bus to arrive. The bus was due to arrive at 1.30pm and when it hadn't arrived at 2pm Mick went to check at the desk. They rang the Tour East company who said that no booking had been made for us.

As it was now 2.45pm and Lyn had been stressing about getting to the airport on time if we had done the tour, we decided to head to Changi Airport early to make sure we didn't miss our 7.55pm flight.

So here we are in the business lounge watching a replay of the Singapore Grand Prix qualifying but it's much cooler in here than outside. The pity is that we will miss the race as we will be in the air.

On this flight we will be flying in a Qantas Boeing 747-400 for the first time. We understand that these planes have all been refurbished with the latest gear so we will see. As this is an overnight flight hopefully we will get some sleep unlike our previous effort on the Dubai to Singapore leg.

Oh, and Lyn has just stocked up on anti-nausea medication so she doesn't get a repeat of the motion sickness she suffered on the last flight.

Lyn has never suffered from motion sickness before and it was usually Mick that got it really badly. Certainly growing up he usually had a very miserable time when traveling. Now the situation has been reversed. It must be something to do with hormones. What about it Peter?

 Days Hotel Singapore

 Unleaded 92 Octane $2.16 SGD ($1.84 AUD)

 View from our hotel room

Inside Changi Airport

Saturday 21 September 2013. Singapore. Orchard Road.

After a good nights sleep, broken once at 4.30am when Mick had to switch the aircon back on, we awoke to a warm overcast day with a forecast top of 32c. It was already 30c and very humid.

We caught the MRT (subway train) to Orchard Road which is a very long road full of huge shopping centres with up market shops which were quite busy. The great thing about this was that shopping centre hopping allowed us some respite from the oppressive heat.

It didn't take long for us to realise that this is a very expensive place to live. Bose QC15/QC3 noise cancelling headphones were selling for $699 SGD ($594 AUD). Kogan, the discount seller in Australia, sells them for $339.

Other kitchen items, such as the plastic food container in the picture, were also ridiculously expensive. A container like that selling for $22.80 SGD would only cost a few dollars in Australia.

Due to the F1 Grand Prix being on this weekend, merchandise selling was in full swing from temporarily constructed outlets which were everywhere and again the prices were huge. We thought of buying a Red Bull cap but the price was $70. The merchandise was all authentic though with the proper hologram labels.

Several of the outlets seemed to specialise in F1 clothing for children with sizes available for all ages.

We sat down for a coffee in a Starbucks cafe and watched the people passing by for a while. There is a minimalist approach to clothing especially by the women as it is so hot here and there is no need for clothing for cold weather as there isn't any.

We have found that since the Singapore F1 race uses normal roads here, a large portion of the city is closed to normal traffic which has disrupted the normal tourist routes. In some cases some of the tourist attractions have been closed altogether so we have been unable to do many of the tours.

After several hours in the city we decided to call it a day and head home into the airconditioning of our hotel.

In the evening we decided to eat in at the hotel. Once again expensive was the word for the western menu so we went for Asian which was a much more reasonable price and they cooked it in minutes. We did make the mistake of asking for water which came in a 500ml bottle for $6.50. It's a good job we didn't ask for wine as an ordinary Australian red costs $90 per bottle.
.

 Min of 26c overnight

Ferrari Watch

 The display on the trains not only tell you where you are and which way you are going but it also displays which side of the train the doors will open next

Car parking spots available 

 Red Bull caps $70

 Shuttle bus from Days Hotel and the Ramada to the Novena Shopping Centre and MRT station

 Busy in Orchard Road. Toyota crown Taxi

Friday 20 September 2013. Dubai to Singapore. Days Hotel, Singapore.

Yesterdays blog was written during our 3 hour wait in the business lounge at Dubai Airport whilst we were waiting for our connecting flight to Singapore.

This time we had an A380 for the leg between Dubai and Singapore which was a good choice as it was our bed time.

The flight left on time and the pilot predicted a flight duration of 7hr 35min.

Mick finished his partly watched movie "The Internship" from the previous flight and Lyn watched a movie called "The Company You Keep" with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte.

Movies watched, we pressed a button and created our beds and settled down for the night putting on our blackout goggles and noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and we had quite a bumpy night with little sleep and even Lyn couldn't overcome the bumpy ride to sleep much. In fact in the morning she felt very nauseous and spent some time holding a bag over her mouth whilst, surprisingly, Mick tucked into scrambled eggs and sausages, which probably made Lyn feel worse.

We arrived at Changi Airport in Singapore at 3pm on time and we were off the plane very quickly unlike economy class who spent what seemed like an age disembarking. I guess having a ratio of 76 business to 400 economy explains it.

Unfortunately, unlike most of the other airports we have been to, we weren't given fast track flow through customs and immigration so we had to join the queues.

Once cleared we went to find our driver who was waiting with a Mitsubishi  3000, which Mick thinks looks a bit like a Bentley, and we were driven down the expressway to our hotel. The temperature outside was a warm 34C

When Mick booked the Singapore hotel early in the year, he found difficulty getting one at a reasonable price. The reason for that had become apparent recently when we realised that the Singapore Formula one Grand Prix is on this weekend and the place is full of enthusiasts.

After we booked in we went to our room and showered before curling up for an hours rest.

Refreshed but with Lyn still feeling queasy as the earth was still moving, we decided to catch the free hotel shuttle to a shopping and cafe centre to get something to eat.

On the shuttle was a young girl who worked at the hotel and we asked her about getting to places in Singapore and she said that there was an  MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system station at the shopping centre where the shuttle stops so when we arrived she took us down to the station and showed us how to use the ticket purchase machine.

After dinner Lyn felt much better so we looked around the shops for a while before catching the return shuttle home where we found they were televising the Formula 1 practice sessions, followed on Saturday by qualifying and on Sunday, the race.

This was surprising as the bloke who took our bags up to our room offered to sell us tickets for qualifying, which he claimed was not being broadcast, for $200 each.

Note of particular interest to Peter re exchange rates:

When we got some Singapore money from the travel agent in Whitley Bay, for our £200 we got $382 SGD so we got 1.91 SGD for each £1. At a shopping centre money exchange booth here in Singapore, we gave them £25 which we had left over and were given 1.97 SGD for each £1. So Peter was correct, it is cheaper to source your local currency when you arrive.

 Our A380

  Tail camera view coming in to land

 

 Chrysler 3000 at Changi Airport

 Free WiFi internet speed, not too bad

Australian Pura milk $3.65 per litre

Thursday 19 September 2013. Whitley Bay to Dubai.

With the rain pouring down, we said our goodbyes to Davina and Roy as a driver in a flash suit was coming down their drive to put our luggage into a big Mercedes which had pulled up outside.

This was our chauffeur driven car to the airport. 

We warned the driver that the cases were heavy but as he was built like a rugby halfback, he had no problem hurling them into the back of the wagon and we said goodbye to Whitley Bay for the last time with a big thank you to Davina and Roy.

We arrived at the airport and went to check in whilst the driver brought our luggage to us at the counter. We then went to the business lounge for a free snack or two and a drink. Oh the joys of Business Class.

The Boeing 777-300 ER was waiting at the gate and left 10 minutes late at about 1.50pm for the scheduled 7hr 35 minute flight to Dubai.

The flight was relatively smooth with the odd seat belt warning announcement breaking into our movies.

From the nearly 400 movies available Mick watched the new Baz Luhrman film, The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio, Crush and The Internship with Owen Wilson and Lyn watched The Sapphires with Jessica Mauboy, Crush and The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling.              .

The lovely menu gave us quite a few options for our meal and Mick had Scallops for the appetiser and Prawns for the main course followed by fresh fruit and Lyn had roast Duck, Chicken and a Cheeseboard for dessert.

The flight arrived at 11.40pm Dubai time after just over 7 hours flying time and the Dubai temperature was 33c. The forecast for tomorrow was 39c so we were pleased we weren't stopping over although we suspect Singapore, where we are stopping over, will be hot as well. The Singapore Grand Prix night race is on this weekend .

We then had a 3hr 30min wait for our A380 connecting flight to Singapore. Still, the business lounges at Dubai are excellent with heaps of stuff to eat and drink.

 On the way to Newcastle Airport in the rain

 Didn't notice what model it was

 Lyn overdid the shopping!

 Our plane Boeing 777

Wednesday 18 September 2013. Whitley Bay. Movie Rush, return hire car, Dobbies Garden Centre.

Yesterday, Tuesday 17th September, we went into Newcastle on the Metro (train), to see the Movie Rush which was about Formula One racing and the battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda for the 1976 World Championship.

It wasn't a bad movie and Lyn gave it 2 out of 5 whilst Mick scored it 3 out of 5. It did, after all have an ex Home and Away Aussie actor in it, Chris Hemsworth. After the movie we went out for dinner down at the Fish Quay in North Shields. Our shout.

Today, Wednesday 18 September,  we awoke to brilliant sunshine, however the wind had a cold chill to it.

We first went into the Whitley Bay travel agent to collect our Singapore Dollars (SGD) and we got $SGD382  for £200.16.  The current UK exchange rate on the internet said that they were currently worth just over $SGD2 for each £1 so were were charged a 4.5% fee. Our friend, Pete's advice was to go to and ATM in Singapore and withdraw the money but it was too late as we had already ordered them. It would be interesting to compare the two.

Now to the hire car. Our Peugeot 308 diesel SW which we picked up from London City Airport on 29 May and had hired for 112 days was due to be returned to the Newcastle airport at 11.30am. The contract which we signed said that we agreed to return it in the same condition as when we hired it. After 112 days and 5,500+ miles (close to 9,000klms) that would be difficult, however we couldn't find any marks on it other than those which were listed on the contract when we picked it up. Highly polished black cars show marks like you wouldn't believe.

A few weeks ago Mick had found a nearly new car mat in a bin at a motorway cafe which he put on the drivers side floor as he was worried that the drivers floor mat was getting worn from his heel when operating the clutch pedal. He figured he would have changed gears thousands of times during the 9000klms, particularly in the UK.

When we got to Newcastle airport we quickly found the return area and parked it in the Europcar parking area and went to the return shed which was in the corner of the yard.

The guy looked up the car on his terminal and expressed surprise at how long we had had it. Mick said it was a great car and apart from a puncture it had gone like a dream. He then asked if we had filled the tank (yes, we had), took the keys and said thank you very much and we left on the way out taking pictures and video of the car to record it's condition.

Mick was surprised that noone had come out to check it. Still, we have four people who saw it returned in good condition.

If you think we sound paranoid about car rental companies, we are, as last time we hired a car for 3 months in 2010 from Hertz, they charged us an extra £230 ($400) without our knowledge when we took it back. We were about to walk out of their office after taking it back and noticed the charge on the receipt they gave us.

When we challenged it they said it was a computer error but they would need to get the boss to authorise a refund but unfortunately he was out and wouldn't be back for a while. We had a plane to catch back to Australia so couldn't wait. It took months to get it back after many international phone calls.

We then went  to Dobbies Garden Centre, which is right next door to the airport, for coffee and a look around. They had quite a nice pet area with fish, reptiles, rabbits, hamsters and gerbils for sale.

After that it was back home to pack for our flight out tomorrow.

 Bearded Dragons £75 ($130) each

 Came over to escape the war!

 Baby Horsefield Tortoise £150 ($260) each  

Another Robin in Davina and Roy's garden. We'll miss them

Monday 16 September 2013. Whitley Bay. Haircuts, Singapore Money, Boundary Mill stores

A cool night and the weather report showed 6c this morning although there was patchy sunshine. The forecast top temperature was 13c.

It did warm up before we all went into town to get haircuts at Terry's Hairdressers now owned by Joe. When we got there the two hairdressers and one apprentice had no customers so we got straight in and even Lyn got a haircut there.

Lyn and Mick's haircuts which included a shampoo, cost a total of £17 ( $29). The last time Mick got his cut at Just Cuts in Australia it cost $25 so haircuts here are quite a bit cheaper.

We then went to the travel agent to get some Singapore dollars which is where we will be going on the way home.

After that we went to an enormous retail outlet in Shiremoore that sold just about everything. It is part of the  Boundary Mill Stores retail chain and is s few miles from Whitley Bay. It claims to be the UK's largest Mill Store retailer with up to 75% off the RRP of all the fashion and homeware top brand names.

After and hour looking around the place and still not seeing it all, we headed home since the wind was quite strong and very cold.

The Cycling Tour of Great Britain is on at the moment and the leg today was a 186 mile (300klm) ride from Carlisle to Kendel. They climbed the 1 in 4 Honister Pass in the Lake District which is the huge climb we did in the car and even the car had trouble getting going when we stopped on the hill.  The cyclists had to do it  in the pouring rain as well. Rather them than me.


 

 Roy and Joe

 This is a fraction of the store  

 Boundary Mill Store

Tour of Great Britain climbing Honister pass in the Lake District on TV. That is a steep hill.

Sunday 15 September 2013. Whitley Bay. Lunch in Northumberland and visit Otterburn Woollen Mill

A lot of rain overnight and more forecast throughout the day saw us going to our booked lunch at the Tone Inn, Hexham in the wilds of the Northumberland to further celebrate Lyn's birthday. We were meeting Ian, Davina and Roy's son at the inn.

It rained very heavily on the way with high winds throwing the car all over the road.

The leaves were flying off the trees indicating that the country is getting close to the Autumn Equinox which occurs around 21 September and means it will soon be time for us to head back to Australia. We are doing that very thing on 19 September when we fly out to Singapore via Dubai.

It was about an, hours drive (75klms) away and we left at 11.30am arriving at about 12.30pm.having left the Motogp race from San Marino recording on the PVR at home. (San Marino is an enclaved micro-state surrounded by Italy on the Italian peninsula).

The meal, a carvery (baked dinner) was a serve yourself arrangement with the meat, a choice of beef, lamb and pork or all of the above, sliced off the freshly cooked roasts by a staff  member. It was quite a cosy venue but they had the heating turned up too high probably due to the lashing wind and rain outside.

The meal was great and afterwards we drove into clear weather 16klms further north to visit the Otterburn Mill.

Otterburn Mill is a mill in Otterburn Northumberland. It lies just south of the Otterburn Tower along the A696 next to a bridge over the River Rede and is over 250 years old. The mill is noted for its pram rugs and its crowning moment was on the birth of Princess Elizabeth in 1926, when Buckingham Palace ordered a small rug for the royal pram. It is now a retail outlet, with a restaurant and coffee shop and nursery.

There is still quite a bit of the old machinery remaining to view throughout the place

They were selling lots of clothing which included cashmere and other woollen items created in Scotland.

As Lyn already has one suitcase bulging with stuff she had bought, she was sensible and didn't buy anything else which pleased Mick.

It was then off home to catch up on the Motgp race.

 View from our bedroom in Whitley Bay. This would be a typical suburban street.

 Ian, Roy, Davina and Lyn at the Tone Inn.

 Northumberland countryside with the Cheviot Hills in the background. The Cheviot Hills is a range of rolling hills straddling the England and Scotland Border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

 One of the buildings at the Otterburn Mill

Saturday 14 September 2013. Whitley Bay. Lyn's Birthday.

For those readers concerned about yesterdays blog our worries among other things, surround the illness of our little grandson Lincoln who has been very sick with a virus and high fevers, which had caused coughing, vomiting followed by a bad case of conjunctivitis. The illness somehow progressed to his ears causing deafness in one ear. The doctor was so concerned about this that he has referred him to a specialist.

Lyn was particularly upset today when she rang home in Australia to speak to him and he could not hear what she was saying. 

Apart from that today was a beautiful sunny day and the delivery man came with a large box of Roses in a bouquet that Mick had ordered for her birthday which cheered her up a bit.

Yesterday, Lyn had decided to treat everybody to a birthday meal by cooking a 3 course dinner for us (she loves cooking).

We went to Sainsbury's to buy the ingredients and then down to the fish Quays to get the seafood.

For the first course she cooked a spicy pumpkin soup. The main course consisted of  Angel Hair Pasta with fresh King Prawns and broccoli in a creamy pesto sauce and for dessert, Tiramisu.

Everyone thought it was excellent, which pleased Lyn no end.

Here is a bird on the new bird feeder Mick put up today.

A Great Tit

Friday 13 September 2013. Whitley Bay. Seaside, Tynemouth, Priory & Castle & the North Pier.

The more attentive readers will be aware that we have already spent some time with Mick's cousin and her husband, Roy in Whitley Bay, Near Newcastle-upon-Tyne and wondered why we are imposing ourselves on them yet again.

The fact is that we had planned to spend this week in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales however events beyond our control at home causing us sleepless nights have kind of taken the wind out of our sails so we have decided to end the UK part of our trip earlier than we had planned.

So today, Davina, Roy and Mick went down to the sea front at Whitley Bay for coffee and a constitutional, whilst Lyn stayed home to read the papers and do some knitting.

The sky was very overcast and the wind made our coats a necessity as we walked to the Crusoe Cafe. After all it was Friday. Get it? Well never mind.

After coffee we walked along the seafront past the Priory and Castle which are English Heritage ruins, and out along the North Pier which has at it's tip a lighthouse. The pier was very wet as the sea had been quite rough earlier but it had calmed sufficiently for us to walk out to the lighthouse at the end without getting wet.

There were visitors on the viewing platform on a booked tour so since we hadn't booked we were unable to go up. Those are the rules said the man!

We saw a few interesting birds on our walk back and the sun had appeared briefly to make the day a little more pleasant.

 Davina and Roy on the North Pier at Tynemouth

 Eider Duck the feathers of which are used in Eiderdowns

 Fabulous wooden outdoor setting and it weighs a ton

 A Turnstone

 North Pier. In rough weather the water goes straight over the top of the pier.