Us on Pewsley Downs.

St Martha's -on-the-hill

The famous chimneys of Albury Village.

Tuesday

Today we drove to Newlands Corner and went for a walk. There are large areas of chalk grasslands and woodlands. It has some of the best views of the Surrey Hills, and lies on the North Downs Way.We had some lunch there at the cafe and then drove around to a carpark below St Martha’s on the hill church which has magnificent views over the Surrey countryside and is accessible only by foot. The steep uphill walk is worth it, the views are magnificient and you can look across to Newlands Corner. The church dates back to Saxon times and is on the Pilgrims Way. There are also Megalithic and Neolithic artifacts that date back to 3500 BC.

We returned to the car and drove to the village of Albury, famous for its chimneys which are very tall in comparison to the size of the building. There are 63 chimneys in the village and each and every one of them a different design. Albury Park mansion is mentioned in the Doomsday book. Also mentioned in the Doomsday Book is the Saxon church which dates back to pre 1066.

Kew Palace.

Monday. This morning we briefly visited Epsom shopping centre.

We then drove to Kew to go and visit the Kew Botanical Gardens. It was another very hot day and the crowds were out in full making the most of this glorious weather.

There is a lot to see in the gardens. Apart from many beautiful gardens there is the treetops walk which takes you 18 metres high towering over the tree tops for a unique view of the gardens. There are a number of glasshouses and conservatories with all sorts of exotic plants, ferns and palms. Inside the glass houses you can climb up to a viewing platform for a birds eye view.

There is also Kew Palace, a pretty red brick building that was the family home of George III.

Cobham Mill on the river Mole.

Colin and I went for a walk for about 1 ½ hours through Cobham and down to the river Mole and over the new foot bridge where we watched people in swimming. We came back via the old mill and took some photos.

Boats on the river Thames at Sunbury, Sunbury Weir. We went there on Sunday for a traditional English roast lunch at a pub beside the river called The Weir.

We walked off our lunch with a walk along the tow path and watched the narrow boats and cruisers navigating their way through the locks.

We arrived in England on Friday night and collected our little Peugot and drove to Cobham where we are staying for a few days.

Colin and his brother Derek pose in front of a windmill we found near Newdigate on Saturday when we went for a bit of a drive around the Surrey countryside.

The weather is sensational. It has been around 30 every day and everyone seems a little surprised at how warm and sunny it is for this time of year.

We are hoping it will stay this way for a few days yet as we have the Chelsea Flower Show on Thursday.

Day 3. This morning we hopped on to the hop on hop off bus that took us all around Singapore all day. We explored Chinatown and Bugis Street markets. We went for a walk over the double helix bridge. Double helix is what DNA is, so the bridge resembles DNA.

We had perfect weather for the open top bus. It didn’t rain at all except for a short shower at the end of the day.

Tomorrow we leave Singapore and fly to London.

We arrived in Singapore Monday night about 10pm local time and we were met by a driver at the airport and taken straight to our hotel.

Tuesday morning after breakfast we went for a walk along Orchard Road. We have been to Singapore a few times now and each time we come here it is different. There are always new buildings springing up around the place.

We did a tour this afternoon and were taken to Raffles Landing Place and then we went to Raffles Hotel Tiffin Room for high tea. We also went up to the famous long bar in Raffles where they have bowls of peanuts and you throw the peanut shells on the floor in some strange tradition.

We were talking to another couple from our tour and they told us they were originally from England and we soon discovered that this lady’s cousin went to school with Colin in Cobham. He went on to become the Lord Mayor of Lincoln.

We also went on a bumboat ride of the Singapore River for a different perspective of Clarke Quay and Boat Quay and the Merlion.

Our tour wrapped up with a short visit to the Selangor Pewter shop.

Days 1 & 2

We left Canberra yesterday mid morning arriving in a wet and miserable Sydney in the early afternoon.

Last night Sydney put on a fireworks display in Port Jackson which we enjoyed.

This afternoon we are flying to Singapore where we will spend 3 nights before setting off again to London.

I shall post again from Singapore.