Alisons Birthday - the rest of the weekend

Saturday was a busy day. Unfortunately Derrick had a cold, and John had the flu, so we left them to have a restful morning while the rest of us headed to Chadstone and Koko Black. Koko Black has some wonderful chocolate goodies!

After a relaxing morning, we headed home in time for Sandra's arrival, and 'high tea'. We had cucumber sandwiches, ham and lettuce sandwiches, freshly baked scones with jam and cream, danish and all sorts of yummy things! It was all very filling, and really kept us going till well past dinner (which was left overs with hot chips!).

Sunday morning saw a hive of activity, with the barbeque being cleaned and tables brought in and set, ready for the rest of the rels (and some friends) over for bbq brunch. It was another great day, with lots of chatter and catching up. We finished around lunchtime with another delicious cake, this time cooked by Marylyn - a rich chocolate mud cake with chocolate curls.

We followed up with a lazy Sunday afternoon, taking the dogs to the park, and an early night - which was just as well as I had to go to a work conference for two days following, leaving Andrew with the job of cleaning up after the weekend!

Alisons Birthday

It was the catalyst for the holiday, and yet it still seemed so far away - Alison's 30th Birthday finally arrived!

Unfortunately, its a Friday, which means work - but not for the full day. Thank goodness, I got to go home at lunchtime, even if I had to clean the house and get things ready for a house full of visitors for the weekend. And when I say a house full, I mean it!

Had only finished lunch and started on the cleaning when Mum and Derrick arrived. Mum and I went to pick up a package that the courier couldnt deliver the previous day (as no-one was home), while Derrick unpacked the car and Andrew kept on with the cleaning.

Not long after this, Marylyn, Tim and the girls arrived. Just got them settled in and Mum and I were off again - this time into the city to pick up Auntie Lorraine. It was so great that she could come over, especially having been over just a few weeks before.

By the time we got home again, dinner was almost ready and Andrews Mum and Dad had arrived, along with David and Carolyn! Dinner was great - Marylyn and Mum had organised salmon pasta with birthday cake for dessert - a baked cheesecake - both were very yummy!

It was a full on day, but there was more to come for the rest of the weekend....

Home Again

Well, after another long flight, this time from LA to Auckland, we were almost home. We had an hour in Auckland to wander around the airport - it was a good way to break up a long journey, but soon enough it was back on the plane and onwards home to Melbourne. We have had such a great time on holiday it is a bit strange being home!

We arrived home at 10:30am, and after unpacking our bags and doing some supermarket shopping had a couple of hours sleep (we did set the alarm so we would only sleep for an hour, but it helps if you turn it on!) and were woken about 8:30pm by the phone ringing (thanks Marylyn).

Hope everyone has enjoyed reading our blog entries. Now we are planning for the next trip - even Andrew is looking forward to the next one!

Longest day ever!

Today is Friday the 13th, and as I sit and write this the day has gone for over 27 hours so far, and its only 7pm! This morning we were up early to make the most of our last few hours in London. After packing the bags, we checked out and headed to Harrods for breakfast – we missed the afternoon tea, so breakfast was substituted instead. To be honest, we originally intended to go to the bakery and get some goodies and a drink then wander down to do some shopping, but although the bakery was open, nothing to drink, so we found the Patisserie and had a wonderful breakfast of rolls and pastries.

After some shopping and photos, we wandered back across Kensington Park, which was still busy with joggers and cyclists, and on recommendation, bought some sandwiches to eat on the plane. The first leg was with American Airlines, and we had been told by a few people that the food was very ordinary and that they recommended to BYO food! We arrived at the airport in plenty of time – the tube is great, even with cancelled services!

After wandering around and finishing our shopping (still had a few pounds left, we just had to get rid of!), it was time to board the plane. We went to the gate, and were randomly selected to have our bags searched. Fortunately, it didn’t take long and soon enough we were on the plane and on our way home. This leg was 10 hours – the short leg – and we spent our time reading, listening to our ipods and watching the movies. Unfortunately, we have now finished our books, and with an 18 hour flight, the deck of cards might come out! We were hoping to purchase a new book or two at the airport, and were expecting, like all other airports we have been to, that after security control, we would be able to wander around the shops. We were wrong! There are only 4 shops, all of which are tiny and none sell books! Oh well, we will have to fill our time with the in-flight magazine – and some sleep! Also, we don’t have any US dollars, so even buying a bottle of water is out of the question, unless we want to pay by VISA…

West end show

Today was our last full day in the UK, and we wanted to make the most of it. We started with a quick breakfast near the hotel and then made our way via the tube and DLR (Docklands Light Rail) to Greenwich. We started by finding the meridian line with our GPS, which indicated it was a little to the east of the site where the line is at the Royal Observatory. We had a quick look through the museum there and at the exhibits there. They were really very interesting and well presented.

From Greenwich we made our way to Harrods for lunch. We hoped to have something similar to High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, but they were not starting that service until later than we could wait. Instead we made our way to the Chocolate Bar (formerly Max Brenner) and had a very healthy Chocolate Fondue! It was delicious.

After lunch we headed to Leicester Square and the Half-Tix office to see if we could catch a show tonight. It took a while to decide from the many available shows but we eventually decided to see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. It was full price (+2.50 GBP service charge) so we walked to the box office, which was not far away, and purchased the tickets there.

Earlier in the day we had arranged to see Georgia and her partner Miles, friends from Bright. We made our way via Covent Garden, and the street performers, back to Leicester Square where we met at the Half-Tix office. We headed to the National Portrait Museum where we had tea and discussed their recent move to the UK, which was all very exciting. They are certainly set for lots of adventures if they get to go to half the places they plan.

Evening approached quickly, so we took the time to wander through St James Park, and then back to Leicester Square for a quick pizza before the show. The theatre and the show were great – its easy to see why it has been running for so long (since 1951, and in St Martins Theatre since 1974) – such a good story. The ending was … well if you haven’t seen it you’ll have to go and see for yourself.

(Andrew)

Visiting Family

We had a lovely sleep in this morning, with the time difference from Denmark; it felt like it was an hour later! Today we were heading to see my aunty Val, my father’s sister. She lives in Twickenham neat the rugby stadium. Before we headed off we grabbed a quick breakfast in a café up the road from our accommodation, using their wireless Internet to check emails etc.

After breakfast we arranged our tube tickets and then set off from Notting Hill Gate to Waterloo where we caught a train to Twickenham. The trip was quite quick, but we were later than expected. This turned out to be ok as Val had trouble finding a park and arrived a few minutes after us. It was quite strange meeting someone you don’t know for the first time. What do they look like, will they recognise you, etc.

Once Val arrived we headed back to her car then drove past the stadium to her flat in Twickenham. We chatted and looked over some of the photos that we had brought with us before heading to a garden centre that served good food nearby.

From lunch we headed on a tour of the houses that Val and/or my father had lived in at various stages of their childhood. We started at Inveresk Gardens, then on to Craven Close, and lastly to Cavendish Avenue. It was really great to see these places, and to have Val explain what she recalled of them. This took most of the rest of the afternoon, so we said goodbye to Val and headed back to London.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Waterloo and had a “flight” on the London Eye. It was quite fascinating to see the city from that height. It was quite a quick flight, but I think just the right amount of time as the pods are quite small, and there is only so much you can really see from them. We then had a quick walk through Kensington gardens to finish off the day.

(Andrew)

Last day in Denmark

Up early this morning to say goodbye to Ela before she left for work, and make sure everything was packed so we could head out with Robert. We dropped our bags off at Robert’s office, before heading over to Christiania. We took the train near Robert’s office to the Metro station that linked to Christiania. The Metro is an automated underground railway, so you can sit right up the front and look down the track as the train is moving along. We didn’t get front row seats, but were only a few from the front.

Christiania was very different from the rest of Copenhagen. The buildings and fences are covered in graffiti, people sitting around in the street smoking, and everything looked a little run down. It was quite an interesting walk, though you aren’t allowed to take photos so we don’t have much to show for it.

From Christiania we walked to the Christenborg Cathedral (cant remember the real name). You can climb the spire here that has 430 steps, the last 100ish of which wind round the outside. The stairs were tight and two way making for some interesting climbing. You could see many of the sights we had visited from the top.

After climbing the spire we made our way back to Robert’s office for another Sharwarma. It was hotter than I remembered, but great all the same. From lunch we had a quick walk around in the parks near the central square before heading to the airport via train. It was sad saying goodbye to Robert and Ela as we had such a great time.

We arrived in Gatwick airport a little ahead of the schedule we printed, and caught the Gatwick Express to Victoria station where we caught the underground to Notting Hill Gate. After checking in and freshening up we headed out for a quick bite to eat from a nearby pub. Only a few days now before we fly back home.

(Andrew)