Day 3 started after a great restorative sleep in a comfortable bed, much needed after a tiring day of exploring Singapore city.
We’ve learned that Singapore is named after the Sanskrit words for Lion City “Singa Pora”.
Coaches arrived at midday to ferry us to the ship and made the short journey to the port a delight, the courier on board gave us a running commentary as we passed several areas and buildings that we missed last night and we were amazed once again at the cleanliness, calmness and the greenery that was every where. Definitely a city to return to and explore more.
Boarding the ship was another well planned exercise, organised and calm. The people here look after the elderly, help them with bags or up steps, making sure they can walk 500 metres to the entrance etc. “Us youngens” found it very endearing. The size, up close, was immense!
Being a Cruise Virgin, we really didn’t know what to expect, we’ve been on 36 hour ferry crossings before, but this is on a different level!!!! Our cabin is a SUITE!!! Corner room, large balcony, separate sitting room (with a sofa bed to banish the Snorers to!!), our own Steward who is available 24 hours a day, cleans twice a day, and endless food and drink, by the end of the first day we’d only explored 2 decks, 12 more to go!!!
We leave the Singapore skyline behind and gently, quietly head out to sea. After a tasty 3 course evening meal followed by a short walk, we all headed to the comfort of our rooms, Graham and Diane are just a few rooms along from us at the back of the boat, with plans to meet at breakfast. As we were heading north west to Thailand, we gain an hour overnight.
Day 4 – we wake to light rain but its still humidity and 28c outside! We are cruising up the Malacca Straight and the sea water is full of plant debris from the recent hurricane and heavy rains that recently hit Sumatra and Thailand. The day is spent exploring the ship – indoor and outdoor pool areas, spa, shops, bars, restaurants, theatre, casino, library, meeting rooms and coffee shops. The ship is huge by Ferry standards, everything runs like clockwork and the staff are superb, the food is amazing! Even when it rains heavily for 10 minutes, all staff are out on deck sweeping the water towards drains, wiping dry the sunbeds and still smiling!
Sadly, our activities yesterday and today were slightly hampered by illness, first Graham, then me, then Diane…instant sickness and upset stomachs, nothing we have eaten or drunk, just a stomach bug but thankfully nothing serious. It certainly hasn’t stopped Graham eating or drinking!!
Day one was consumed with travel, David and I already flown from Alicante to Manchester and stopped overnight, we all (David and I, Graham and Diane) then left the hotel at 6am to board a very full Etihad flight to our first stop in Abu Dhabi. Two hours into the 8am flight, just as we were passing over the snow capped Alps, expecting breakfast, we were surprisingly served lunch, a tasty choice of chicken biryani or beef casserole.
The views from my window seat were spectacular, aqua blue seas, stacked white cloud formations, miniscule Aegean islands and tiny coastal villages that, in reality, were large cities but dwarfed by 35,000 feet of atmosphere with an outside temperature of -61c. At one point a red Turkish airline jet shot past us, below us going in the opposite direction, so close I could see its tailfin logo, yet if I had blinked at that moment, I wouldn’t have seen it!
First 7276 kms (3899 miles) done!
Coming into land at Abu Dhabi, we had to circle several times and were lucky enough to fly over the F1 race course!
The airport at Abu Dhabi is stunning, spacious, quiet, ful of glossy marble walkways and designer shops and restaurants, where a pint of lager was £11!! Time went very quickly and soon we were off on a bigger jet, the Airbus 380-800, sadly no free upgrades available 😢
Arrival at Singapore, another 3658 miles away, was quick and easy, bags arrived in a spacious bright well organised glass building and we were collected by a prebooked taxi and taken to our hotel for the next 36 hours. We were instantly hit by 28c but high humidity, we perspired but we coped!
Coming in to land at SingaporeView from the taxiClark QuayThe river boatsSuch greenery! Our hotel for the nightView from our hotel room. One of the river bridges remind you of London bridgesLots of iron statues around the cityDusk skyline Amazing architectural hotelsThe famous Sands ResortOld Parliament buildings are now an art museum
Singapore is Organisation Capital! Clean, green, spacious, tidy, quiet, pristine and fabulous!
We’ve walked to the business area, skirted along the hundreds of food bars in Chinatown, mooched along and lunched in Clarks Quay, witnessed the spectacular Marina Bay Sands Resort with its 150 metre rooftop overhanging pool, changing multitude of colours from dusk to night and walked a total of 15,000 steps around some of the the river quays, and we’ve all been totally surprised at the peace, structure and tidiness of such a big city. Its simply fantastic!!!!
Room service dinner, Australian wine and chilled beer in the room helped us cope with the +8 hour difference, ready to be collected the next morning and taken to the cruise port along with loads of other cruisers. By the end of the day, we were absolutely knackered and ready for a sleep!
The weather is beating us down! On this side (north west) of the UK, it’s 16c, wet, 44 mile an hour winds and the area is dismal.
We took a drive out this morning down the coast to Workington and Whitehaven, hoping to find a pretty coastal seaside town but no. Dismal, grey, run down (certainly in Whitehaven) and no sea front fish and chip shops for lunch so we resorted to stopping at Asda and headed back to keep Bessy company.
Whitehaven boasts “Edwardian buildings and a modern marina”, sadly the buildings are in a poor state of repair and the marina has a problem with iron ore staining the waters and boats!
Known as The Cupola this house (below) was one of the most magnificent houses in Whitehaven. It was built around 1710 at an estimated cost of £2400 by a wealthy merchant called William Fevey. He was one of the original board of Trustees that controlled the town and had also became part of a wealthy local family following a marriage. Unfortunately he died almost as soon as it was completed and the house became owned by his wife’s family. In the 1850s it became the Town Hall and is now back in private ownership.
Now it proudly houses a pizza and kebab takeaway, a cafe on the corner and social housing above. I bet William and father-in-law John would both turn in their graves if they could see it now.
Day 2 of our little sojourn started off grey and misty so we decided to head inland again for a jaunt around a different Lake/Mere before stopping off to visit relatives nearby.
We found it ironic that everyone we know is currently moaning about a heatwave yet here, in Keswick and Maryport, we’ve had rain!
As soon as we went over the first hillock, lo and behold, the clouds dissipated and the sky turned a shade of blue and that orangey/yellow blob in the sky appeared occasionally! When the sun is out, England certainly is a beautiful place.
We headed towards Penrith and Ullswater, a glacial lake, second largest of all the lakes and surrounded by beautiful rolling hills.
We stopped at Pooley Bridge initially, but the tiny village at the head of the lake was heaving, full of walkers and coach loads of the much older generation, waiting to board the Lake’s steamer boats.
We left there promptly and headed alongside the lake, stopping at a place advertised as a “small 3 star relaxed contemporary Hotel”. Wow, what a gem! The immaculate grounds led right down to the lakeside through fields of wildflowers and grand trees with swings (yes, I had a go!!).
Wildflower groundsPath leading to the lake
The patio was bathed in sunshine and was filled with large comfy outdoor sofas and chairs. The entrance hall housed a selection of Wellington boots (to be borrowed) and maps for walking around the area but the highlight was the toilets! Yes, really! Art deco style black and white tiles blended modern toilets and handbasins with the most amazing aroma, turns out to be an air freshener, hand soap and cream made locally and scented with grapefruit lemon and mint! Heavenly fresh and vibrant.
Old greenhouse is now an outside barLooking towards the Edwardian houseHelp yourself to a WellyThe Lounge
The old greenhouse had been transformed into an outside bar complete with a woodburner and the kitchen gardens hid a few Shepherds cottages and a Treehouse.
The Shepherds Huts looking towards the Lake
The hotel had an indoor pool which overlooked the patio and an outdoor “endless pool” as well as a wild water swimming area as well AND a spa so we just had to investigate prices……and there we stopped! 2 nights at the beginning of July for a couple was £800, to include dinner a cool £1000!!! We quickly legged it out of there before we were charged for sitting on a chair! In the bar, a local ale was £5.95 a pint and a G&T was £8.50 so I’m sure cheap bottle of wine would set you back a hefty pile of ££££s.
While we were in the area, I was keen to look at the village of Appleby, famous for its annual gypsy and horse gatherings. The day we visited, the small quaint village was quiet and serene with not a single horse in sight.
Appleby High StreetAppleby church Grade 1 Listed
Our final visit of the day was to family living nearby. My Aunt and Uncle live in a small village in a Grade 2 listed house called Woodbine House, it used to have an old tannery attached. It’s currently up for sale as they are hoping to move back to Norfolk.
We had taken cakes which we had with tea and coffee whilst catching up with their life news. It’s been a very long time since we have seen them but they had received some bad news that day so we didn’t overstay. I was also aware that David may have had a pain in his back or felt ill, he kept fidgeting on the sofa and moving forwards and back and was very willing to be shown around the house and garden……it wasn’t until we left that he told me he wasn’t in pain but he was trying to get away from the stinky farting dog he was sharing the sofa with 🥴😁😁😁😁 I tried very very hard not to laugh 😀
We returned to Bessy who was again enveloped in a grey cold fog; the wind picked up overnight so we were well and truly battered overnight.
After a few hectic weeks in Liverpool, Bessy decided she needed some fresh air and a change of scenery so a trip away to the Lake District was arranged. Driver David wound his way through hours of nose to tail traffic on the M6, Navigator Juliet said “turn left” at Penrith and we headed towards the little known town of Maryport, looking out over the Irish channel towards the hills of South West Scotland.
Arriving at Maryport Marina
Bessy settled down nicely on a grassy pitch overlooking the small Marina, nestled between other caravans and motorhomes of all shapes and sizes. Only thing that was different was that Bessy was minus a dog or two, which everyone else had. David and Juliet decided to explore……
Our grassy marina viewAs we got to the beach, the mist rolled in! A small dock behind the campsiteThe town
Their first job was to rate the pubs/eateries within walking distance, so a relaxing chilled pint was downed firstly in the Lifeboat Inn before heading to the Captain Nelson pub, sadly all full of cobwebs and forlornly closed. Fortunately right next door was Maryport’s “award winning” Tandoori restaurant, so in they went! The menu selections, rated at a 2.5 out of 5, turned out to be an expensive and disappointing meal, not to be repeated, lesson learned! Not sure how they won any awards for all three dishes being the same colour, taste and mild strength so I’m guessing its 🏡 cooking from now on!
Not sure exactly what Maryport has going for it, apart from it being famous for being at the end of Hadrian’s Wall and it has a few Roman ruins otherwise its a small ex-fishing northern village with an awful Indian restaurant. However, sunsets are pretty, when the mist clears.
Day 1 – Another chilly misty day, while the rest of the UK is having a heatwave!!! David and Juliet left Bessy safely parked up and took a drive to nearby Keswick and one or two Lakes, firstly Bassenthwaite then down to Derwent Water. Bit of information for you…..Bassenthwaite is the only true Lake of the 16 lakes in the Lake District, the others are Waters or Meres.
We parked in Keswick and mooched about the town, perfect place if you are a hiker, mountaineerer, or fell walker – every other shop was aimed at the outdoor types, or food shops with the odd art gallery thrown in.
Keswick town
We walked down to Derwent Water, got ripped off buying a sausage roll, meat pie (for dinner) and a bottle of drink for £20 and that was to take away from the lakeside cafe!! We admired the quiet and calmness of the lake and imagined how chaotic it would be in the height of summer, madness I’m sure!
We noted how well cared for the whole town was, including the town’s park, it was bursting with colour, scent and activities.
We decided to take a different route home but also took a short detour off the main road to a viewpoint, and what a view! It was at the other end of Derwent Water to where we had been in Keswick and we could see Bassenthwaite in the distance.
We then took a loop back to the coast to look at Allonby beach, the only exciting thing we saw was an beautiful converted church with an unusual turreted clock tower. The day ended with another colourful sunset!
The Reading Room, see belowAllonby looking towards ScotlandTonight’s sunset
Allonby – a little bit of history.
Allonby originally started life centuries ago as a tiny community scattered around four farms but over many years it grew into a small fishing port, with the main catch being herring which were salted or smoked to preserve them for transport to market. In 1703 the Religious Society of Friends, otherwise known as Quakers, converted a cottage in the village into a Meeting House and the Quakers became a large and influential section of the local community.
The Quaker’s influence created several larger properties in the village, a congregational chapel built in 1844, a Meeting House and the Reading Room built on what had been the site of a factory school with a large weaving room and tithe barn. Designed by a Quaker architect from Manchester and opened in 1862 the reading rooms and a library originally stood over an open Italian-style piazza where people could shelter from bad weather; eventually though the open colonnade was bricked in and the space converted into a billiard and games room. The reading rooms served the people of Allonby for more than a hundred years and at one point became home to a collection of natural history specimens. During WW2 they were used by the WVS (Womens Voluntary Services) for the preparation of camouflage netting for the armed forces, and during the 1951 Festival of Britain they served as the venue for a ‘Festival of Antiques’. Unfortunately usage had declined by the early 1970s and maintenance was a problem so the building was sold, with the proceeds being used to upgrade the village hall. The new owner was a local businessman who proposed to turn the building into a motorbike museum but his plans were turned down by the local authority and the place stood empty for thirty years. Gradually the building began to deteriorate and after a severe storm part of the roof collapsed, bringing the gable end down with it. Finally, in 2005 the local council agreed to a partial demolition and conversion to residential use, and after the work was hampered by delays and ever-increasing costs the new owners eventually took up residence in 2013.
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