Outdoor adventures of a brother and sister

My brother David lives in Hanoi in Vietnam. He's lived there for over a year now and absolutely loves it. Despite conjuring up notions of a long and drawn-out American war, Vietnam is a wonderful country and suits David perfectly. One thing that Hanoi is not, however, is orderly and green. I've never visited, but the descriptions David gives are of a friendly but chaotic and fairly polluted city with tall, unattractive buildings. Kew Gardens in the South West of London is in complete contrast to that image; immaculately manicured gardens, endless stretches of lawn, fantastic flowers, towering palms, and orderly flower beds. The weather played along during our visit and we stayed as long as our tired feet would allow us, taking a few pictures to document our visit.

David admiring the Waterlily house from the outside

Amazed at the huge lilies inside, I'm sure I could sit on one!?!

The spectacular gardens in front of the iconic Palm House

The new beehive installation from below

"Listening" to bee buzzes through my teeth

Some more colossal leaves

A picture perfect sky with the Palm House behind

A glamorous lizard basking in the sun and the admiration of all the visitors

A red pineapple, can you spot it?!

For a blast of countryside to clear the cobwebs from David's polluted lungs, we took a trip to Dorset last week to visit Aunty Margaret on the farm. Our plans changed somewhat when we realised my driving licence had expired (facepalm) meaning the rental company wouldn't hire us a car! So, we ended up taking a coach (the equivalent of a Greyhound to you South Africans) to Lyonsgate village. We had a short stop over in the sweet seaside town of Bournemouth, I'd love to come back for longer one day. We only spent 2 nights on the farm but we manged to squeeze in a fair few pubs, a drive to Weymouth and Portland and even some work on the farm while we were there!

Walking on the farm the evening we arrived

Problem: pond weed. Proposed solution: barley bale in the ditch where the water comes in. Done! 

Isle of Portland

Important lighthouse

The monument on the Portland "beak"

A beautiful glade on the hill behind Aunty Margaret's farm

A country manor over the hill from the farm. I remember seeing this castle-like building when I visited Margaret for the first time about 18 years ago!

Some curious Dorset Sheet kindly posing for a photo

Wide expanses for sheep to roam

Overlooking the farm's fields

Some more rolling countryside, I can't get enough!

Visitors!

Moving to London has been so exciting and really rewarding but, one of the tough parts has been how far away we are from so many of our friends and family. I am so thankful for Skype, Whatsapp messages and voice notes, Facebook and all the other ways that we keep in touch, but nothing is quite as comforting as having a face-to-face conversation with someone who knows you well. When Colleen told me there was a chance she could come and visit us this August from New York, I was overjoyed! And then David managed to get some time off and visit from Vietnam. For a few days their stays overlapped which was amusing since we only have a one bedroom flat. But, with some careful rearranging of furniture and a reliance on a friend who lives nearby, we manged without a hitch.

Colleen and I got up to some really fun stuff while she was here, but we also fitted in a fair portion of sleeping late (well, later than normal, neither of us is capable of sleeping past 8), cooking, long walks and the Olympic opening ceremony. The photos don't do her trip justice because most of what was special about it was us just hanging out and catching up after more than a year and a half.

Obligatory Buckingham selfie

Despite what you'd think, a river cruise is a good way to spend a rainy day in London. The walks in the parks of Greenwich later that day weren't so suited to the wet weather.

Cycling in Hyde Park. What a fun way to experience this huge park

Ice creams every afternoon - yum!

Wandering South Bank when David arrived

Borough Market. Colleen was telling jokes to get our camera faces on

A long walk along the Thames path with a stop for some ciders and beer on Colleen's last day