Singapore 2019

On February 12th we jetted off en route to the other side of the world - New Zealand specifically. Pausing briefly to acclimatise with a sleepover for three nights in Singapore, attempting to limit the effects of the flights and time differences involved.

Here's the Singapore story - in photos. (New Zealand will follow when I find the time to sift through the 2,000✭ pictures and videos that we came back with from an amazing 5 week adventure).

Singapore was called Singapura, which translates as Lion City in Sanskrit, by Sang Nila Utama, a Sumatran Prince after he thought he saw a lion on the island but there have never been any lions so it was probably a tiger.

PHOTOS >>>

 The iconic Marina Bay Hotel

 The unique Gardens by the Bay

 Amazing Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay

 Inside the Cloud Forest dome

 Stunning orchid in Flower Dome

The 'must be done' drinks in the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel (pictured above.) While costing 32 Singapore dollars EACH ! (about £18), this one off experience saw us exit the building before the alcohol tricked us into a second round. 

On Valentine's Day (right) one of our better 'selfie' attempts. Clearly taken before we saw the final bill...

We also manage to catch up with a friend from Long Island. Dianne who works for the airlines was in town on a short layover - here we are (below) about to sample the curries at RAS - The Essence of India, on Clarke Quay.  

 Margaret after a visit to her Singapore hairdresser

 The Little India district - near our hotel

 Spoilt for choice in Chinatown - hmmm 'Soursop Drink' anyone ?

 Very Singapore 1: cheap items 3 for $10

 Very Singapore 2: They love a sign and a fine: Up to $500 for this (above). 
And (below) a sign in a toilet, a Gentle Reminder that says "Please help to keep the toilet clean as we progress towards a civilised society" !

 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭

As some of you are aware my phone malfunctioned mid trip and all the photos I'd taken up to that point and saved to the micro SD card in my phone appeared lost forever.    

The computer/phone shops back in London gave me little hope of repair and I had given them up... 

Then Scott said try a USB Card Reader in my computer and download some recovery software called EaseUS. Amazingly this worked and I was able to successfully recover all my Singapore photos, plus the first 11 days on the South Island of New Zealand, including the hike up Roy's Peak overlooking Lake Wanaka. Very happy about that in particular as it was a long walk up. 

✭ So the total is now a wee bit higher than at first thought... just need time to get on with it !

–  The MORAL of the story : Never give up !  –

✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭

A Magical Musical Tour - nothing is real !

LIVERPOOL > BLACKPOOL > PORTMEIRION

A few days up North starting in Liverpool and the full Beatles trip. The resurrected Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Bus Tour along Penny Lane (bus shelter / barbers / bank) very strange to Strawberry Field, childhood homes and a scouser commentary with music and a sing-a-long to tunes as we roll up outside The Beatles Story exhibition.
Brilliant !
City of Liverpool full of listed buildings and lots of places to eat and drink. Great !

Glass floor - top of the Tower

Next stop Blackpool. (Via a lovely sunny day's drive along the coast to Southport and then Lyham St. Annes). We wanted to see the illuminations (only on for two months a year) and while stretching for miles they perhaps are not as outstanding as once they were.
To the top of the Blackpool Tower in glorious sunshine was well worth it, as was the ballroom, watching couples twirling and spinning around, quite hypnotic in an old time dancing sort of way. 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s tunes mostly, with the odd 60s song tucked in there too.
Generally Blackpool is tacky and whiffs of horse drawn cartoon carriages mingle with Fish 'n' Chips. Phew !

The comedy carpet beneath the tower is loadsa fun though. Laugh !

(left) Comedy Carpet - (right) illuminating

North pier beach from the Tower

Couples twirling around the beautiful Tower ballroom

Final port of call > Portmeirion, North Wales. However driving there through a storm (called Callum) probably wasn't clever but we'd only seen rain forecast, no mention of a storm blowing in. Margaret's birthday celebrated on the Friday evening. Steaks !
It did pour down while wandering around the fantasy village designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in the style of Mediterranean Italy. Raining !
We need to visit again in better weather so in the words of 'The Prisoner' TV series filmed in The Village > Be seeing you !

Brilliant - Great - Phew - Laugh - Steaks - Raining - Be seeing you.







➽ ➽
Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever: was a double A-side single released in February 1967. Two of their very best songs, incredibly it only reached No.2 in the UK charts.

Hello Goodbye x

Californian Gallery

Lots of pictures from the San Francisco Trip >

Pacific Ocean backdrop.  Great photo by Donna.

Toes in the Ocean. Had to do activity and shot. 

Other obligatory shots: Cable Car ride. And (Margaret) at Fell Street in San Francisco.

Monster hire car - Chevrolet Tahoe.

(left) Sign reads "hello marijuana, goodbye hangover" - and (right) Parson Jones, Redwood Tree 1300 years old !

Dianne, Toni and Joanne at Painted Ladies, San Francisco.

Tomahawk Steak. To quote our Debbie: "Soo Good" 

Toni and Jimmy looking very much at home.

Francis Ford Coppola's Winery Pool area.

(left) Crazy curves of Lombard Street, San Francisco







Also here's a couple of dumb videos to watch >

Bill being silly at Lombard Street: Actually doing a Michael Portillo impression. FYI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcLZlO2Q640

And waves of Canadian Geese. Lake Merritt Park, Oakland

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dObI4GJqKiU&feature=youtu.be

Bobby and Bill talking music - probably.

Scroll down for FULL story below ⬇

San Francisco Reunion

Wind the clock back to December last: I innocently sent an email to friends in America asking if they had it on their radar that this summer it would be 40 years since we all meet in San Francisco. Suggesting it would be great if we could all met up again..... well while we were away in Cape Town, amazingly the idea grew to the point that it became fully organised - dates, places to stay, people to see again - all we had to do was book a flight to California. 'The Big Reunion on the West Coast' was on !

"It was ALL about the people" was how Margaret described the trip on our return after two weeks of good old American hospitality, socialising, catching up and making new friends.
Here's a basic breakdown of our visit that saw us accommodation hopping 4 times in perfect harmony.... follow the map below (scale in miles, to be strictly American).  

First stop: Daly City.
Six of us in an Airbnb only a short drive into San Francisco.
Which included Dancing in Dolores Park to 'Uptown Funk'.
Don't believe be just watch (left)

And the obligatory photo outside the apartment (2108 Hayes Street) where I first meet everyone in 1978.
(Picture Below)

40 years and counting - M&B with Joanne, Carol and Jimmy and Toni.  Photo Anon

Next stop: Oakland.
Carol had flown home and the five of us stayed in Joanne's son's apartment across the bay in Oakland. Dianne (Jo's sister) was also with us for a few days.
We did the City streets in our monster truck (Chevrolet Tahoe) and celebrated Joanne's birthday. 
A night out at Drake's Dealership is accounted for here >>>

Moving On: Week Two
Joanne (along with Dianne) had gone off to cruise the Mediterranean Sea and Gary drove the four of us north to Debbie's home in Santa Rosa. We had visited during the first week but this time we stayed and enjoyed lovely towns, beautiful wineries, a majestic Redwood forest, the Pacific Ocean, Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock filmed 'The Birds'), Francis Ford Coppola's Winery Pool Day and generally had a ball with everyone.
Scroll back up to the map if I have lost you.

Our Fourth and final place came with a magnificent view. Gary's house in Sausalito overlooked the bay. See my 'Hockney' like photo montage below.

Gary took us on a scenic drive around to Point Reyes Station and Highway 1 coastal road and back via an English pub and Mill Valley. 
We said fond farewells from Sausalito but not before drink's at Hal's and another BBQ at Gary's and more group photos - which was what it was ALL about.

In some sort of chronological order:

Winery picnic.
(L to R) Gary, Frank, Jimmy, Joanne (at back), Debbie, Margaret (at back), Carol, Bill, Grace, Toni and Donna.
Do we all look intoxicated ?   Photo Donna Bianchi

Wine Tasting.   Photo Donna Bianchi

This is my favourite shot. Giant Redwoods.  Photo Donna Bianchi

At Coppola's Pools.  Photo Deborah Gustafson

In Sausalito with Hal, Debbie and Tim.  Photo Donna Bianchi

At Gary's house.  Photo Donna Bianchi

Finally (left) trick photo >
If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair


Photo credits:
With thanks and love to Debbie and Donna and Joanne.




A Gallery of extras images will follow later.

Cape Town: Trip 1

   1. WEST COAST NATIONAL PARK & PATERNOSTER   

A few days of relaxation following weeks of working around the flat renovations saw us hire a car for three days and head north out of Cape Town. Destination Paternoster, a lovely coastal town, all white washed buildings and beach decorated homes with a wide beautiful sandy coastline that disappeared off into the distance. Throw in a great place to stay and some nice restaurants - one right by the beach, another overlooking the town and yet another full of quirky bits of junk called 'Junk & Disorderly' (South Africa enjoys a play on words as a business title) and the recipe for relaxation was complete.

A total blackout on our last night, minutes before President Zuma was about to come on TV and give his resignation speech, was both poetic and rewarding, as we got to see a starry night sky that was just incredible.  

Stopping off at the West Coast National Park on the drive back south was quiet and unhurried, rather like the tortoise that crossed the road right in front of our car, presumably to get to the other side ! The beautiful lagoon with milky waters was nice and warm, a welcome change from the Atlantic ocean elsewhere. 

Our final overnight stop was in Darling at another great B&B run by Pat and Bobby, full of warm hospitality and conversation. Visited the brewery but not the Evita se Perron performance at the old train station (another day perhaps - with Darling only a hour outside Cape Town). 

All the above are Paternoster photos.






Below is a shot taken in the West Coast National Park.

Cape Town: Visiting 2

   2. TWO WEEK HOLIDAY with friends   

Arriving at the end of February into Cape Town's drought and mounting water restrictions, Gill & Steve stayed with us for two weeks and embarked on an itinerary that made full use of their first time in South Africa... 








(Left) Water restriction guidelines for your 50 litres per day allowance.

Two weeks rolled by as follows (deep breath): Hout Bay orientation & drinks at Dunes, coastal drive to Simon's Town & Boulders beach, Cape Point, Robben Island, Stellenbosch & Franschhoek, cycle to the waterfront & walk back to Camps Bay, Seal island, Kirstenbosch gardens, Cecelia Forest hike, Table Mountain, Betty's Bay & Pringle Bay coast drive, Llandudno beach, Constantia vineyard and the Bo-Kaap Malay Quarter in Cape Town. Plus various braais (BBQ), dinners, drinks, cappuccinos, meeting friends and family (not to mention the coincidence of inadvertently running into tennis friends from England, Bob & Di, on more than one occasion) along with many wildlife encounters to talk about and document. (See story of derring-do on our Tales blog) !

Windswept and sand blasted at Boulders Beach

During this time seeing snowy pictures of London were a marked contrast to the warm sunny days of 24°c - 25°c temperatures in Cape Town and the sea breezes of Hout Bay. 

Another glass of something?  Don't mind if I do ! 

Camps Bay and the Twelve Apostles leading to Hout Bay in the distance

(Also see: Gallery)

Cape Town: Trip 3

   3. ARNISTON & MONTAGU   

Hmmm Cheapie !

We had planned (and saved) our final month in Cape Town for a drive east to the Garden Route. Unfortunately due to both of us getting sick for almost a week, the lost time meant we revised our ambitions to a shorter journey in the time remaining. An additional factor was our slightly dodgy Renta Cheapie hire car, that was a bit too 'on the cheap' and didn't instill confidence in making a long 800 kilometer round trip. 

Setting off along the coast road (False Bay to Gordon's Bay and Pringle Bay) that we had done with Gill & Steve was just as enjoyable and spectacular. Lunch at Pringle before staying with Ally & Kurt in Onrus for a few nights, where a pub quiz led to Dom Pedros (ice cream whisky desert) and a chance to catch up on life in good company.

Travelling east on towards Arniston to spend some lovely days in an old fisherman's cottage, actually in Kassiesbaai, the authentic and working part of the town. Meeting the locals and being shown around by Sushi and Kaela (two dogs) every time we ventured out, plus the lapa (outhouse) of the cottage had views of the Indian Ocean just meters away (picture above), making a great end to any day. 

At the end of Africa

A drive to Cape Agullus (Southernmost point of mainland Africa) was a day out that included the lighthouse and shipwreck museums when it rained in the afternoon. 

Waving the empty sandy beaches goodbye, we headed inland to the mountains of the Boland. Margaret had been telling me about Montagu, Robertson and McGregor for years and we found another nice place to stay in Montagu with a great view, a pool, sundeck and a five minute walk into this historic and peaceful town on the Western Cape's scenic Route 62.

Surrounded by lots of nice walks we met people over drinks and at the weekend morning market and ate some memorable food, though finding the famous 'bird tree' proved a memory can fade and a town can change over the years if you leave it too long. 

Driving to one of the many attractive wineries was not to be missed, and we walked around most of McGregor later that same day. Overnight in Robertson before taking the scenic route home, driving via Ceres and narrow passes and one mountain range after another.

Van Loveren wine tasting - and why not - cheers !