Obviously many people are coming a long way to our wedding. We'd like to see you for more than a day or two, but of course you want to see New Zealand, so I am proposing we travel together for a few days after the wedding. And anyone from New Zealand who just wants a holiday is welcome to come too! We will understand if you've already made other plans or you have other destinations you'd rather visit, just thought we'd put the idea out there. Please email me to let me know what you're keen to do and how many [View Full Entry]

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We got up early on Friday morning to catch the Eurostar back to Ashford, England. At least that was the plan! Unfortunately the train didn't stop, and the trip between Ashford and London that took 20 minutes by Eurostar took 2 hours and three different trains back to Ashford. Tomos, one of Hywel's brothers, took us to the wedding venue, a cute little church in the country, so we could "help set up". True to tradition, this consisted of many people standing around confused about what to do, while a couple of people actually got things done. Hywel's misty-eyed mum played [View Full Entry]

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We spent our last couple of days in Paris visiting various tourist attractions. On Wednesday morning we had a breakfast of pain au chocolat and coffee in Montmartre, which has long been associated with artists and night-life. (BTW, I don't understand why you can't get a decent cup of coffee in Paris? I would think Parisians the people least likely in the world to accept mediocre coffee!) There were many artists in the Place du Tertre selling pretty sketches and paintings of Paris, but we managed to resist. The only souvenirs I tend to bring home from holidays are photos. The [View Full Entry]

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There's one word to describe Chateau de Versailles: WOW Versailles was built when Louis XIV, the "Sun King", decided that the Louvre was too small to fit his ginormous ego. I can understand why the peasants were a trifle miffed at the Royal family! Its gaudy rooms and huge formal gardens are a must-see on any trip to Paris. Words can't describe what it's like, you really have to see it to believe it. My favourite part was the Queen's Hamlet, a Disneyland-ish oasis of rustic rural beauty that was given to Marie Antoinette. As we were walking in the park, [View Full Entry]

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Tired but not too hungover, we took the train back to King's Cross, where I had a classic English lunch of salmon and cucumber sandwiches and Devonshire tea (scones with jam and clotted cream). Yum! The Eurostar took us to central Paris in a surprisingly short amount of time. We trundled our bags on and off Metro trains and found our hotel without much trouble. It was in the 15th arrondissement, a nice area near the Eiffel tower, conveniently close to the Metro and plenty of nice restaurants. The room was small, but hey, this was Paris! It was clean and [View Full Entry]

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George, Jamie, Hywel and Tim attended Downing College and then shared a house whilst completing their medical degrees. Tim and Rebecca were getting married in Cambridge, and conveniently, Hywel and Jenny were getting married the following Saturday near Ashford in Kent. We took the train from King's Cross to Cambridge, checked into the hotel and put on our glad-rags. Hywel and Jenny, true to form, were running very late. As we met Jamie and his partner Jo at the Fountain Inn for lunch they were still in the wrong country! In the end they made it just in time for the [View Full Entry]

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My memories of London are grey-tinged: gray buildings, grey skies and black snot. But none of that matters when there are plenty of things to do, friends to see and pubs to frequent. Tim and Abi were nice enough to put us up for a couple of nights at their place in Balham. They introduced us to an English TV series called "The Inbetweeners", which follows the misadventures of four foul-mouthed sixth-form boys. George was impressed with how "realistic" it was, which I found a little shocking. Maybe British teenagers are especially vile - I'm sure Kiwi boys were much nicer. [View Full Entry]

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After staying up late doing karaoke the night before, I was very tired by the time I got to London on the evening of the 14th. The bed at George's mums' was extremely comfortable following the futon in Tokyo and the cramped seats on the Lufthansa flights. Tokyo had been action-packed and I was ready for a rest day. Walton-on-the-Naze is the perfect place for spending a day doing nothing, as there isn't really much to do. It shares a lot of similarities with Waikanae, where I grew up - it's a smallish town filled with rich old white people, has [View Full Entry]

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Whenever I visit a big city, I like to find a skyscraper with an observation deck. I find it helpful to get my bearings, and it's nice to get above the claustrophobic street level. In Tokyo, many people go to Tokyo Tower, a steel lattice structure similar to the Eiffel tower. Instead we went to "Tokyo City View", an observation deck in Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills, which is actually at the same height as the observatory at Tokyo Tower (250m). Unfortunately the sky deck and aquarium weren't open, but we did get fantastic 360 degree views of the city. Next [View Full Entry]

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After dancing all night we slept until lunchtime. I decided I couldn't leave Japan without ticking "Eat sushi in Tokyo" off my bucket list, so we had lunch at a sushi train restaurant. I decided to be brave and tried a few kinds that were new to me. I was lucky I hadn't drunk much at the club because the big fish eggs that burst fishy oil into your mouth when you bit them were a challenge. I only embarrassed myself once in a minor chopstick-related incident that left my favourite tempura prawn sushi skidding across the floor. It was about [View Full Entry]

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