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Be careful in what you wish for....... LOL

I thought I would just post three per visit, so there are not too many attached. but from the trip these are the better photos.

Using eBird certainly puts another layer of planning on a trip, but in a fun way. In regards to sensitive species, I see that some common birds are on that list, which I will show a few in Trip 3. SBG is a great place to visit and opens early, but one weird thing in the UK is the RSBP and WWT...

Days 18/19/20 LIN > LHR > COL > MEL Lunch in a small quaint café just off Kings Cross, Casa Tua, before flying out. Arrived in COL, and the transfer desk told us we had a hotel room, but they didn’t have any way to get there. No arguments from the passengers. We just all hope things get...

Day 7. Back to work, but a great long lunch at Sweetings, on Queen Victoria Street, then back to the Renaissance Airport for an early morning flight Days 8/9 LHR > LIN As reported in the other threads, LHR was in shambles, but at least they rushed us through at the makeshift J counter...

Day 6. Hotels were a nightmare in London and the first I’ve stayed at a Novotel. With Wimbledon, it was crazy, and hotel rates were crazy. Had to use points to bring the cost down to a reasonable rate. The hotel was the base for the Junior tennis players, so it was bedlam. So down to the WWT...

Day 5. Purfleet, well, not many people even in the UK know where it is. East of London and really in the backblocks, their Staten Island. Booked the Royal Oak Hotel at 45 pounds, and a true experience! When asked about the restaurant, I was told it was under renovation, and I joked it looked...

Day 4. As it happens (although with good planning), there is a WWT (Wildlife and Wetland Trust) just up the road from the hotel. There are 10 in the UK, even one in London (more on Day 6). Great watching there, along with the adjacent Swanborne Lake. The best ones were Tufted Duck, Black-headed...

Trip 2. MEL > COL > LHR: UL J LHR > LIN > LHR: BA Y LHR > COL > MEL: UL J The work part of the trip was to give a series of lectures at a conference in Bergamo. Personal was to use UL and the layovers in Sri Lanka to do some watching/sampling. It didn’t work that way, but no complaints. Day 1...

Day 13/14. KUL > SIN > SYD > MEL. Stock standard flights and lounges. Summary: Trip took me back to my early years of travel, seeing things through different eyes and drivers. Enjoyable. Scorecard. Birds: start 836, end 860. Beer: start 0, end 13. Trip 2 shortly……..

Day 10/11/12. SIN > KUL. Into the J.W. Marriott and upgraded to the Junior Suite. The lounge is not open yet, but supposedly soon. The new foyer (in my opinion) is terrible, merged into the shopping centre. Caught a Grab out to the Forestry Institute and booked the Skywalk, not the greatest for...

Day 8/9. CGK > SIN. First time at Changi Cove hotel undoubtedly different from downtown. Selected on location as good watching at Changi ferry terminal and can easily get out to Pulau Ubin island. Great to be down with the locals again at the open restaurants. Highlights, Blue-winged pita...

Day 6. Back to Jakarta and Swissotel PIK. Out to Taman Wisata and highlight were the White-headed munia, Golden-bellied Gerygone and the woodpeckers.

16:00 SIN > CGK. Stay at Swissotel PIK, driven by being near Taman Wisata Alam Kapuk Park. Good new hotel and area. It beats travelling further into Jakarta and spending hours in a car/taxi. Day 3,4, and 5. Work at Tegal, Central Java. The highlight was the large-tailed nightjars on the plant...

Trip 1. MEL > SYD > SIN: BA J SIN > CGK: KL J CGK > SIN: 3K Y SIN > KUL > SIN: MH Y SIN > SYD > MEL: BA/QF J Day 1. Wow, BA, surely there is better food available! Pretty poor effort for J lunch. Night at Grand Mercure Roxy as it is close to the MTR for Singapore Botanical Gardens. (I’m not...

Like many people whose travel ground to a halt and were locked away during those long dark days, there was a lot of reassessment of priorities. For me, it was to reflect on the travel I have done and what I have missed out on. Turning 60 during this period, coupled with a few other personal...

As like most of us over the past two years, we had a bit of spare time. From most of my friends, it seemed to be drinking (!!!), but I did a bit of playing around with Pt Lifetime status. I do a bit of simulating modelling in my job, on what furnaces do, but I wanted to see how much it would...

Like many, back on the road after the Covid hiatus and straight into the deep end with four trips in 4 months; 2 x Asia and 2 x Europe, next Europe in 3 weeks. But after a two year break my tolerance is even worse than before. Some of my classics over the past few trips; - Pax walking at a...

T5 9/7/22 for the 7:15am flight to Milan. Crowds were incredible as the baggage conveyor was down. Got down to First check-in, and they were spilling out of the door. After a few minutes a staff member came up and told us they had opened up a desk in business, so just go over and check in there...

Tourists!