We're here!We made it in one piece and without any hassles!On Friday, we met Sandie in Auckland for a drink and lite bite to eat. Was awesome to catch up with her and the two hours just seemed to fly past. The plane to LA was full, only a couple of empty seats. We checked in at Wellington and were allocated seating together and on the middle three configuration so we were pretty happy about that, we were also in the front section of economy so didnt get the engine noise by being further down the plane. Sleeping was disasterous to say the least, I think the both of us only had about 3 hours sleep max. Security at LAX was a piece of cake ... there was none! We were finger printed and retina scanned, but otherwise it passed uneventfully, only confusion was Helena couldnt work out her left index finger from her right in her jetlagged state! However the Homeland Security dude was very patient. There were a few young children on the plane, but they were pretty quiet the whole trip - thank god!
The flight from LA to Heathrow was chocka - not a spare seat in sight. We sat next to a New Zealand couple travelling with their kids. They had no idea Heathrow was fogged in, they were travelling on to Zurich, but all internal flights had been cancelled at that stage. Met a scots couple from Wellington, they were carrying on to Glasgow for Christmas, a surprise for her family. Had quite a bit of turbulence on this leg of the journey - the cabin crew were told a couple of times to go to their seats. There were no pre dinner drinks either! Helena got about 2 hours sleep on this flight - Craig got none!
The plane was more comfortable than what we expected, there was a bit of leg room and the screens on the back of each seat helped the time go more quickly. They were a bit distracting though and after a few hours of staring at a bright screen it was kinda offputting. The cabin crew were lovely on both flights, especially after we kept stuffing up the arrival cards - just tired and not able to concentrate too well!
We landed at Heathrow on time. Pete and Helena met us at the airport, it was chilly outside about 8 degrees. We arrived after a little tiki tour (Pete got lost) just on lunchtime and Karen and Graham were ready for us with Pea & Ham soup for lunch!
We started to fade a couple of times in the afternoon, so we went out for a walk into Wimbledon - about a 3 minute walk - there were so many stressed pre christmas shoppers that we didnt hang around inside the shops too long. The thing that struck us was how dark it was at 3.30pm - it felt like 6.00pm and that wasnt just because we were jet lagged.
We showered and Karen & Graham took us to Earls Court by tube and gave us good directions for getting home again!Earls Court holds about 50,000 people and the Iron Maiden concert, the last of their European tour was sold out. The concert was amazing, loud and full on. Helena managed to nearly fall asleep a couple of times, but kept getting a second wind at the last minute (thankfully!) - Craig got his souvenir Tshirt £20 - very pleased!
We got home, on the right train about 11:15 and felt quite awake! Had a drink with Karen and Graham and headed to bed just after midnight - we'd been awake for 57hrs - through 3 time changes and 3 countries - with about 8 hours sleep between us.
We got up just after 8am, slept solidly for 6 hours and went out for a walk up to Wimbledon Village - very very pretty and quaint - took photos - saw a couple of squirrels and about 7 pubs, which we are keen to try a few of over the next week or so! Had breakfast (its nearly 10am) and we are heading to Petes in West Sussex.
Christmas Day
We dined in the infamous dining hall erected by Pete on the back of the house! Helena and Helena did a fantastic job of decorating (if we may say so ourselves)
Even in England, in winter, at Christmas ... Craig is still the master of the barbie cooking both the turkey and the pre dinner nibbles on it - English neighbours thought we were freaks - we spent the day shouting (in a very bad australian accent) - throw another shrimp on the barbieeeeeeee!
Menu was absolutely outstanding! The chefs outdid themselves.
We crashed late afternoon again, seems to be when the sun sets and it gets dark, however we get our second wind around 9:00pm. We managed to sleep from midnight last night until around 7 this morning, although we woke a few times. Guess it will take us a few days to come right.
Boxing Day
A very quiet day today. Got up early - took all the decorations down in the dining hall. Had a fantastic feast breakfast of turkey, sausages and left over stuffing ... had the same for lunch too actually! Karen picked us up and we left Petes after lunch. Weather was a little cooler, but still mild (i.e. NO WIND!) and no rain either for that matter. We were going to head to Hyde Park this evening, as there was a carnival advertised, however, Craig's foot is playing up so thats being rested up in preparation for a big day of sightseeing tomorrow instead! We received London Eye Tickets for our Christmas present so we'll be using those tomorrow! Tomorrow night is the Queen - We Will Rock You musical, which Pete and Helena are going to meet us in town and come to with us.Craig and Karen are watching EastEnders ... best I go and find out what's going on - it'll only take a few minutes to catch up on who is who and it will feel like I havent missed an episode in years!
Having problems posting pics, will try some other time.
3 comments:
OOOH sounds fab, im so jealous...the uk rocks..we were there this time two years ago adn absolutely loved it! Enjoy xxx
I am so jealous.... lucky lucky you :):). Have a wonderful New Year - I am sure you will :):).
Didn't realise you were updating while you were away! Great to hear that you got there in one piece and that you are having a ball! The Christmas menu sounds devine! And yes London does get dark so early! I recall that from my brief trip there in Dec 2000!
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