Hey I've got a good idea ... why don't we pack up our lives and move to the other side of the world for a while. Just for fun!

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Buy one way ticket to London ... check
Organise work visas ... check
Sign up for a UK bank account ... check
Resign from jobs ... check
Pack up house ... check
Sell car ... check
Say goodbye to family and friends ... check
Pack bags ... check
Weigh bags and have a mild heart attack ... check
Repack bags, leaving out half of the contents and realise that they are still over allowed weight but decide to take a chance with getting a friendly check-in attendant ... check
Farewell family at the airport without shedding a tear ... didn't quite manage that one but hey, you can't win them all!

Well after an unbelievably hectic last six months in Australia trying to rent out our house, sell our car, resign from our jobs, catch up with all our family and friends and generally pack our lives into two backpacks we finally made it to London. It was very hard to say goodbye to everyone, not really knowing when we are going to see them again ... and I am hopeless at goodbyes at the best of times, but this is something that I have wanted to do for a long time so it was now or never. We were extremely touched by all the kind words people had for us, and all the help and support we received (not to mention all the great presents and lovely dinners!). It is nice to know that we have all these people to come home to when the time comes.

After an exhausting 24 hours in the air we touched down at Heathrow Airport at 6am on May 25 and were very glad to be picked up by our friend Val and taken to her apartment in Barnes, South West London. Trying to get on the tube during peak hour with our two massive backpacks, day packs and other assorted luggage would have been a nightmare and would not have endeared us to the English on our first day here! We did not suffer too badly from jetlag, but spent a few days sleeping in and generally taking it easy after the non-stop whirlwind that our life had become over the last few weeks in Australia. Val has a lovely apartment over looking the river Thames so we spent many an hour staring out the window watching the endless parade of rowers glide past and the ducks dive for food. We also managed a picnic in the Barnes Common on an unusually warm London day (30 degrees centigrade) and got to know the area better by running along the Thames Path, meeting the local dogs, seeing the local houses and watching the boats chug past.

Friday night we were given an introduction to English pub culture on a night out with Val and her boyfriend Ian. Boy are we out of practice! We started with a glass of wine at Val's house and then made our way to a lovely pub right on the Thames with outdoor seating ... just perfect on a balmy Summer evening in London (apparently they are few and far between but it seems we were lucky on this occasion). Here we got stuck straight into it ... Andrew with a pint of (warm) beer and me with a glass of wine (a large glass of course, because wine comes in 'small' or 'large here it seems). Before we knew it the next round was up so we gulped away in an attempt to show that we were keen to fit in to the English culture. The time for our dinner reservation was looming quickly so it was finish the next round in record time and head off to the local Italian pizza bar. Can't have dinner without wine of course so it was a half bottle of chianti for the boys and a half bottle of wine for Val and I. I tried valiently to keep up, but with an empty stomach until our 10pm dinner I am afraid I was falling behind miserably. As everyone knows the pubs shut at 11pm in London so it was a quick dinner and onto the lovely Sun Inn, situated overlooking the pond at Barnes Common, before closing time. Our charming and hospitable hosts were keen to show us a good time so it was another round for all (just a small glass for me this time as Val could see that I just wasn't up to the task ... must practice more) and of course one more round for good luck just before closing time, gulped down quickly as last drinks are called and your glasses are taken away. What a night! So now we know what is expected of us we can work towards meeting the challenge. Can't promise that we'll be successful though ... we think our big drinking days may be a thing of the past. But we will have fun trying ... like they say, when in Rome!

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