Sunday, February 15, 2026

Gatwick - To Do 14Feb26 (Brooklands Museum, Mercedez Benz World)

Gatwick - To Eat
Gatwick - To Do

Gatwick - To Do
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Brooklands Museum
£27.10/A

*Staff coming in for work.*
Getting here:
Its cheaper for a round trip ticket £7.50. 3stops from Woking Train to Weybridge. There's a short cut which is a shared walking/bicycle path which hugs the train tack. Along Lonsdale Road. The trains run more frequently than if getting there via bus.
Brooklands Museum is a major motoring and aviation museum in Weybridge, Surrey, England,  located on the site of the original Brooklands Motor Course, the world’s first purpose‑built racing circuit.
The place is aviation and racing enthusiast haven. All-in-one-stop! Largely aviation, with planes that you can jump into, with about 30% on locomotive racing history, and a dash of public bus. Very well worth the 
Outdoor Aviation Section

The stands out here to me were the Concorde and the Vickers VC10. 
Concorde



*First flight 1969 • Cruise Mach 2.04 (2,180 km/h)
London–New York ~3.5 hours, 92–128 passengers. To access the Concorde is an additional charge.*
Vickers VC10

*Chatting with Joe, an ex-Boeing pilot who flew the 747-200s*
*The VC10, first flown in 1962. It held the fastest subsonic Atlantic crossing till 2020 and later served as an RAF refueling plane. Cruised at about 0.86mach on normal operations.*

*Aircarft presented to his Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Sultan of Oman.*
Some of the other aircraft on the site.
Indoor Aviation Displays
Vickers Wellington Bomber N2980
*The Bomber crashed into Loch Ness in 1940 during a training flight and remained hidden underwater for decades. It was rediscovered in 1976 when researchers were looking for Loch Ness and was raised in 1985.*
Hawker Siddeley Harrier

*The Harrier, first flown in 1967, is famous for its vertical/short takeoff and landing, serving more as a support to troop in warfare. It became a pop-culture icon after being featured in the movie True Lies.*
Some of the other amazing Aviation specific places you may want to check out!
- LON - RAF museum located north of London city.
If you love the experience of chatting with many experienced volunteers you can visit these other amazing museums.
- NYC - USS Intrepid Sea also has a Concorde (Additional charge).
- SEA - Museum of Flight with experienced volunteers to bring history to life and also ticket entry allow access to go onboard the Concorde.
Stratosphere Chamber
*The view of the insdie.*
The Stratosphere Chamber simulates extreme high-altitude conditions on the ground, reaching up to ~100,000 ft and temperatures from –70 °C to +150 °C. It lets engineers test aircraft and equipment in thin, cold, low-pressure air before real flights. This thing is hugely impressive and amazing. Not to be missed!

*And thats the door.*

Automobile Section
The historic Brooklands Track
*The bridge which was the lookout point overlooking the sloped track. The slopes used to open until too many people were getting injured sliding down from it.*
Napier-Railton



*Built in 1933, the Napier-Railton was powered by a Napier Lion aero engine reaching speeds of over 140 mph/225km/h. It set over 70 records at Brooklands, including the all-time lap record of 143.44 mph*

London Bus Museum


*Cool mobile staff canteen*
*From old to new racing legends. They're all here.*
More into automobile? Check out these other must visit locations:
The Brooklands museum is an absolute must for racing motor heads and aviation enthusiast alike! Well worth the visit for its history and one-stop-shop to get all your speed fixes. Finally a reason to travel here or especially coming from Gatwick! NOT TO BE MISSED and highly recommended!
Click here for ABBA location of Brooklands Museum

Mercedes-Benz World
(Free to enter!)


Opened in 1907, Brooklands was the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit and a landmark of early British motorsport, where Mercedes cars competed in the early 1900s, which is why Mercedes-Benz opened Mercedes-Benz World next door. It connect its modern performance experience with this iconic heritage site.
You maybe interested in another iconic site, MAN - The Midland hotel where Rolls, met Royce.
Driving Experiences


Maybe you're a beamer fan, you may also be interested in BMW world in Munich. (Click here for full write up) BMW Motor world also offers up driving experiences. 

The place is primarily focused on the driving experiences which has a beautiful stand to watch from. Fun explorative sections and off course viewing their latest products. Well worth to check out this historic site either before or after the Brooklands Museum. 

*View of the beautiful track behind.*

Concept Car as featured in Justice League 
Mercedes-AMG Vision Gran Turismo


*Perks of wearing a Superman shirt. Staff shared that it was featured in the film and allowed for the shot with the car. Epic!*
Great to check-out! There's food on the premises and great to just watch the cars hit the track. A great compliment to the Brooklands Museum.
ABBATip:
Ask the staff the short cut way back to the train stations. The signs are clearly marked and its pretty much hugs the railway track. 
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Thursday, February 5, 2026

JNB - To Do 04Feb26 (Maropeng: Cradle of Humankind Visitor Center, Sterkfontein Caves, Carnivore Restaurant)

 Johannesburg - To Do
Johannesburg - To Eat

JNB - To Do
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The Cradle of Humankind is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (47,000 hectares e.g.66,000 football fields/ 65% of Singapore's size) renowned for its vast collection of early human fossils preserved in ancient caves, with discoveries that fundamentally reshaped our understanding of human evolution.
Note!
Uber-ing here is no problem. Getting out was. No Ubers. We had to request for help from the super friendly staff which gave us a lift to the Sterkfontein caves for 200Rand (about the same in Uber). No problem for Ubers out of Sterkfontein Caves.
Total transport for the day via Uber: SGD74
Maropeng: Cradle of Humankind Visitor Center
R150/Adult

*The Cradle of Humankind Visitor Centre’s iconic egg-shaped building symbolizes the “womb of humanity,” representing the birthplace of human evolution and making a striking, memorable introduction to the story of our origins.*



What it is?
- An iconic landmark representing the Cradle of Humankind (referring to the entire area) to start on the journey of Humankind

- A fairly dated educational center. (If not for the guided tour, most of the information or key points would be lost.)
- Nice lookout spot of the entire Cradle of Humankind landscape.
What it is NOT:
- A museum with original pieces and very well curated exhibits.
Who is this place for?
- A very broad introduction and explanation of our evolution. The fossils are all replicas. No originals here as they are kept in museums and research facilities. 
- More a symbolic and pseudo spiritual experience to look inversely at one's own humanity and really look at where we came from. 
There's a little water ride which goes through the four elements to life before hitting the educational displays.

Apart from their iconic structure, combining a visit the Sterkfontein Caves located 11km down the road where major discoveries were made would be a much better option. The visit  isn't a complete waste as with both did it probe the want to explore deeper into our origins.
Click here for ABBA location of Maropeng: Official Visitor Centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

Sterkfontein Caves
R150/Adult


ABBATip:
- There are probably two segments that are a little claustrophobic in nature that requires duck walking and sliding a little bit to make it through the caves. It does add a little more adventure in the cave exploration.
There are over 300limestone caves in total in the area but only a 2-3 are open to visitors on guided tours. 
The Sterkfontein caves are the most famous for the discoveries of Mrs Ples (2mil yrs old) and the over 90% complete Little Foot (3.7mil yrs old) and were central to UNESCO granting World Heritage Site status to the Cradle of Humankind in 1999, recognizing the region’s exceptional collection of fossil sites that together hold over 40% of the world’s known early hominin fossils and document millions of years of human evolution.


*Little Foot which famously fell through a vertical shaft like this. Another shot of the shaft as seen above. Man of that time were 1.4m with long grass standing 2m. One can see why a simple misstep may occur.*
*Can you see the shape of Africa in the face of the Elephant?*
*The water tunnel at Sterkfontein Caves, formed over millions of years, guided early explorers and fossil hunters, and is also known for the tragic 1984 death of diver Peter Verhulsel, highlighting the cave’s dangers as well as its scientific treasures.*
*Dr Robert Broom, the scientist who discovered Mrs Ples—and visitors often rub Tobias’s nose for luck or his hand for wisdom as a fun tradition.
This would be the cave to visit whilst in the area. There are some educational displays but coupling this with the visitor center reviewed above may give a more in depth understanding. By way of caves, its story and historical significance out shadows some aspects of its natural beauty!

Carnivore Restaurant
R365/pax (All-You-Can-Eat)
*Recommended by locals on where you can try game meat.
Some standouts were, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, Crocodile.*


Nice selection of sauces and condiments. The cook on most of the meat could have been better, but you can always request for the doneness on your cuts. 

*Nice rendition of Happy Birthday.*

Short summary, Would you come out here just for this? Probably not unless looking to try game meats and only if on the way to check out attractions. Game meats by nature are generally low in fat and has quite a fair bit of inter-muscular connectivity so it is an acquired taste. Still quite the experience. 
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