ADVENTURE IN EUROPE Part 1 (Brisbane Singapore England)

Wednesday 13 August 2008

Bill, Helen, myself and Paul excitedly wait for our flight to Singapore.

We had an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Singapore to break the long journey to Manchester.

Thursday 14 August

We took the cable car to Santosa Island. It was hot!

We got a taxi into town where the boys had fun browsing through 5 floors of IT equipment at Sim Lin Plaza. Neither Bill or Paul could resist buying a wide angle lens for their camera.

The shuttle bus driver gave us a good tip where to eat at the airport. It was the staff canteen where visitors are welcome. We got a good feed for $3.00. That was the last of cheap meals for the rest of the trip.

Friday 15 August

We flew for 12 hours to Zurich, changed planes and flew for 2 hours to Manchester. We picked up a hire car and the boys learnt to drive it on the roof of the car park before entering the rat race of English traffic. After Helen and I got told off for back seat driving we soon arrived in Windermere in the Lakes District of NE England.

All the houses and fences are made of stone. They are put together like this.

After lunch we drove onto Keswick, where we had a booking at a B&B. When we arrived, Surprise! Surprise! our daughter and son in law had secretly caught the train from London, where they live, and booked into the same B&B. It was lovely to see them again. We had made arrangements to meet Carol in Switzerland in a few weeks time but didn't expect to see both of them here.

Paul, Bill Helen, David and Carol

Exploring the streets of Keswick.

Experiencing an English pub

Saturday 16 August

The next day the young ones went for a hike into the hills while the oldies went on a cruise on the lake.

Derwent Waters near Keswick in the lake district of north west England.

Not much sun but interesting skies.

After the cruise we decided on a light lunch since our dinners have been huge. I asked for a baked potato but it came with extras. Needless to say I ate it all.

Bill opted for the local speciality of Cumberland sausage.

In the afternoon we drove to the top of a hill where there was an ancient stone circle similar to Stonehenge.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

The adventurers in stiff cold wind

Bill getting video footage for more You Tube clips. Interesting steps in the wall!

The view on the other side of the wall

The beautiful green hills of England.

Time to leave our cute B&B in Keswick and drive onto Scotland.

Time to say goodbye to our wonderful children. They will go by train back to London and work.