Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

Here we are, back home in a very wintry Christchurch. Our day in Hong Kong was very, very hot and pretty rushed, but it was great to be able to at least get a look at the city after expecting to miss it entirely. It was a very interesting city, busy and crowded on the streets, but very clean (aside from the air). Also, the paradox between the markets and street vendors in Kowloon against the big business skyscrapers of Hong Kong just across the harbour is fascinating. As we had limited time, the purser on our Air NZ flight had given us really good instructions on how to get around and a couple of 'must do' things. It was a foggy day (as many of them are as it is really humid), so we didn't use any time going to "the Peak", but visited a couple of market streets and did the walk along the harbourside to see the view that you see on postcards.

It sure is something to see but I haven't been able to post up any photos of Hong Kong as the camera download cable is still in transit. One of our bags didn't leave london with us so is still in transit. It is the one carrying ALL of our new shoes, so I was very pleased when we arrived in Auckland to find that they had located it (when we left Hong Kong it was just "missing"). The Air NZ baggage service guy has just rung to say it will be in Christchurch at about 9pm tonight.

We arrived home absolutely exhausted. Because of the cancelled flight from London, we skipped a 'night' so - excluding the limited amount of sleep on the plane - we had been awake (and in the same clothes, eeeewww!) for 41 hours. When we arrived home, I did a bit of unpacking and laundry while Brett had a bit of a snooze. I decided to 'just sit down for a moment' at about 5pm and the next thing I knew it was 11am this morning! Brett says he woke me up and took me to bed at about 8pm, but I don't remember it at all.

So this is a sign off from our big adventure. We would like to say a really big thanks to those of you who helped to make it the best holiday ever. To Alan and Paula, Gaynor and Harry, Simon and Narissa - we are particularly grateful to you for letting us stay with you along the way and for the time and effort you gave us. We don't think we could have stayed away so long if we had been in hotels all the way, talking only to tour guides, concierges and people we didn't know so spending time with you and staying in your homes was really fab. Thanks to Amelia and Mike for coming down to London from Oxford, it was so cool to see you too. Big thanks also to Alex, who stayed in our house meaning we didn't have to worry about it and also enabling Daniel to stay at home without being on his own.

It has been great to hear from lots of people that they have enjoyed following us around Europe. We have got zillions of photos and video footage, but I promise we will only share them with you if you express interest! We have certainly got the travel bug and are keen to start planning our next adventure. Bye for now but stay tuned!

Barb and Brett xx

Back on Plan

Hi mum and dad - we're back on schedule to see you in Auckland but haven't been able to get the cell phone working to call and let you know. Hopefully you'll read this and we'll see you at the same time.

Not Quite According to Plan...

Well kiddies, it seems I spoke a little soon. We are still in Heathrow. We did make it all the way onto the plane yesterday, but after waiting an hour for our departure slot an ''engineering issue" was discovered and the plane was grounded for repairs. I guess it was lucky we took so long on the runway or it may have been discovered inflight which may have been a bit more of a problem!

Any hoo, we have spent the night in a hotel by the airport (4 star, meaning that Brett did manage to get his longed for full English breakkie before we left) while the plane was being fixed and are scheduled to depart about 1pm today for Hong Kong. It means that we have lost our overnight in Hong Kong, but the Air NZ staff have been fabulous this morning to try to help us to get at least a few hours there today. They have checked an additional bag in for us - so I have offloaded all the heavy stuff I was carrying about - and have arranged for Hong Kong staff to meet us off this flight with boarding passes for our next flight. They will also intercept our checked in baggage and get it to the next flight. That means we will not have to check in in Hong Kong airport, but will be able to go into Hong Kong (with only Bretts carry on bag) and will have as much time as possible before we need to be back at the airport and straight to Departures. Well, thats the theory anyway.

Even if that plan doesn't come off, we have had such good luck so far with close calls that we are pretty relaxed about it all. It is disappointing to miss Hong Kong, but at least it is on the way home and not in the middle - which would potentially have caused real issues. I already have my Gucci, but Brett may miss out on his Rolex. Never mind, he has plenty of other goodies to keep him happy! And, of course, we are able to use the Koru Lounge here which means we are very comfortable and have free food and drinks etc.

So no Hong Kong photos today, but I have posted up the London photos that I didn't have time to post yesterday.

Farewell to London

Well folks, here we are at the end of Brett and Barb's Excellent Adventure! Just the one quick stop to go as we are now sitting in the Koru Club lounge at Heathrow. Of course we managed to pack another couple of day's worth of activity in today before we left, starting the day early at the Tower of London. Opening time is definitely the time to go, there were only about a dozen of us roaming around initially so we were able to get a really good look at things (such as the crown jewels) without having to queue at all. Tip for travellers - the Welcome Centre opposite the main gate sells tickets, so even if you don't make it before it opens like we did, try there first before standing in the ticket queues.

After the tower we took a trip down the Thames and then a walking tour around Greenwich. I have found the place I would love to live if we lived in London. Literally just across the river, but like a whole different world! Henry VIII had his palace there and it was where Sir Walter Ralegh took off his cloak to save Queen Elizabeth from muddying her feet. Way cool history and beautiful public buildings and parks.

Being in Greenwich also allowed us - on the very day that we will be crossing the dateline again - to stand on the Meridian Line. Me to the west and Brett to the east, it seemed a very appropriate thing to do today. Of course it is at the same place that Greenwich Mean Time is defined, so we were able to set Bretts watch to exactly 1:00pm GMT as we watched the time ball drop. Unfortunately, we will have to reset it when we land tomorrow, but at least for today we know it is in perfect time.

Of course, more sad goodbyes today. It has been terrific spending time with Simon and Narissa and Simon has been a fantastic tour guide. Wait til you see what he had prepared for us Wassa, our spreadsheets don't even come close!

The good news is that our bags were accepted with no excess baggage charge - partly due to the fact that we were relying on them not weighing my (fashionably enormous) handbag, which now feels like it contains the foundation stones of a small building! Might even mean that we will have some space for some shopping in Hong Kong after all :-)

See you all soon, even those we are sadly leaving behind - we'll be back!!

Walkabout in London

Today was the ideal way to end the UK leg of our trip - Amelia, Mike, Simon and ourselves have had a great time sight seeing, shopping and eating (guided by Simon who's very kindly taken a few days off work to show us around).

We started with a walk through the Tower Bridge and were lucky enough to be there when it was scheduled to open for a large sailing barge (so we got to see it in action). Next was a quick walk through the Tate art gallery (and I really mean quick) - the type of exhibition where bricks are stacked in a heap and called 'art' didn't do much for any of us. Oh well, at least we had a look.

After this, we felt that we'd earned a beer so stopped off at one of the many English pubs for a pint and then it was on past the London Eye and the Globe theatre to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately we didn't go on a tour but it's certainly very impressive just looking at it from the outside (anyway, we need to leave something for when we come back next time)!

Of course, there was some shopping to be done as well so we made a final dash through the stores before stopping off in another English pub (they seem to be everywhere) for a traditional pub meal in Covent Garden with Narissa (Simon's partner who has unfortunately had to keep working while we swan around London with Simon). Even though we've been to a couple of pubs today , I've been very good - I learned my lesson from Barcelona so it was just one beer for me (whether the lesson sticks will remain to be seen).

Tomorrow we're scheduled to go on a cruise down the river and then fly out to Hong Kong for the final leg of our trip. It's been fantastic to catch up with friends over this last week as we had become a bit tired of talking to just guides, concierges and waiters. Not only have we seen and some experienced amazing things, we've been able to spend time with friends who've made us feel at home. Today we could have been in a New Zealand pub as all but one of us were Kiwis.

We're looking forward to being home and catching up with everyone and boring you silly with our travel stories - prepare yourself, the slide shows are coming!

London

Wow, London! Again, we have been so amazed to be looking at things in real life that we have been seeing in pictures for years. In London, there is more recognition flashes than anywhere we have been as so many English things are part of things we know. For example, our first underground ride took us to Liverpool St station and we walked down Pall Mall tonight on our way back from the theatre. Actually, I think we have seen signs, at least, for pretty much every stop in the Monopoly board.

Thankfully Simon met us off the train from Darlington yesterday as, once again, we managed to coincide our arrival with peak hour (big note to self for our next trip!). We left our bags at his workplace and then met Narissa for dinner before heading off to the Westend for a show that they had managed to get cheap last minute tickets for. The show was called Avenue Q and it was a scream - if you ever get the chance to see it, make sure you do. It is billed as "Sesame Street for grown-ups", but really it is impossible to describe. Very, very clever and very, very funny.

Today we started off with a walking tour of London Called "Secret London". It was a fascinating wander through streets and alleys to gardens and plaza's that you would have no idea existed unless somebody took you there. The tour finished outside a cool old English pub called the Black Friars and - given that it was another gorgeous day and we had earned a rest - we stopped for a pint.

Refreshed, it was then on to our next stop - the museums. Because we only had half a day, we picked two from the many that are in close proximity to each other and decided to visit the Natural History museum first. What an amazing place! No show of seeing anywhere near all of it in less than a week, but we loved the dinosaur exhibit. Also, it was absolutely gobsmacking to see the mammal hall and get an understanding of the actual size of a blue whale. I mean, you know it is big, but when you see it in context with a very large elephant you comprehend that it is ENORMOUS! We decided to move on so that we had a bit of time to see another museum (they are all free), and chose the Science museum. We would love to go back to this too and I would love to see the motorcycle exhibition that is coming up. Ah well, maybe next time.

There was just enough time before we met Narissa for dinner for a wander through some of Harrods. What do you know, it happens to be their sale week! Unfortunately, even on sale,
Harrods doesn't really fit into our budget; but it was really cool to have a look through. The food hall is amazing and the Diana memorial a bit creepy - particularly given the very strange woman who latched on to me a bit while we were down there.

Dinner was at a very posh restaurant and we were probably a little underdressed after wandering around London all day in our shorts and tee-shirts but we can do that sort of thing, we're tourists. Then it was onto a musical at the Westend called Wicked - again, really impressive (the whole thing was so well done, I think it may have spoiled us for going to see productions at the Court Theatre).

Lastly was a walk past Buckingham Palace - apparently the queen is in residence at the moment so we waved and called out but I don't think she heard. Anyway, it's off for some more walking today with Amelia and Mike - you never know, we may find some more shops!