London, London, London

Well, all that seems a life time away now. Manchester United won the match and are now in the final of the Champions League. We thought that Dan’s new favourite Renaldo, was reported to have been caught in a hotel room with 3 transvestite prostitutes and apparently didn’t know they weren’t women until late... but we've just found out it wasn't him - it was a Brazillian footballer with a similar name. Dan is very relieved... his dream stays intact.

So really back to what you are here for, to read about our trip.

Adele – Chasing Pavements


Going to Oxford and coming back the English weather was as expected; bad. At one stage the temperature was a low 6 degrees. We made it bearable with some more Millie’s cookies, this time, Sticky Toffee Crunch. Dan insists they help keep you warm and ward off the rain. Of course we had to buy almost one of each flavour as they are big, soft (not crunchy to our surprise) and have chunks of chocolate and yumminess through them. So they must be good for you too!

Dan also found a new chocolate he likes – a Yorkie bar!

The TomTom lady – she never got a name after all that, had periodic laryngitis, but as we knew our journey was coming to an end we no longer hit her to speak but rather let her die a slow death. That’ll teach her!

Robyn – Be Mine


We dropped the car back without too much effort and frustration and only a few hours late (well 5, but we just said the weather and traffic from Oxford held us up). No dramas there!

Forgot to mention in Oxford we visited the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford. That was interesting! I even saw Einstein's blackboard from a lecture in 1931 - complete with his chalked equations. I think the formulae prove the expansion of the universe (or something) I swear I understood it at the time. Actually for those that are interested… (I had to look this up – I am not a geek) The first three lines establish an equation for D, the measure of expansion in the universe. The lower four lines provide numerical values for the expansion, density, radius and age of the universe.

London is a big and busy city. I think my and Dan’s experiences and thoughts of the city are somewhat different. I have finally settled in after 6 days and am getting used to the underground, the people, the crowds and finally, the sun.


Yes that is right we have had sun for the last 4 days! Maybe Dan was on the money with Millie’s Cookies after all. We have done SO many things, it feels like there hasn’t been a spare second at all. This is in fact the first break either of us have had to put down anything about London. I know Dan will add more in the next posting. A list of things in no particular order - We have seen Westminster, Tower Bridge, Oxford street shopping, SOHO, Carnaby Street, the West End, Buckingham Palace (Lizzie says hi!), Trafalgar Square and lots more.

We also caught up with Berns and Gem and had an awesome night at a restaurant and then out for more drinks. I think I can speak for us all (with the exception of Dan who woke up feeling and looking great) that is was a big night. On a school night (Thursday) and all too! Mind you pints will do that to a person! I should mention at this point that Dan has not had an alcohol free day in nearly 3 weeks and hasn’t had one hangover yet, the bastard. I however, do not bounce back nearly as well.





We have had dinner with Troy and Mark in an awesome Vegetarian restaurant somewhere – really nice food. Friday we had dinner with Berns in a nice part of the city which reminded me of Norton Street a little or Lygon Street in Melbourne.

On Saturday, Dan and I went our separate ways – first time since the holidays and it was a nice change for both of us. While he spent the day shopping up a storm (any surprises there?) I spent the day with Berns and Gem taking in the sights of London. We went to the British Museum (yes we saw the wrapped pussy) and topped off the day with a coffee at the TATE Modern overlooking St Paul’s and the Millennium Bridge on the Thames. It was an awesome and exhausting day. We left the TATE after 6pm after starting the day at 9.30.



Troy, Dan and I then went out and had a night at the Astoria (we all know it as G.A.Y Club) which was an interesting night. Such a diverse crowd. It was a bit weird dancing in an old theatre, but it was an awesome space for sure – nothing special at all but nice. The music started off great but went down hill until David Jordan sang and we left.

The next two days we spent in Chislehurst with my relatives; Matt, Ali and their kids. We stayed with them and it was brilliant to relax and unwind after the bustle of London. We walked from the station to their house and all it seemed we did was drink, talk and eat. I think at last count we had 5 bottles of wine, 1 champagne, countless beers, some dessert wine, some sherry and Limoncello. We had so much to catch up on and it was lovely just sitting back and watching their kids and swapping stories. Needless to say we took lots of photos for the family back home.
We took a river cruise on the Thames today with Matt and Ali and kids after visiting some more touristy places.



I really enjoyed the Greenwich Observatory Hill where it is zero degrees longitude and houses the Greenwich Meridian Line which separates East and West! You can see Dan and me on both sides of the world - fighting for world domination (or at least our part of the world)