Final Pictures - Littlehampton, Jennie's Garden & Singapore

Our walk  along the sand dunes at Littlehampton

Littlehampton -tidal river mouth of Arun River

Littlehampton again

Start of our walk - this time by the golf course

Second section of walk-having lunch on rocky dune before walk

Jill & Jennie climbing up the rocky dune laughing hysterically- it took 2 goes to get up

Kestrel hovering for minutes waiting for its prey

Third section of walk -along top of sand dunes

Jennie & Trevor's back garden

Trevor & Warren chatting in back garden

Two old blokes resting in the back garden

Warren hanging out the washing

Their front garden

Front garden

Front garden again - Jennie opens her garden to the public each year

Another view of front garden

Front garden

Jennie & Trevors home

Enjoying an ice cream after the 3 fold walk

Littlehampton harbour

Singapore - view from hotel room

Our hotel

Enjoying lunch with Daniel & Diana

In Botanic Gardens

Jill, Diana & Daniel at Orchid Gardens

Enjoying the orchids

Enjoying the orchids again

Singapores newest hotel !! We managed to go to the top in the boat section

Singpores newest shopping centre plus skating rink in middle of food court

Outside shopping centre with the huge wheel in background

Singapore flyer - makes Mebourne's wheel look tiny

Saying good bye to Daniel and Diana

Couldn't resist taking picture of this sign back in UK

We took the bus down to Orchard Road which is the main tourist shopping street, and found the Hop On ,Hop Off bus which took us around the sights of Singapore. We were pretty tired and it was very hot and humid. We decided that we might stay on board and go all the way around the city until we came across the Singapore Flyer. This is a much larger version of Melbourne’s wheel which was damaged during the heat wave in February 2009. So after obtaining our tickets joined the queue along with hundreds of others. It certainly is a massive structure and we enjoyed our half hour ride. Driving by Melbourne’s wheel this morning we realized how big Singapore’s wheel is. From here we walked across the river in the heat to the new hotel and casino. What an amazing structure we saw and managed to make our way up to the top floor which is shaped like a boat on top of a building. See picture later.
By the time we arrived back at Orchard Road we were exhausted and decided not to venture into the shops but took the local bus back to our hotel. We relaxed for the rest of the day and then ventured out to another shopping centre nearby for some dinner.
We were in bed by 10.30 and didn’t wake up until 10.30am.
Monday 13^th JuneWe had arranged to meet up with old friends Diana and Daniel for lunch at 12.30pm so we had to make a move. We had to pack all our stuff and check out before that time. Warren struggled to get going and couldn’t drag himself to get ready so I took my things down stairs and checked out with Warren arriving just in time to meet them.
Daniel took us to an outdoor restaurant not far from our hotel and bought chicken, prawns, vegies and rice. It was quite tasty. Poor Warren couldn’t stop perspiring and his shirt was soaking wet. Diana even went into a store next door to buy him some serviettes to wipe himself down. Restaurants don’t seem to supply any.
From here Daniel drove us to the exquisite orchid garden where we had a stroll around the gardens enjoying the beauty of the tropical atmosphere. Such a contrast to all the gardens we had seen during the last few weeks.
Then it was off to the Marina where we had been the day before, but this time Warren remembered to take his camera. He had been so disappointed at leaving the camera behind at the hotel. They bought us some interesting Chinese desserts which we devoured.
Daniel drove us to the airport and we hoped that our flight had not been cancelled as we had seen on TV that all Qantas flights had been cancelled in Melbourne because of the volcanic ash from the Chili volcano.
Fortunately it hadn’t been cancelled so we checked in and then Daniel took us down to the basement canteen for tea. We were not at all hungry and knew that we would get a meal on the plane but Daniel insisted that we have something. I chose some dumplings that I had tried I Thailand which Warren really enjoyed.
We said goodbye to them and made our way through security and immigration and changed into some warmer clothes ready for the flight and Melbourne’s winter.
We had a comfortable flight home but neither of us slept as we were not at all tired.
The plane landed at 6.20am after having to detour a little away from the volcanic ash. We breezed through customs and immigration  (declared our vegemite)and Natalie arrived 2 minutes later to take us home.
It was so good to be home. Charlie, our dog, was with Natalie in the car and was so very pleased to see us. He didn’t leave my side all day. The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue but it was still very cold.
We had had a great Irish and Scottish experience along with some English experiences too.
Now it is time to get back to reality and may be dream of another far off land to explore some day, but not too soon.

The final leg

Tuesday 7^th JuneToday we went on a Sussex Downs tour with Trevor as our tour guide. The area is quite beautiful with the rolling hills etc. We went to an outdoor museum which was built mainly from 16^th century buildings which were to be demolished from around the Sussex area. They had been removed bit by bit and rebuilt in a field creating a village. It was very interesting seeing these very old buildings made into a working village including the farm, flour mill, school, church etc. This is now an educational and teaching aid for children and adults. We spent most of the day here and enjoyed our picnic lunch in a secluded spot under some trees trying to get out of the wind. It was quite chilly and we had trouble staying warm. When the sun came out and if we stayed out of the wind it was quite warm.
We then drove along the South Downs and found a lovely pub called The Cricketer where we stopped for tea and scones out on their deck where it was protected from the wind.
Wednesday 8^th JuneWarren spent the morning washing both cars and vacuumed the Mondeo which was filthy after the 3000 miles we travelled throughout our journey in all sorts of weather. He did a complete detail which they needed and he loves doing. I did some washing. It was good to spend sometime at home doing normal things.
We went off to Worthing in the afternoon to collect my sandal from the cobbler and make a deposit into Trevor’ account. From here we drove to Hove and looked around the shops before we arrived at Amanda (Baileys) home. Jennie and Trevor came in to meet them and had coffee and then left us. Hinda (Warrens niece) arrived from London and we had a great time
chatting. We hadn’t seen either of them for a few years and it was good to catch up. Amanda’s boys, Gabriel and Noah have grown up a little. Last time we were in Hove Amanda had just found out that she was having another boy. Noah is now 5. Adrian came home from work and we enjoyed a chicken curry together. Adrian is a doctor and had to leave us to see a patient downstairs during dinner but fortunately he only had one patient tonight.
Amanda took us all to the train station at 9.30 where we took the train west to Durrington on Sea, Hinda went east to Brighton where she changed trains to get the train back to London.
Trevor picked us up at the station
　
Thursday 9^th JuneToday we went off to Littlehampton where we walked along the water front and enjoyed the village as the fast flowing tide going out. We then took a three sided walk, firstly alongside the golf course through bush and trees for about ½ an hour, this led us to the beach. It was very windy again and our coats were then zipped up to keep out the chill. The beach is all stony and built up in a huge pile along the beach. We had brought our salad rolls stuffed in our pockets and decided this was the place to have them. We sat on the top of the stony hill overlooking the water. When it was time to go, we ended up sliding down the stones onto level ground, we then walked along the beach for awhile but then tried walking up the stony hill again to get over and onto the sand dunes. Well, that was not so easy and both Jennie and I had trouble getting up with the stones slipping from under us. We both fell flat on our stomachs laughing uncontrollably It took a couple of efforts to get up the hill where the boys just looked on laughing.
We walked along the top of the sand dunes overlooking the golf course and ended back at the river mouth on the other side from Littlehampton to see the tide was coming in very quickly. It is quite dangerous to swim close to this channel into the harbour because of the quick tide change. We were all quite hot by now so stopped for an ice cream and a rest.
Trevor then drove us all to Highdown Gardens which was very relaxing. Firstly we stopped at the little café and had tea and scones. The scones were enormous and really only needed one between the four of us, so we only ate half of it, we then took a stroll in the gardens. Jennie can’t get enough gardens to wander through. She is a very keen gardener and hers is open to the public next month. She has had an article in two publications in the last couple of weeks showing her garden. You certainly know her garden has had a lot of love and care.
This was a very different garden this time, it was built on an old chalk pit. The owner was told he could never grow anything here but it is a credit to him and every type of plant now grows there. It has been done over the last 100 years. It is a picture and there are so many different parts to it and benches scattered everywhere where you can stop and rest and enjoy the beauty.
We came home and Jennie cooked a delicious baked salmon with roast potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower sauce and carrots.
Friday 10^th JuneWe relaxed today knowing that we have a long flight tonight. We finished our packing and actually spent time in the garden actually reading in the sun. Our first and last time to do this. While the sun came out it was warm but as soon as the sun went in, it became cold again.
We walked round the corner to Tim and Jeans home to see their garden. They are opening their garden along with Jennie and Trevor next month. Their garden is quite different as Tim is very arty and precise in where everything is. We stayed here for a short while and the went home for a lunch which we ate in the garden. We had hoped to do this everyday but the weather hadn’t really allowed us to do this.
We relaxed until we left around 3pm. It is also a slow trip to Heathrow and being Friday is not a good day to be driving there. We must remember not to travel on a Friday again. We travelled most of the way with out much traffic but as soon as we hit the M25 motorway then the traffic was very slow. Trevor usually allows around an 1 ½ hours to get there but this time it took 2 ½ hours. It was just as well we had plenty of time.
They just dropped us off and we said our goodbyes. Once in the terminal we soon discovered that our flight had been cancelled. Amazingly I had checked in on line this morning and we had good seats. Now what? We went to the desk along with all the other passengers who were on this flight and waited patiently for our turn. Everyone had been put on different flights and we happened to get the last two seats on a Singapore Airlines flight. Then we had to go to that check in desk and get our seats. We were given two separate seats which was all that was available but told to go to the service desk and see what they could do. Apparently they were over booked but the kind lady gave us two seats together.
We had heaps of time as this fight was not leaving until 10 pm so stopped by and had some food and relaxed for a while. I couldn’t get onto the internet which was a nuisance as I had time to email. Warren spent time downloading the last of our pictures onto the computer instead.
Once we were on board we found our seats. They were great and we had a young couple next to us with a baby. We had the seats with a cot facility in front of us, but with no cot we had heaps of leg room. The young couple were from Dublin. He was very Irish of course but his wife was originally from Singapore who spoke beautiful English. Their 13 month old son, Eli, was just like his dad. He was a good baby and didn’t cry very much.
The plane was so much nicer than a British Airways plane and we were impressed. I slept better than I have ever slept in a plane and felt great by the time we landed. The problem was that it was now 6pm Saturday night and we had lost a day and I wandered how I was going to sleep tonight
We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and then after freshening up we walked along Newton Road to Newton’s Circus which is an outdoor food court with about 50 different food stalls. We got a bit lost as we got to the roundabout at Newton’s Circus and ended up having to ask a guy where to go. It is such a busy intersection we had to be very careful crossing.. We bought some drink at the 7eleven as we walked underground to get across the intersection I realized as soon as we arrived that I had been here before with Warren’s niece Heidi and Jye.
We walked around with many Chinese vying for our custom but ignored them and found a table. We eventually bought a carrot cake but not what you would imagine It is an omelet with carrot in it. It was delicious and we had satay sticks as well.
We walked back home and Warren had a swim before we hit the sack.
Sunday 12^th JuneWe slept well amazingly and I woke up at 6.30am and found Warren reading. We finally got up and ate our scraps that we had left over for breakfast. No free breakfast here!! We certainly do not need any cooked breakfast. I wrote up the diary.
We spent the morning on the hop on bus and went on the Singpore Flyer which is their big wheel.

Have heard on the news of the Chile volcano with ash hitting melbourne so wonder if we are going to get home.

Jennie's front garden

Our walk along the beach on a summers day! 

Same beach

Sheltering from the wind. Last night we ate fish and chips in here

Typicalcountry lane. Drove along many of these

School children doing the maypole dance. I remember doing the same as a child

Lovely scene - notice the post and rail fence

Another view - lots of wild flowers out everywhere

There are many of these old post boxes inside a brick wall. Notice it is G. R. not E. R.

Enjoying a cuppa

More pics

Ruth,Gordon, with their family and us

Wimbledon Station

Ruth & Gordon on Worthing Pier

Holy Trinity Church  Brompton

Over looking Worthing

Warren hamming it up again in a shop!!

Notice the height of the door

Jill about to get her finger bitten by a duck

Never seen so many ducks together

Trevor checking out the huge draught horse

Trevor & Jennie enjoying a garden

Jennie & Jill