8.30pm, Sunday, June 22, 2008
Well Emily just worked out we’ve been up for about 46 hours now.
I woke up at 7am Saturday morning been travelling through the night, plus the 9 hour time difference... yuck. First day in London was awesome though. Also, incidentally today is the longest day of the year here so what better day to arrive!! : )
I woke up at 7am Saturday morning been travelling through the night, plus the 9 hour time difference... yuck. First day in London was awesome though. Also, incidentally today is the longest day of the year here so what better day to arrive!! : )
Mark and Matt picked us up at Heathrow, by the time we got through customs it was about 9am. We went straight to our hotel at Kings Cross via the Tube and it was too early to check in so we dropped off our bags and got changed and went out.
First stop was the Queen Mary for brunch. It is an old steam liner, that was named after the then Queen Mary and used to transport people between England and Spain before the war, and up and down the Thames during the war. In 1930’s it was anchored at and lives there as a pub now. We had our first pint (Fosters mind you) and our first british cup of tea (divine after the terrible airplane tea) and eggs benedict for breakfast.
The view from the boat was AMAZING – we could see Big Ben, the London eye and the gherkin! It was probably also a bit of the delirium from the lack of sleep but I was like a little kid at Christmas with excitement.
The view from the boat was AMAZING – we could see Big Ben, the London eye and the gherkin! It was probably also a bit of the delirium from the lack of sleep but I was like a little kid at Christmas with excitement.
After a couple of beers we headed to Leicester Square where we met Mel Lethourus who worked with us at Queensland Transport and all walked down to Picadilly Circus, went to Tescos and bought some nibblies and more beers and caught the tube to Hyde Park and had a picnic and layed around in the sun for the afternoon.
It was beautiful and so many people there, roller blading, laying around, playing footy, and there is a boating lake too! Emily and I started getting too tired around 5.30pm (we had bouts of total exhaustion throughout the day and kept finding new energy each time we saw something new) so Mark and Matt and Mel dropped us back at the tube and pointed us back to Kings Cross and went back to Earl’s Court where the boys are staying for dinner at their local.
Emily and I finally checked in to our hotel and that wasn’t without its dramas. We are on top floor and there are no lifts. So after struggling with our bags up 5 flights of stairs we couldn’t find our room – I ran back down and checked with the snobby French family at reception and they said we’d gone up the wrong staircase! So all the way back down with our bags and then back up the OTHER stairs! We were so exhausted but finally made it. Our room is TINY – 2 beds and a basin (and 2 cupboards – one with a shower and another with a toilet – literally cupboard size!) there isn’t even room to put all 3 suitcases flat on the floor at the same time!
There is a Maccas about 100 metres away, on the corner of our street (which across the road from the Tube station - so close!!) with free wireless broadband so will be hanging out there a bit. I’m sooooo looking forward to a real sleep in a real bed!
Today was just awesome. Best first day in London ever. The boys were a total God-send. They carried our bags and took us back here and looked after us and we didn’t even have to think about anything. Tuesday night we are going to Trivia night with them at their local pub and they are already talking about organizing group weekend away to Brighton and Ireland and other cool places once we get settled. They are my guardian angels and I’m so lucky.
I couldn’t believe it when I started taking photos, when I looked back through them it just looked like I’d photoshoped myself in, it didn’t feel real. I just can’t wait til you all get over here and I can show you these amazing things too. The weather was also magical t
oday and it was just glorious. In a way it felt like we were sitting around in New Farm park, the weather was just so nice and the mood was so relaxed and happy!!!!
On the plane on the way over here I was so sad and missing everyone so much and thought there was no way I’d stay around for a whole year, but now that I’m here and can see how amazing it is and have a real sense of the opportunities here and how much there is to see and do I am much more excited and have a re-newed sense of why I wanted to do this in the first place!
Can’t wait to go to sleep…. I’m feeling pretty delirious I think : )
OK, despite being about 10pm it seriously looks like 5pm in the afternoon, bright blue sky is still out!!! Red busses still flying by and people bustling up and down the street. Awesome - I'm finally here in London...
It was beautiful and so many people there, roller blading, laying around, playing footy, and there is a boating lake too! Emily and I started getting too tired around 5.30pm (we had bouts of total exhaustion throughout the day and kept finding new energy each time we saw something new) so Mark and Matt and Mel dropped us back at the tube and pointed us back to Kings Cross and went back to Earl’s Court where the boys are staying for dinner at their local.
Emily and I finally checked in to our hotel and that wasn’t without its dramas. We are on top floor and there are no lifts. So after struggling with our bags up 5 flights of stairs we couldn’t find our room – I ran back down and checked with the snobby French family at reception and they said we’d gone up the wrong staircase! So all the way back down with our bags and then back up the OTHER stairs! We were so exhausted but finally made it. Our room is TINY – 2 beds and a basin (and 2 cupboards – one with a shower and another with a toilet – literally cupboard size!) there isn’t even room to put all 3 suitcases flat on the floor at the same time!
There is a Maccas about 100 metres away, on the corner of our street (which across the road from the Tube station - so close!!) with free wireless broadband so will be hanging out there a bit. I’m sooooo looking forward to a real sleep in a real bed!
Today was just awesome. Best first day in London ever. The boys were a total God-send. They carried our bags and took us back here and looked after us and we didn’t even have to think about anything. Tuesday night we are going to Trivia night with them at their local pub and they are already talking about organizing group weekend away to Brighton and Ireland and other cool places once we get settled. They are my guardian angels and I’m so lucky.
I couldn’t believe it when I started taking photos, when I looked back through them it just looked like I’d photoshoped myself in, it didn’t feel real. I just can’t wait til you all get over here and I can show you these amazing things too. The weather was also magical t
oday and it was just glorious. In a way it felt like we were sitting around in New Farm park, the weather was just so nice and the mood was so relaxed and happy!!!!On the plane on the way over here I was so sad and missing everyone so much and thought there was no way I’d stay around for a whole year, but now that I’m here and can see how amazing it is and have a real sense of the opportunities here and how much there is to see and do I am much more excited and have a re-newed sense of why I wanted to do this in the first place!
Can’t wait to go to sleep…. I’m feeling pretty delirious I think : )
OK, despite being about 10pm it seriously looks like 5pm in the afternoon, bright blue sky is still out!!! Red busses still flying by and people bustling up and down the street. Awesome - I'm finally here in London...
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