Thomasland

Since just before March the trailers have been on children's TV - 'come to Thomasland at Drayton Manor park'. Originally they said 'for Easter' which led to Luke saying 'we need to go to Thomasland' everytime Easter was mentioned 'because it said so' (I've also been urged to buy CillitBang in the supermarket for the same reason).



We discovered that children under 4 are free and then bought a 2 for the price of 1 token on eBay so when we finally succumbed in mid-June we got in as cheaply as we possibly could (it still cost us nearly £30).



When the day dawned it was very rainy and we packed up waterproofs as well as the suncream. The high entry price made me think it would be as slick and commercial as Alton Towers but we were pleasantly suprised to find that it wasn't on such a grand and imposing scale. Thomasland lived up to all of Luke's expectations but he initially refused to go on any rides - we had an inkling that this would be the case after our Disneyland trip in February and had streesed that rides would have to be at least attempted. So we boarded Clarabel, being pulled by Thomas, and travelled to the other end of the park where we found the Zoo and the best outdoor play area I've ever seen. There were wooden huts, bridges, cars and slides of all descriptions a sand play area and musical instruments to bash - we could have stayed there all day but it was threatening to rain again. We opted for a walk back to the rides through the zoo - with Lee and I bigging up the Thomas rides as we went. One thing I noted was that all the 'feed the animals' and 'meet the keeper' events seemed to be in the afternoon. Luke soon got bored with looking at the animals and got more excited as we headed back to the park. We persuaded him to go on the ferris wheel so that we could 'see Thomas' and get our bearings - he had no qualms about this as he'd been on one before 'when auntie Kay was scared and nanny looked really small on the ground'. We were then finally ready to tackle the rides of Thomasland.



Our first worry was that for most of the rides children had to be a metre tall - we needn't have worried as when we measured him he was 110cm! No wonder he's grown out of all his age 3-4 clothes. The first thing he wanted to go on was Trevor the Traction Engine - parents weren't allowed on. His concentration as he went round corners was a picture and the men running the ride were amazed that he wasn't yet 4. I'm not sure how we managed it but the next ride was the troublesome trucks - a rollercoaster! - we hadn't watched it beforehand so we didn't realise that it went around twice. I pity the people in the queue as he screamed 'no, no not again! I want to get off!'. We struggled to find somewhere for lunch - tough we didn't know about the self-serve resturant up the hill. The first we came accross advertised pizza slices and jacket potatoes on the outside menu but only sold burgers inside, we then found one that only sold pizza (which is what Luke wanted) - this scared Luke as the seating area was done out as a rainforest and all the 'animals' made loud noises but it was raining outside so we had to stay.

Mickeyland

Thursday was always going to be a special treat for Luke, we had been telling him that if he was good he would have a special treat but secretly we were always going to take him to Disneyland in Hong Kong. We toyed with the idea of the hotel shuttle bus which took you directly to the gates of the park (for £10 each) but opted for the £2.50 train journey with two changes and a walk between stations. We arrived at about 30 minutes after the park had opened, with Luke none the wiser until we boarded the special Mickey Mouse train which took you to the park.

The walk from the train to the gates was filled with anticipation as Luke had finally realised that we were at 'Mickeyland'. I was surprised at how quiet the park actually was, but then it is Thursday. Disneyland is divided into 4 areas, Main Street, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. We headed up Main Street, stopping to watch the Dragon Parade, towards Fantasyland where we knew the Winnie the Pooh area was. The picture above is the only picture that Luke would have with a character - he's a bit unsure of grown-ups dressed in cartoon outfits! Once we had met Pooh we had a theme for the rest of the day, the hunt for Lumpy and Roo for another photo. We had a few tears when we couldn't find them and even more when the day was drawing to a close and we still couldn't find them. Excuses for the shocking failure of mum and dad to find Lumpy and Roo ranged from '...it must be their day off...' to '...perhaps they're on holiday...'. The only response that Luke had to offer was for us to go and find them on their holiday and bring them back. Luke is still concerned that Lumpy and Roo weren't aware that he was at Disneyland today!

We only braved one ride, the story of Winnie the Pooh, which Luke enjoyed in the end. We saw all the main characters, and enjoyed the Disney Parade down Main Street. We saw the Rockin' Mickey show in front of the castle and decided to stay until the very last minute to see the fireworks which closed the day.

Writing this now I'm not sure whether it was Luke or Claire which enjoyed the day most......maybe it was even me! Luke's face was a picture on many occasions throughout the day, which we shall remember for many years to come. Disneyland really is a magical place.......

Goodbye to Sydney and Hello Hong Kong

Such a lot to catch up on.

On Saturday we met up with Kay's friend Tanya and headed to Darling Harbour to watch the Dragon Boat Racing - which was part of the celebrations for Chinese New Year. One of Kay's work colleagues, Nicola, was racing and her team won! We couldn't see much in the harbour as the place was packed but it is one of the places on the must see in Sydney list. We met up with another of Kay's friends on the way back - Crystal, who Luke has promised to marry - and Lee got to visit the Bavarian Beer Cafe (and drink a Gentleman's pint - a litre!). We also met Amanda, who Kay works with and went to New Zealand with, before they headed out for the night.

We were in a bit of a quandary on Sunday morning as to whether to wake Kay up for our planned visit to Taronga Zoo. Amanda had kindly lent us her guest passes so we could get in for free. Kay not only got up but made us a picnic lunch Amanda joined us too. Our only trouble was parking when we got there as it was slightly busier than we expected and we had to park several streets away - okay but there seemed to be huge spiders in gigantic webs strung from every hedge to every lamppost (and that was in the posh suburbs outside the Zoo). We had another photography session with Koala's - but this was much better as besides the 'official' photograph we were allowed to take our own ans she took some with our camera too - PLUS when we realised we'd forgotten to have a picture with Luke's nursery Lion (Roary for those that haven't met him) they kindly took him back into the enclosure and held him next to the Koala so we could get a good shot. Luke's favourite animal was the 'orange monkey' - which was actually a huge Orangutan. We returned to Kay's for a BBQ with some of her friends and Luke DID NOT want to go to sleep.

Our final day wasn't spent as we'd planned as I spent much of it at the GPs and then the hospital. It was a false alarm and I am fine - don't panic mum - but it was better to be sure. Luke did get to spend some time on the beach as Auntie Kay came to the rescue and took him to build sand castles. We also found that you may be on the other side of the world but it still takes 8 hours to get out of A&E once you are in!

Yesterday we had to get up early as the taxi was booked for 8am to take us to the airport we waved goodbye to Kay as she left to catch her ferry to work and 45 mins later we were crossing the harbour bridge and saw her ferry arrive. If it hadn't been for the 3 cases and the pushchair it would have definitely been easier to travel to the airport by ferry and train (and a lot cheaper and quicker too). We did a bit of souvenir shopping at the airport (okay it was mostly for us) before our flight to Hong Kong.

Luke kept asking 'Are we on the runway yet?' and as soon as I said 'yes' he was asleep he slept for 3 hours but them was awake for the remaining 9 hours apart from the last 10 mins of the flight - he must be affected by a change in air pressure!

Today we had a pre-organised tour of Hong Kong courtesy of Quantas. We met 'Billy' our tour guide who has the weirdest turn of phrase I have ever heard - his English sounded like he was originally from Sweden and there was more than a little innuendo and lots of weird substitution of words - glorious for genuine, switching for scaffolding, - the end of every comment was punctuated by 'yeash' or 'you da boss' and he kept talking about 'fat cats'. He has a son in LA so that might explain it. He also seemed to have lots of little sidelines - he had an associate who took our pictures a the first stop, then disappeared and came back later to sell us a copy of the picture plus a cut out of the same picture stuck onto a plate for £15. The bus driver was selling postcards and I am sure Billy took a cut from every stop.

First we went on the 'optional' extra trip on a Sampan around a floating fishing village and restaurant, then we went to a jewelry factory - which was looking through a window at 3 men putting gems into settings and then the hard sell in the shop, then we went to a market where everything was $100 (for 3, 6, 7 items) but we could only stay for half an hour, finally we went on the Peak tram ride (for the return trip only) where we travelled down the peak at a 45 degree angle - very weird experience and I hope the photos/video do it justice. With several hours to spare after the tour (we declined the optional extra of being dropped off somewhere in Kowloon to make our own way back via the Star ferry) we explored the shopping streets - again we were travelling with our mini celebrity - Luke and is red hair - so he did get a few waves. We made quite a few purchases of Thomas the Tank Engine items - including the Chinese Dragon for his train set - and may be back to buy a suitcase to carry all the extra baggage in!

Our plan for tomorrow is to brave the local train system and visit Disneyland Hong Kong (about an hour away by train) - ahh you understand now why we need the extra suitcase!

Claire

Bridge Climb

On Friday we had booked tickets to go on the bridge climb in the afternoon, so the morning took on a very leisurely lazy atmosphere at Kay's, heading off towards the ferry into the city at about midday. We had lunch on the move, filo pies from the local deli and enjoyed the ferry ride into the city. Once there we made our way to 5 Cumberland Street, where the Bridge Climb offices are. Only Kay and I were to climb the bridge as Luke is too young and Claire really didn't want to anyway. Claire and Luke said farewell and we headed into the experience.





The first hour of Bridge Climb is to fill out the indemnity paperwork which basically says that if you fall off Bridge Climb are not responsible, getting into the 'jelly baby' style suit and getting harnessed up ready for the climb. You have a harness which attaches you to the bridge at all times called the latch so that no-one can fall off!! Next you go on a bridge simulator to show how the latch works and what the ladders are going to be like, simulation not terribly real as it's only a gantry 10 feet off the ground and there's no cars, trains or boats going past below.





Next is the most terrifying part of the whole experience - in your jelly baby suits you have to walk 100 metres down the public street to get to the start of the climb. A very inconspicuous looking door takes you up some steps into the rock that supports the start of the bridge where, once inside, you are attached to the bridge for the next two hours.





The climb begins with a long walk across a gantry above the road and park below to get to the first pylon (the stone bit that looks as if it holds the bridge up but which actually serves no purpose at all). Inside the pylon there are some squeeze points where you are clambering around the steel of the bridge. Next come the dreaded ladders where one climber at a time you ascend four ladders which take you up to the upper arch of the bridge. On the way up these ladders you appear through the roadway between lanes 7 and 8 of the highway that crosses the bridge (on the way down you disappear between the north and southbound train lines). Once on the upper arch the climb is gentle, nothing more than a stairway to the summit which is 134 metres above the water and 75 metres above the road deck. Photos are taken as you cross to the other side of the bridge for the descent and at various points on the arches. Everyone is then charged a small fortune for these photos at the end of the experience.





I would thoroughly recommend the Bridge Climb experience, while relatively expensive it is well worth the investment of time and money.

We had dinner in a nice little Italian in the Rocks area of Sydney and headed home on the ferry, today the plan is to go to the dragon boat racing at Darling Harbour.......

Opera to Koalas

After a slow start settling into Manly and getting the shopping done for our stay here we finally hit tourist mode on Monday and boarded the ferry into Sydney. Manly is a 30 minute ferry journey into the city centre and this is the view that greets Kay every morning when she travels to work. The ferry docks between the Opera House and the Bridge and then it is a short train journey to her office - all this (and back again) for £20 a week.


Our first stop, naturally, was the Opera House we walked to it, then around it and decided to go inside. This was a bit tricky as the 1956 design didn't really allow for access and we had to be escorted by staff to a lift in the area where sets were being made up for the Opera later in the week. Once inside we asked about performances but were told if Luke made the slightest noise we would be thrown out as Australians are very intolerant of children - best not bother then. We did book a tour, which was fantastic, and Luke managed to just about stay quiet for the hour. The Opera House looks amazing at any angle but close up takes on a whole new beauty. It has now been listed as a site of historical importance. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the quay to the Sydney bridge and back through the area called the Rocks - the first settlement in Sydney - before meeting Kay on her way home from work and catching the ferry back to Manly. If you ever get the chance to go and don't have children with you there are plenty of regular events you can go to experience the Opera House - I liked the look of High Tea where a singer will give you (and the 50 or so other guests) a private performance. Back at Kay's we had Kangaroo steak for tea!


Tuesday we decided to use the tickets that Kay bought us for Christmas and visited the Sydney Tower. Rather than catching the train we walked up the main shopping street. There is lots of shopping here - each train station, like our underground, is situated under a shopping mall. The Sydney Tower was no different and after searching in vain for a lift that worked we finally gave up and used the escalator for the pushchair. Luke has given up on walking and after losing him in a supermarket on Sunday for about 2 minutes we've given up caring about how much he's using the pushchair. The tour starts with OzTrek that takes you through the sights and sounds of Australia and ends in a virtual reality cinema - luckily Luke was too young for the moving seats so we got to sit in the stationary ones! The views from the tower were amazing and we could just about see Manly in the distance. We found it hard to pinpoint exactly what everything was but eventually worked out where the Olympic Stadium and Chinatown were. We could also see the afternoon rain clouds coming in and managed to get back down the tower before the rain really started. We then walked, in the rain, to Kay's office to meet her for dinner - we took her to Chinatown, which she hadn't been to before, a few blocks away. We were finally allowed to use the train (as I was dead on my feet) and ended up being very late back but it meant we saw the bridge and the Opera House lit up (and Luke saw the moon).

Wednesday we decided to have a day for Luke and used our tickets for the Aquarium and the Wildlife Park which are next to each other in Darling Harbour (two ferries away) - another place for shopping and eating. Luke spent most of the first crying because he wanted to go on the train and most of the second playing his Leapster and shouting Go! Go! Go! from the pushchair - I'm afraid all of our tempers were frayed. Lee and I loved it. The highlight was having a photo taken with a Koala - we weren't allowed to touch them but she did nearly fall on my head at one point. Because of the train issue we took the monorail from there into the city and then got the train back to the quay - only just making the ferry back to Manly.


Today we are probably going shopping and Friday is the day that Lee and Kay are going to climb the harbour bridge - I'm (luckily) looking after Luke.

Sydney

Very early on Friday morning we were awoken by an alarm call booked for 0500 - we were being picked up from the hotel in Singapore at 0700 to be at the airport for the 0905 flight to Sydney. Sensibly all of the packing had been done the night before and we all got up and dressed in plenty of time - even Claire who had never seen this time of the morning before!

We had booked baggage collection at 0615 and were ready to check out at that time as well, once checked out we just had to wait for the car to collect us. We were at the airport before 0730 and checked in, we made our way to the gate where Luke decided that he would run around the seats of bleary eyed passengers, which kept everyone amused.

I think it's fair to say that this was one of the flights that we were not looking forward to - we had to keep an awake Luke amused for seven and a half hours in one seat. As we took off we couldn't believe what happened - Luke fell asleep and slept for almost an hour. After his power nap we introduced him to the TV for his seat which thankfully had Playhouse Disney on. Between this and the green game we kept him amused and watched with delight as his face lit up when Mummy produced a new Backyardigans cartridge for the game.

The one lasting impression of a Qantas flight is the food, we had presumed that we would be having breakfast as soon as we were in the air as we took off at 0905, however lunch was promptly served at just after 1000! Following this was a round of bananas, then choc ices, then more bananas and more choc ices until 2 hours before landing another meal for Luke was produced followed by a further hot snack for us. We landed just after 1930 Sydney time, flying in past both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House to the sound of Luke snoring again as he had fallen asleep during landing!

Kay met us from the plane and greeted Luke with a welcome to Sydney balloon and 'Gumdrop' the koala bear. The taxi ride to Kay's took us over the Harbour Bridge and a short while later we were in Manly. Kevin and Alex (Kay's flatmate and girlfriend) welcomed us with cool beer and hot pizzas. After a while it was time for Luke to leave his new found playmate (Kevin) and have a bath ready for bed, and pretty soon after we followed Luke.

Our first day in Sydney has been spent here in Manly dodging the rain, we have had a good wander about getting to know the shops that we may need while here. Lunch was in a bar overlooking Manly wharf watching the ferries come and go to the city. The rest of the day passed leisurely as we settled into life beside the sea - the view from Kay's apartment is amazing, the beach is just across the road and the noise of the waves crashing against the sand is extremely relaxing. There is much that awaits us in Sydney, the choice of what to do first is taking more time than expected, naturally we will keep you posted..............

'Red and Green should never be seen'

Today we are all very red (sun burnt) and we have a slight tinge of green (Avon factor 40 - mum did warn me). I think we'll be ditching the factor 40 - Lee and I currently look like we've been printing our own money as the dye in the cream has stuck to our hands, one bottle exploded in Luke's case on the way here and I'm unsure if it will come out of the clothes.

Today has been hotter and the resort is much the same as Bournemouth on a Bank Holiday - lots of extended families and groups of 12 men wandering around. We limited Luke to an hour in the pool after breakfast (all wearing t-shirts and a thick layer of green cream) and dragged him away kicking and screaming. We then decided to go to Underwater World which is just outside the hotel - the ticket includes a trip to Dolphin lagoon, wish we'd known that yesterday - we spent most of the time comparing it to the Deep in Hull (and the Deep came out tops) the difference being that here you can stick your hands in the tank and feed the fish (we didn't) and the rays. Then we came to the main highlight - a travelator that takes you through several tunnels under the tanks this lasted about 10 minutes (and was much better than the Deep) - I hope the video footage comes out. When we came out we couldn't move for people so decided against the bus across the island to the dolphin lagoon - it was probably a 30 min wait - and headed back to the hotel.

Luke promptly fell asleep - I hope he hasn't got sunstroke - so Lee and I treated ourselves to a hand and foot massage at the spa. We sat together and I think Lee got the short straw as his woman kept slapping and pummelling his legs. I think it should be compulsory for everyone after a long haul flight!

Suitably chilled we now feel up to the Krypton Factor challenge of repacking the cases with everything we've bought, ready for an early night and a 5am alarm call!

This time tomorrow we'll be in Sydney!

One hot day in Singapore

Hot today, deceivingly hot - sunburnt on day one! Got up after a reasonable night's sleep - everyone has adjusted well to the time difference and took a leisurely stroll down to breakfast, which was a magnificent buffet of all kinds of fruit, cereals, cooked items, cheese and it went on and on. Went for a little explore after breakfast to look at the beach and get our bearings in the hotel. Luke wasn't fussed by the beach but really wanted to try the pool out. At this point it wasn't too hot so we agreed we should have a swim first and then think about going out afterwards. Swam for about three hours after which time it was very hot so we decided to brave the screaming child and extract him from the pool, into the shade for a shared sandwich lunch and then back to the room to get changed.

Once ready we headed out for the bus to take us to Imbiah Lookout where we took a ride in the skytower, a 110m high tower that has an observation platform that rises from ground level to the top to give you fantastic views of Singapore and out to the China Sea over towards Indonesia and to Malaysia. Luke enjoyed this and wanted to go up again a further three times throughout the day!

We then went onto Butterfly World, the Singapore Cable Car which links Sentosa to the mainland and carries you over the cruise terminal. During the queue process for the cable car Luke was abducted/borrowed by a large Thai family for photos with each member of the family - we worked out that his hair colour was the attraction and not that we were mistaken for any celebrities!!

We then decided that we should go to Sentosa Golf Club, home of the Singapore Open and buy me a souvenir shirt! Purchase made we headed back to the hotel, passing a sign that stated that the golf club held no responsibility for the damage caused to cars by the resident peacocks! Apparently during the mating season male peacocks will often attack their own reflection in shiny surfaces such as a car's paintwork to claim territory - I knew there had to be a good reason for letting my car get so dirty - the peacocks of Worksop can attack somebody else's car!!

Once back in the hotel we have had our sumptious new year's eve banquet and are now back in the room, one of us is asleep after a hard day's sightseeing and soon I will put Luke to bed as well!!

Lee

We're in Singapore

After a 12 hour flight - which was only 1 hour delayed at Heathrow - we are finally in Singapore. We saw a bit of Singapore on our half hour drive to the hotel, along with non-stop commentary by Mr. Kumar. Luke was spellbound! We had been worrying that he'd cry because everyone had been making a big thing about going on a plane to see auntie Kay and we kept forgetting to remind him there would be a 3 day stop off first.

We survived the flight. Luke went to sleep 5 minutes after take off (after a dose of cough medicine for his cold) and only woke about an hour and half before we landed demanding a fruit shoot and breakfast! Lee managed about 5 hours sleep but I wasn't so lucky - I was in the middle of the row with a snoring American to my left and a splayed out Luke to my right and a guy in front who pushed his seat right back. Even when I lowered mine it didn't free my lower body and I got quite claustrophobic - I eventually woke Lee up to let me out for a walk up and down the aircraft - my ankles look twice their usual size. To top it all whilst I was awake the movie system broke down so I couldn't finish watching the rest of Atonement. Luke didn't get his activity bag because he was asleep but that is one less thing to carry as we are well over our baggage limit for the next leg (we're allowed 3kg more with BA than Quantas) - I may get to Sydney 2 stone lighter as I will be wearing all of my clothes!

Singapore is beautiful. Everything is pleasing to the eye from buildings to cars (until you get to the harbour that is). The island we are staying on is built on reclaimed land so everything is man made but it is made to look natural. I dread to think how much has been spent on development. Mr. Kumar gave us a quick background and was very proud of the fact that there are no state benefits, strict laws and a low crime rate (except for pickpockets but apparently they come from other countries!). Smoking is governed by strict laws and chewing gum is illegal - we've also discovered that we shouldn't wear black or white over the next few days as it is bad luck during the New Year - hmm, could be tricky with my wardrobe.

We'd heard that this will be where the jet lag hits but as it is we arrived at about 8pm Singapore time (8 hours ahead of the UK) and as we had a disrupted night we should be able to sleep okay - once the party in the hotel finishes. Luke is sound asleep after only being awake for 4 hours, though we're not complaining.

We're regretting not having a longer stay as we've been told that we won't be able to visit many places as tomorrow is Chinese New Year's Eve and then the next 2 days are a public holiday - so everywhere is shut! We're going to try to make it into Chinatown for the celebrations tomorrow and then spend the next day by the pool. Our flight is at 9am on Friday morning so we have an early start but at least we will arrive with Kay on the same day that we leave.

Welcome to the year of the Rat.

Big adventure starts with a familiar problem

Our journey to Australia started yesterday with the drive from Worksop to Surrey to stay with family - a journey frequently undertaken, A1, M25, M3 - three and a half hours of motorway driving. All was going well until I stated that we were making really good time and should arrive before the time that we had said. The junction of the A1 and M25 is quite often busy so I do that annoying thing of driving down the outside lane and cutting into the queuing traffic as late as possible, for me this means the 300yard marker - joined said queue and it then took 45 minutes to move the 300 yards to the junction!! Only reason we were moving forward was that most cars were coming out of the queue and straight down the A1 into London - so that is what we did.

Trusty TomTom led us through London, only two recognisable sites were spotted through the traffic - the new Wembley stadium and Ikea! Thank goodness we weren't going straight to the airport as this added about an hour and a half to the journey.

Arrived at destination Surrey safe and well, and just a little late. Next journey is from Surrey to Singapore...........