The final blog!

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Hey guys,

Well here is the final blog! I am writing to you from my uncle's 'Hotel chez Ants'. I have been here since Saturday when I left Grandma and Ron from down the South Coast...and just in time too...they have been having gale force winds and the storms have been incredible...! I have confirmed Grandma and Ron are safe and have been warding off any danger with copius amounts of gin and tonics. It was really hard leaving Hotel Chez Grandma - every night at 6 o'clock was gin and tonic, sodoku and pringles time. I was even more devastated as I had managed to beat Ron in Sodoku for the first time on the last night so seriously people, would you want to leave when you were on a winning streak?! I should say Grandma and I may have laced his drink with slightly heavier portions of whiskey than normal so I could have at least one win but these really are details..a win is a win!!!
So I find myself here at Hotel Chez Ants, my uncle's. I have to say the services and facilities are pretty good, although not quite up to par, For example, Ants took me to go shopping today and refused, I say, refused, to come into the clothes store, let alone carry my bags! I guess there are some things only Grandma's excel in. He has redeemed himself with his hospitality...my girlfiend Evie came to stay as an impromptu arrival night before last and he was fabulous cooking amazing lasagne for us ... and I am now sitting in his kitchen writing my blog while he cooks a mushroom and white wine risotto...yyuuummm!
My time in London has been great - I caught up with Evie and my friend Andy for his birthday not to mention Jez, Stace and Jacks. It was a great night although I will say I have a few words of advice...potentially these words have been said many times after a night out but I will again reinforce them for those who may be new to the drinking scene...
1. Eat dinner
2. Drink water
3. Mojitos are strong
4. Drink water
Ok, with that out the way London is a blast - weather is terrible but there's heaps to do and see. Ants keeps telling me the weather is quite like Sydney but the man is clearly deranged, it's cold, miserable and wet! He's even tried to tell me it rains just as much in Sydney as in London but I feel he may be lying, or at least Sydney gets the rain out of the way in one lot rather than continuously pouring for 5 days straight in two hour blocks. Luckily the TV here is great and there are fab mini series and dramas so a day inside watching TV is pretty cool. Evie and I spent the day together hanging out in London - they have a great system here called an Oyster card which you use to travel the public transport...kinda like the sytem our state government have tried to implement, spent millions on and then recently canned. So you buy a card for like £3 and then put money on it - as you go on buses and trains in deducts from the cards balance. It's really easy cos you can hop on buses and trains without having to worry about buying a ticket, you just swipe your oyster card and the great thing is no one will ever know how clueless you are about where you're going etc. So Evie (who clearly knows wheres shes going!) and I cruised around for a day and found ourselves in Covent Garden and Leicster Square. Unfortunately the storms that were sweeping the South Coast away managed to make their way up to London and it was miserable outside so we amused ourselves in cafes and restaurants and finally a movie. The movie 'jumper' is really, really bad but if you need somewhere to stay out of the rain in it's probably as good as anything out at the moment! Today was a brill day too -after Ants took me shopping we spent all day betting online on the horse racing at Cheltenham Festival (like the Melbourne Cup but it's too cold and windy for fabulous dresses and fascinators so it's all about the odds) The horses also jump over hedges instead of running around a flat race course which adds the the exitement. Ants knows how to work the horses and we made £40 - £13 of which was from my pick of a horse named ~Punjabi - i chose him because his jockey was riding in pink and lo and behold he won! Noice! That should cover a cup of coffee and maybe a biscuit at the airport tomorrow! SO I have a crazy flight back to Oz..because I'mnot going to Chile I'm flying back to NY, LA and then onto Sydney. It's gonna be 30 hours plus and I'll arrive at 7am Friday morning - I will have saved around 800 bucks doing it this way but I know it will be a challenge and will no doubt, half way through offer up my VISA card and beg anyone from Qantas to get me home faster. When I arrive I will then make my way to Binda's wedding around 3pm so it should be a fun filled few days!!! Mr. Wallace is living it up in Chile and getting great waves and loving it all...word is he's on his way to a wine festival in Chile soon which should be a blast for him.
Hanging with family has been great...It's like figuring out where your attributes come from. I felt a sense of comfort when Grandma kept losing her keys in her handbags, went for seconds in the gin and tonics, and fell asleep in movies. Thank goodness...it wasn't just me!!!I felt a sense of vigour when reuniting with my uncles, one of whom is a doctor in computer science and another a brilliant artist/carpenter and desginer. I felt certain I would discover the arm of talent and intelligence I thought I may have, but hadn't quite discovered. It was quite a big revelation, when Ants was talking to me about the big bang theory and the way black holes work in the universe after watching a doco on Stephen Hawking, that I realised I hadn't inherited any of the genes I wanted...in fact I even found it complicated when he was explaining how the online betting system works. Unfortunately it appears I have only inherited the genes that involve a love of life, drinking and socialising...that's got to be a plus???!!!!
So, when I look back on the trip it's been absolutely AMAZING. I feel like I've seen heaps, had a blast, become invigorated with life, met some great people, got to know some people better and feel it really was a trip of a lifetime. The only thing I wasn't happy with was what I packed.. so I've included a few tips...
1. you do not need your entire make up kit to come with you
2. If in doubt, don't pack it! That's what VISA and shopping trips are for!
3. Toiletries are cheap so you can pick them up as you go...I have lugged 6kg of fake tan around the world and not used a drop (that's right people, I'm going moon tanning chic for Bindas wedding!
4. Take a multitude of AMEX, VISA and MSTERCARDS...you can spend heaps without having to worry until you get home!
5. Don't worry..it will all work out!
6. Try anything but don't be afraid to give it up (do I need to point anyone back to my blogs about skiing??!!!!)
7. Love your travel buddy, they truly are your best friend ...love ya Wal!
So my fabulous friends , ~I shall leave you here...I have loved sending you details of the trip and only hope I haven't bored you all senseless!
I'll be on e-mail and back on the mobile Fridayish....can't wait to catch up...much love!
G

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