London to home sweet home

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26 September 2011 – sometime early in the morning wherever we are (0635 NZ)
LONDON…
Tuesday Ngaia, lovely Ngaia, took the day off work & showed us round London town!!! Our day begins with Lou getting us on the Underground & directing us to Hurstys work, The Radison on Bloomsbury St, we are off to a buffet breakfast! YUM! Best cup of tea I have had in AGES!!!! And it is nice to have something other than pastry for breaky!! From here we make our plan for the day, a dawdle down Oxford St (including a look in Top Shop on Oxford St, holy cr*p that shop is RIDICULOUS!) and we are now all proud owners of umbrellas from Primark - £4! Bargain!
We end up at Buckingham Palace, the Queen isn’t home so no cuppa or scones there but we do catch the changing of the guard with thousands of other people, we’ll come back another day for photos outside the Palace we think!! We wander down The Mall and end up down at Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Government Houses, what a bunch of magnificent buildings!! Westminster Abbey doesn’t open for another hour so we are off to The Eye to check out the view of this town – well worth it!!! Had heard mixed things about The Eye but it was a great way to get some kind of bearings of the city AND to get an idea of just how big it is! HUGE – duh!!!! By the time we get off its time for a wine & Ngaia knows just the place… the first wine bar in the city! Can’t remember what it is called but it was opened wwwaaayyyy back in 1890 and you go down a narrow set of stairs to a wee array of caves which you need to duck to get in to and are only lit by candlelight! NOT a place for the claustrophobic!!! Such a cool set up – we have lunch which is great, Ngaia & I get a couple of cheese platters then attempt to eat it all… best cheese board I have had in ages, we ate till it hurt but still didn’t get it finished, was soo tempted to wrap it up & stick the leftovers in my handbag! Haha
London Bridge & London Tower are next on the list! Unfortunately we missed the last tour of the day for the tour but we will return! A very quick trip to Harrods and then it’s a rush to meet the rest of the team for dinner at Brick Lane, cheap CHEAP indian!!! Was really good BUT we are all very tired following days of exploring, working & the previous weekend, so the plan is to be at home by 8:30 tonight!! We didn’t quite make it but weren’t far off! Impressions so far of London is that it is HUGE and there are sooo many people! The tubes are hot and sweaty but its cold above ground, we don’t have enough warm clothes, damn we’re gonna have to go shopping!!! That’s Wednesdays plan!
The day starts with us getting a cab with all our gear to Sam & Verges flat for the next two nights, then its off to the Westfield Mall at Shepards Bush – huge & very nice! I don’t hang around too long there, instead I head to Oxford St for a good look around all the chain stores that I have been avoiding thus far! Don’t make too many purchases, to be honest it’s a wee bit overwhelming all these clothes and shops & shoes – maybe im out of the shopping knack… surely not!!!!!!!
We all spend the day at various shopping areas, Rudz heads to Camden Markets & Trac spends a bit of time at the Mall then the whole team meets up @ 6pm at Jamies Olivers Italian Restaurant in Covent Market! Delicious!!! I couldn’t decide so ran with Fish of the Day which came with the skin on, not a fan of fish skin but boy this was good!!! The wine was great too, we are all able to consider consuming alcoholic beverages again, not in large quantities but with food, we must be getting over the weekend!!!
Thursday starts off with finishing off the sightseeing we didn’t get done on Tuesday. Photos outside Buckingham Palace, a visit to Westminster Abbey (that place really isn’t very big at all!!!) and a tour of the London Tower for Rudz & I, Trace has headed off in search of a shop she really wants to visit!!
Rudz & I end up in Camden Markets – OMG this place is GREAT!!! Wish we had more time here!! We bought dresses and singlets and jewellery etc etc etc AND a new suitcase!!! We need more space & weight capacity to bring our stuff home!! Haha joked about this happening but thought we would be fine after leaving NZ with a spare 9kg in my pack… oh well!!!!
Thursday night Rudz, Ngaia, Lou & I head out on a date, dinner & a show (Trac has unfortunately been struck by the post-oktoberfest cold quite hard!!!). We head to “Wicked” – the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz’s side of her story, she was totally just misunderstood!! Haha very very good show, loved it all!! We were up pretty high in the gods but paid pretty much nothing for last minute tickets so we were more than happy with this! Then it was time to say goodbye to Lou & Ngaia, probably until our 30th birthday holiday!!! Ooohhhhh!!! That holiday is gonna be great BUT perhaps it is too far away still?!?!
Friday, our last day in the city and we all set off in different directions to tidy up any last minute shopping or sightseeing! I head to sports direct & get some great deals on some sports wear… surely ill get home & use it… surely?!?!?! Haha Managed to have a wee look around Clapham Common, where Verge & Sam live too before meeting the girls to wander home, was quite nice to be in some non-chain stores for a change to be honest!! Managed to find a couple of bargains too!
Then it was off home to pack… jeepers we have some stuff! Haha will be fun to get home & unpack it all & see what we have actually bought I think!! Off in the taxi to Heathrow with a couple of hours to spare & have timed it perfectly. Our hand luggage is all overweight but thank goodness we manage to get through without any problems! Phew!!! Hong Kong here we come!
Flight was fairly bad for Rudz & I, somehow Trac managed to end up with an exit row seat and slept most of the flight! JEALOUS! Rudz & I tossed and turned the whole time in our very confined seats & definitely looked like it when we got off! Oh well, its off to the hotel to tidy ourselves up then out for a birthday dinner! Had the best scallops I have ever had! Im not a huge scallop fan but these were DELICIOUS!!!!!! We had a look round a night market & made a few extra purchases & then we hit the wall, in bed before midnight & boy did I sleep!! I was slightly aided by some cold & flu drugs but even without them I think I would have slept like a log!
Sunday is a look around Hong Kong in daylight, manicures & pedicures, a wee bit of a shop then we are off to the airport for our last long flight! HOORAY! Will be soo nice to have that over and done with BUT, im not quite ready for home yet!!!! The duty free shopping in Hong Kong is quite good but in no time its time to board and its almost all over!
We have discussed our top things but haven’t really come to any clear conclusions, the whole trip has been great! I can’t even think of a ‘worst moment’ so that’s got to be a good sign! So im returning to NZ a year older than I left, with two extra suitcases, some new clothes, some gifts, a bank account that looks pretty much how I expected it to, a few euros and a bit of booze if I need to drown my sorrows as reality smacks me in the face on Tuesday morning when my alarm goes off!!! (ill probably wait till Tuesday afternoon to start drowning my sorrows if that is necessary! Haha although it might be hard to get out of the mid-avo beer habit!!!). Now its on to the next bit I guess, just what that ‘next bit’ actually is what needs to be decided I guess – exciting!!!!!!!

HOME SWEET HOME - finally made it & have unpacked... well everything is out of my suitcases anyway!!! that counts right!

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