Frans and Sarah take London: 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!