a. Flight from Brisbane to Singapore: departed 14:30, 7 hours
Excellent. On time, and up to Singapore Airlines' usual high standard.
b. Overnight at Changi Airport: 10 hours
Excellent. Strongly recommend the Ambassador Transit Hotel. No windows in the room, but quiet, comfortable, and reasonably priced. Terminal 3 is amazing and occupies a fair proportion of Singapore's land area, we think. The on foot journey from the arrival gate to the hotel took about 30 minutes, even with the help of the train for part of the distance.
c. Flight from Singapore to Heathrow: departed 09:05, 13 hours, all daylight.
Excellent. The A380 is cavernous, being able to seat 853 passengers in all-economy configuration (but our aircraft had at least two classes). On time, and up to Singapore Airlines' usual high standard.
OK, 15:30 London time, so we were at Heathrow. There were a few unknowns. How long before we clear Border Control? Would our checked bags, last seen at Brisbane, turn up on the carousel? Would our planned Avis car rental work out OK? And, lastly would we make it to our B&B before dark (two hour drive to the west as calculated on our iPad, with a sun setting time of 19:30)?
Border control, through in 35 minutes (25 minutes in the snaking line). Bags, yes, there they are, waiting for us on the carousel. Mary picks up some cash from the ATM, we choose the "Nothing to Declare" option and head for the car rental desk. No attendant on the Avis desk, but a notice lying there says we must wait outside at bus stop 21, where the Avis bus will pick us up. Out we go into the weak sunshine, find the nominated stop and sure enough a gaudily-painted Avis/Budget bus shows up after five minutes or so. We two and a guy from New Zealand climb in and off we go to the hoped-for meeting with our rental car.
At the Avis check-in there are a few formalities, not unexpected. Just Google "Avis Heathrow" as I did back at home and you'll find links to a few, let's call them uncomplimentary, comments by stressed ex-customers. To my surprise, our experience wasn't too bad. Sure, Deenam, my swarthy Avis interface person at his little stand-up counter, did try to sell me a little more than I'd asked for but on the whole the negotiation was cordial and beneficial for both parties. Once we'd agreed on the terms and I'd used their excellent free WiFi to update the navigation info on our iPad and check emails, we ventured out into the car park to find our car, which identity was only described to me as "the car in D22".
Customers are largely left to themselves to discover the car, compare its purported condition as against the reality, and inform Avis of any disparities when leaving the depot. D22 contained a Fiat 500. The keys were in it, but it was unlike any Fiat 500 we'd ever seen before. It was quite big, and four door with a glass roof and a decent sized boot with engine in the front somewhere. And diesel. Although anxious to get going I forced myself to take it easy and do a thorough check of the car, aware that many car hire companies make money out of the damage to their cars rather than the rental fees. The left front tyre had a cut in it, not noted on the paperwork. On closer examination I could see pieces of a hedgehog protruding from the tyre wall. Sharp pointed pieces, embedded, and snapped off. I pointed these out to the wide-eyed swarthy and solidly built young man who was manning the exit gate. "My goodness" he exclaimed and agreed to change the paperwork to reflect the fact that a hedgehog and the previous driver, not me, were responsible for this damage.
Our route overview from Heathrow, in the east to Ilchester, in the west. Screen shot from iPad.
We set off, Mary as navigator, using the iPad and confirming road signage to navigate. The myriad of lane selections from which to choose at the edge of Heathrow caused us to lose a few minutes while we corrected the course but soon we were bowling along sequentially the M4, the M25 and the M3 at 70mph. This Fiat was pretty fast! Departure time 17:30, two hours after landing.
At this time we had no mobile Internet connection as our plan was to use the Wi-Fi preloaded iPad maps for this short journey and to acquire the necessary SIM card on the following day, a Sunday. However, even without an Internet connection an iPad can show you where you are and the directions to a location as long as you've preloaded the maps and directions when WiFi was last available.
Stonehenge's amazing rock pile, which we'd last seen 30 years ago, was along the way. It was still as imposing, mysterious and impressive now, clearly visible from the A303 as we headed west toward the Ilchester Arms, near Yeovil, our overnight rest point.
The sun had just set when we rolled into Ilchester where Lucy, the proprietor of the Arms, welcomed us with a warm Somerset smile.
The Ilchester Arms, Ilchester.
The next morning we had no commitments until 10am, when the "3" (a telecommunications service provider) shop in nearby Yeovil opened. After a wonderful brekky at the Arms (and dinner the night before) we found our way into the centre of Yeovil, parked the car, and walked a couple of hundred metres to the "3" outlet. Mary spied a few interesting nearby shops which were also just opening on this Sunday morning and left me to the important business of acquiring a mobile Internet connection. This took me all of five minutes and I walked out to find that Mary was already trying on clothes in a nearby shop! The cost of our prepaid Internet connection was £20.49, valid for three months with 3gb data and the possibility of use in Sicily also. And yes, Mary did buy some stuff.
Now, fully equipped for serious travel, we were ready for the wilds of Cornwall.
Our chosen route from Yeovil, in the east, to Lostwithiel, Cornwall.
It being a sunny Sunday, the traffic was quite heavy although much of the way was on motorway style roads. Nevertheless we made it to our self catering apartment in Lostwithiel in around two and a half hours and here we're staying until next Saturday. And the sun's out.
We're right next to the River Fowey and have a nice deck (visible in this pic) on which to enjoy a glass of red in the afternoon sunshine. The Co-op, one minute away, around the corner, is open daily until 10pm and has ample stocks of everything we're likely to need.
Over the next few days we're exploring the southern part of Cornwall then it's over to the northern part next week.
Thanks for reading
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.
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