Monday 10th October – Freiberg to Verdun

We were up, showered and breakfasted by 8:30 this morning. Dropped Mascha at the station for her lift to Essen and headed west across the French border (the Rhine (Rhein) River) to Colmar, a beautifully well preserved old town at the beginning of the Alsatian Wine Route.

Downtown Colmar

We found a car park and had a wander around the streets.  Lots of half-timbered houses again, some dating back to the 1300s.

From Colmar, we took a secondary road, initially through the Vallée de Munster (vineyards and then dairy farms) before entering a National Park (The Regional Natural Park of Ballons des Vosges) and heading towards Epinal.

Vallée de Munster

Lots of cute little villages in the valleys as we drove up into the mountains (the Vosges Range).  Quite a few sawmills along the way too, so timber is obviously a major industry in the area.  Skiing is also a popular winter pastime considering the ski resorts we passed.

The Vogus Range

We stopped at Epinal for lunch and from there it was back on the Motorway for the drive to Verdun where we had an Etap booked for the night.  Went for a drive downtown for dinner and ended up at Buffalo Grill for a steak and chicken.  Thought it was a bit amusing that it was quite American in its promotion but didn’t have an English menu.

Verdun has a very dark history as the site of the longest battle of WWI.  During the last two years of the war, more than 800,000 soldiers lost their lives here.  As you would expect there are quite a few war cemeteries in the area.

Tuesday 11th October - Verdun to Paris

After breakfast at the Etap, we were back on the A4/E50 towards Paris.  More war cemeteries today both on the way out of Verdun and then along the way and into the Champagne region.  It is quite sobering to think of the devastation war has brought to this area and the lives lost.

We left the motorway near Verzy to drive the secondary roads through the Champagne region.  Of course, this area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name but also takes in the 500 square kilometre national park, the Parc Natural Régional de la Montagne de Reims.

Champaign Grapes

Vineyards Everywhere

The wine production has been happening in the area since the 17th & 18th centuries when many of the great Champagne houses were established.   EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term "Champagne" exclusively for wines that come from this region.   The principal grapes grown include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.  Harvest had pretty well finished but we managed to stop along the way and take some photos next to the grapes that would end up in Moet and Bollinger Champagne.

We had lunch in Épernay, the self-proclaimed capitale du champagne, and even bought a bottle of Moet (they obviously have a cheaper line).  Apparently, beneath the streets in 110km of subterranean cellars, more than 200 million bottles are stored away ready for sale.  We saw a very small sample of that when we purchased our bottle.  Lots of lovely buildings, including Hôtel de Ville, and the headquarters of some of the Champagne houses including Moet, Bollinger and Perrier (obviously they don’t only make water).  

Moet & Chandon Headquarters

After lunch, it was back on the Motorway to Paris where we had a date to drop off the car at 4:00pm.  Just as well we were a bit early because we did have a bit of difficulty finding our destination, not helped by some roads being closed for roadworks.

Caught a taxi to the L’Hotel de Mericourt which took forever – traffic was very heavy.  We dropped our luggage and then went for a walk to find a bookshop.  Had dinner at a Korean Barbecue (where you cook your own meat on a barbecue at the table) – and very nice it was too.

Wednesday 12th October – Paris to Dunsford

Had a wake-up call organised for 4:30 this morning (actually rang about 4:15) so that we could shower and repack our stuff for the trip to London.  The hotel rang a taxi for 5:30 and we had a quick trip to Gare du Nord (quite different to our trip from there to the hotel a month ago).  Worked out where we had to go at the station (was a bit of a rabbit warren) and went through customs (even had to fill in a visitor information slip like when you fly in – that didn’t happen on the way to France.)

As the trip was in the dark (again) you don’t really notice going through the tunnel (Jill was asleep at any rate).  Arrived at St Pancras at about 8 o’clock.  Plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs/soft boiled egg and a coffee with soy milk (we must be back in England).  Coffee was not as good as a Costa though.

Caught the underground to Paddington and then had to ‘hang around’ until the Exeter train left at 11.  Managed to get in a soy latte at Costa while we waited – much better.

The train trip to Exeter was uneventful.  On arriving we took a bus to Princesshay (uptown) where, after a lunch of good old British fish and chips and peas, we caught another bus to Dunsford.  Richard and Jennie are away in Kent so will catch up with them tomorrow.

Back to Dunsford

A nice lazy rest of the afternoon.  Well I did, Jill did the washing while I had a snooze.  Baked beans for dinner.

Thursday 13th October 2011 – Dunsford

A very lazy day today.  I got up about 9 and Jill slept in to 10.  Found some GF flour in the cupboard so Jill made some pancakes for breakfast.  Lots of lazing around, reading and resting.

Jennie and Richard arrived home early afternoon and we all had a late lunch.  Lots to talk about catching up on each others travels.  More resting and reading and talking.

R&J had been shopping on the way home and we had a barbecue chicken for dinner with veges and a nice glass of wine.

Friday 14th October 2011 – Dunsford (and Exeter)

Richard and I played a round of Golf at Exminster today.  We had played the course before but that didn’t make it any easier.

Jill and Jennie caught the bus into Exeter and we met up about 3pm for a late lunch at the Ship Inn, built in the 16th Century and reputedly the most haunted pub in Exeter (whatever that means).  The pub was frequented by Sir Walter Raliegh and Sir Francis Drake.  Supposedly Drake was in this pub when he was informed that the Spanish Armada was on its way.  The meal was very good too.

The Ship Inn, Exeter

A bit of a wander and some shopping and we were back to Dunsford just in time to catch the mobile fish and chip van, at the corner of the road, to buy fish and chips for dinner.  We had dinner outside in Shirley and Roger’s pergola (with the heaters on) with the bottle of Moet that we had brought back from France.

Fish & Chips & Moet

Saturday 15th October 2011 – Dartmouth

We drove to Dartmouth today (about an hour away), after a leisurely start to the morning.  It’s a very pretty spot at the mouth of the River Dart (of course) with Dartmouth on one side of the river and Kingswear on the other.  We parked at the top of the hill and used Park and Ride to get into the centre.

Dartmouth

Kingswear from Dartmouth

There are lots of cruises on offer (and a steam train from Kingswear) and after looking through the flyers over a cup of coffee decided we would take the Coastal Wildlife Cruise.  When it came time to book we discovered that the seas were too rough and it had been cancelled for the day.  We went for a cruise on the river instead.  The guide doing the commentary did an excellent job – a very dry humour and made the hour cruise very interesting.

The Royal Naval College

Dartmouth has a long naval history.  The port was used as the sailing point for the Crusades of 1147 and 1190, and has been home to the Royal Navy from the reign of Edward III. – The Royal Naval College buildings above the town are quite impressive.   Dartmouth was twice surprised and sacked during the Hundred Years' War, after which the mouth of the estuary was closed every night with a great chain. The narrow mouth of the Dart is protected by two fortified castles, Dartmouth Castle and Kingswear Castle.   

The Pilgrim Fathers also put into Dartmouth's Bayard's Cove, en-route from Southampton to America.  Some of the naval history is not so respectable.  Dartmouth was a major base for privateering (state-sanctioned or licensed piracy) in medieval times.

Dartmouth Castle

The town itself is quite attractive and contains many medieval and Elizabethan streetscapes in a patchwork of narrow cobbled lanes.  After the cruise, we had a late lunch in a coffee shop in one of the cobbled lanes followed by a bit of a wander and then headed back to Dunsford.

We had seen a flyer promoting a fundraiser for the cancer council in the local hall.  It mentioned something about the pampered cook and food so we thought we would go up a grab something for dinner.  It turned out to be a  ‘Tupperware’ style party in disguise.  There was a cooking demonstration using all these kitchen gadgets that you could buy.  We made a strategic withdrawal as soon as we could and settled for rice cakes with tomato and chicken for dinner.

Sunday 16th October 2011 – Dartmoor

We went for a final walk on Dartmoor today.  The moor is very different to when we were walking on it two months ago.  The yellow and pink/purple flowers of the gorse and heather are gone and the bracken has turned brown – I guess there have been frosts by the look of it.  We were surprised by the amount of water coming out of the hillside – hard to imagine where it has come from.  The sheep haven’t changed.  They’re still lying all over the road as if they own it and the placid long-horned cattle are still wandering around.  Despite losing its colour this is still beautiful countryside.

Our Road

What are you looking at?

The hedges along the roads have also been trimmed.  It probably means that there is now a little more room but these roads still take the prize for the narrowest roads we have driven on in our time in Europe.

Lunch today was at the Cleave Inn at Lustleigh.   Our second meal here – we visited soon after we arrived in Dunsford.  Jill had duck and I had roast beef.  The pub has a very good reputation and the meal didn’t disappoint.

It looks different!!

Back to Dunsford and time to think about packing and getting organised for the trip home.  We catch the train back to London tomorrow and the plane to Singapore on Tuesday, where we spend a few days with Kerrie & Darren before the final leg to Brisbane.

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Monday 17th October 2011 – Dunsford to London

Up and packed up and breakfasted in time for Richard and Jennie to take us to the train at 10am.  Got to the station only to find that the train had been delayed half an hour.  Had a coffee while we waited and then the routine of up the lift, across the bridge and down the lift to platform 5.  Guess we should be thankful that there is a lift as we have all our gear today including my golf clubs.

Had to store our gear in the guard van as not enough room in the carriage.  Arrived at our seats to find that they were occupied by someone else.  Apparently, the reserved seat signs had not been put out so it was a matter of first in first served.  Found another couple of seats and settled in for the 2½ hour train trip to London.  This was the first time that we noticed that the train track runs alongside a canal for some of the way.

We passed through Redding where some of the Benham ancestors came from.  I thought we might have had time to do a little search while we were in England but like a lot of other things, we did not get to do, it just didn’t happen.  Four months sounded like a long time to be spending over here but, in reality, the time has flown.

We arrived at Paddington and had a Panini and coffee for lunch before catching the Heathrow Express to Terminal 5 (the closest terminal to Heathrow Lodge, where we had booked for the night.   While at Paddington we also cashed in our Oyster Card.  For some reason, I thought we would get back £15 but it must have been £5 plus what was still on the card – a total of £12.50.  It certainly didn't buy our tickets to Heathrow.  The very reasonable costs of rail transport we had been paying (I think Exeter to London was only something like £12) meant the £18 each for the ticket to Heathrow was a bit of a shock.  The train was very much geared to the traveller though with plenty of room for luggage.

From Terminal 5 we rang the hotel to arrange a transfer (something they do) but we couldn’t have read the fine print as their transfers didn’t start to 6pm.  Caught a taxi to the motel - £9.  It was nice to be back in an old-style London cab.

After a rest we had a bit of a walk – not very far as the weather is quite cool, followed by dinner at the White Horse Pub – our last English pub meal.  I had to have fish and chips, Jill a Chicken curry.  Back to the hotel for a bit of a read, and then bed.

Tuesday 18th October 2011 – London to Singapore

Had a transfer booked for 8:15 which we assumed would be tons of time for our 11:30 flight.  We would have breakfast at the airport once we had booked in.

The morning didn’t start off well when we had no hot water.  The staff were very apologetic.  Said they had had a problem in the night and their workman had not been able to fix it.  I cold shower was not what we really wanted to start the day.

The transfer to the airport had us there soon after 8:30 and booking in was straightforward.  Had to take the golf clubs to a different spot to be loaded as expected.

We then went to get our VAT refund for the video camera, memory card and portable hard drive that we had purchased in London.  If the queue is long we would say to others don’t bother, it’s not worth it.  For the £50 we eventually got back we had to wait an hour to be processed, only to be told that they could only give us the VAT refund for the memory card and hard drive.  Because the camera was more than £250 we actually had to have it sighted and stamped by customs and then take the form to another VAT return office after customs.  By then we were almost ready to give it all a miss but fortunately, there was only about a 5-minute wait at customs and the further processing was straightforward.

So much for breakfast, however.  By this time it was 10:30, the boarding time for the aircraft so we made our way to Gate 1.  Boarding was a little delayed (so we would have had time to at least grab a coffee) and once aboard the flight we were further delayed because we were taking off at peak time and that's the way it is at Heathrow.

Eventually, we were off the ground and they bought around some much-appreciated peanuts and drinks followed by a much-appreciated lunch a bit later (about 2pm).  I had fish, Jill chicken – very satisfactory.

We were in one of the new double-deck A380s again.  It’s still hard to believe how an aircraft that big can get off the ground.  The flight went smoothly apart from a bit of turbulence during the night where we were restricted to our seats.  Watched a few movies and tried to sleep, without a lot of luck.

Wednesday 19th October 2011 – Singapore

How do they get these things into the air?

We landed in Singapore about 7:15am.  Customs was straight forward and we got some $Singaporean from an ATM and had a coffee before catching a taxi to Kerry and Darren’s.

The Taxi trip was quite a long way, reflected in the cost S$51 but not a lot of congestion considering the time of day.

Thanks to Kerrie’s instruction we found her condo without too much trouble.  She and Darren were at work but Alex was home (school holidays) with Vanessa (Kerrie’s helper).  Maddy was at a friend’s.

Had a little breakfast and then a laze around.  Alex took us for a swim in the pool while Vanessa went to pick up Maddy.  There is a lovely big pool area with a quite impressive lap pool.

The pool was great!

Venessa came back with Maddy and we had some lunch.  Jill had had a bit of a sleep in the morning and we both had a snooze in the afternoon.  Woke up to find it raining.  Maddy and Alex had some friends over to play. About 4, Darren came home briefly as he was off to Hong Kong at 5pm for work.  Kerry and the kids will join him next week for a few days holiday.

Kerry was home at 6pm for a drink and a chat over dinner.  Off to bed about 10.

Thursday 20th October 2011 - Singapore

A shopping day today.  We caught the community bus from the Condo to the local station at Clementi and then caught the metro into the city (City Hall).  The trains are very efficient, clean and air-conditioned (which was very welcome as it was very hot).  It’s interesting that there are walls along the edge of the platform with doors that match up to the carriage doors when the train pulls in.

From City Hall, we caught another train to Orchard Road.  We had a bit of a wander around the shops but didn’t see anything that grabbed us – in reality, we were probably just not in the mood.  Rather than shopping, we decided to head for Little India.  At the moment it is set up for the Deepavali Festival.  Lots of market activity happening and much decoration.  

Little India prepares for Deepavala

We thought we would have lunch in Little India but couldn’t find anywhere out of the heat.  Instead we went back to City Hall station and had sushi in air conditioned comfort.

We then headed back to the condo in time for me to keep Alex company while Jill went with Vanessa and Maddy to Maddy’s dance class.

Friday 21st October 2011 - Singapore

Kerry doesn’t work Fridays, so this morning, we all headed off to Maddy and Alex’s new school.  They attend a Canadian International school that has just moved into a new campus.  All very nice and new.  They still have a fair bit to do before the children arrive in a little over a week.  In the front foyer,  there are flags of each country that the students come from.  Forget the number but I think it was something like 60 – quite amazing.

Visiting the new school

From the school, we went to the Science Centre.  Quite an amazing place with a mass of activities for children.  Couldn’t help thinking that Aylee would have had a wonderful time here.  Finished our visit with the children enjoying some time at Waterworks, a great scientific water play area.

After a late lunch (chicken rice at a food market) it was back to the Condo for a rest up and a swim before heading out to dinner at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant.  We had a lovely meal of crab, prawns and fish in a very pleasant setting, followed by ice cream and sorbet at the ice cream shop across the road.

Dinner at Jumbo Seafood

Saturday 22nd October 2011 – Singapore to Mullumbimby

We had a taxi ordered for 7am this morning so we had plenty of time for our 10:50 flight.  Was a nice few days with Kerry and the family.  Check-in was straight forward and we had time to have breakfast, a coffee and exchange some Singapore dollars and Euro for Australian dollars.

The flight was also straightforward when we finally got off the ground.  We must have been waiting in line to take off for at least 30 minutes.  Watched a few movies and had a snooze between food and drink.  

As is usually the case it took some time to get through customs in Brisbane.  The arrival time was 7:30pm but we were about half an hour late.  Bradley was waiting at the airport to pick us up and drive us home.

It has been a great trip.