Day 1 (Tues) Detail

Now that I am back home, I have time to revist the whole trip in more detail. So, here goes...

I had dinner at my parents place on the Monday night, then took the skybus to the airport. Once there, I had a few hours to kill before catching the plane, which left at 2AM Tues.

The first leg of the trip was to Kuala Lumpa, in Malaysia, where the plane stopped to refuel. We all got to get off the plane for about an hour, which was a much appreciated chance to stretch my legs.

The next leg of the trip ended in Dubai, where I spent a few hours wandering around the airport. The airport is very modern and fancy, with a section of indoor garden and rock pools.

The final leg of the trip was to London, and I arrived in Heathrow at about 8 pm on Tuesday evening. Thanks to time zone differences, it was officially the evening of the same day I had left, despite the fact that I had been travelling for about 26 hours since leaving Melbourne.

My friends Eve and Alex were kind enough to meet me at the airport, and we took the underground train back to their flat, where I was staying for a few days. Needless to say, I had a quick shower, then crawled straight into bed and slept!

Day 19: Trafalgar square. St Martin in the fields. Lunch in Crypt cafe and brass rubbing. National Gallery - Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Constable, Rembrandt, Ruebins, Gainsborough, Reynolds.... the list just goes on and on!
Day 20: Natural History Museum
Day 21: Hampton Court Palace.
Day 22: Westminster Abbey, Harrods, Victoria and Albert Museum. Flight back home.

Update

Day 18: (Fri) London Eye. River boat to Greenwich. Royal Observatory - Prime meridian, star charts and really cool clocks! Return via Docklands Light Railway (no driver!)
Day 19: (Sat) Trafalgar Square. St Martin in the Fields. Lunch at Cafe in the crypt of St Martin in the fields. Brass rubbing. National Gallery - Lots of famous painters and paintings.

A week or two later...

No internet access for the last week or so, so there is a bit to catch up on. I will just do a precis here, and leave further detail and photos for when I get home.

Day 1: (Tues) Arrive in UK in the evening
Day 2: (Wed) Visit Tower of London, dinner in nice English Pub near river.
Day 3: (Thurs) British Museum, wine bar in evening.
Day 4: (Fri) Visited Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Covent Garden, and saw musical (Oliver) in evening. Excellent day, but my feet hate me.
Day 5: (Sat) Collect hire car. Drive to Coventry to stay with old school friend.
Day 6: (Sun) Bad cold started, so a bit short on energy. Wander around Coventry with friends. See Old and New Cathedrals.
Day 7: (Mon) Visit to Kennilworth Castle.
Day 8: (Tues) Visit Warrick Castle. Drive to uffington
Day 9: (Wed) White horse hill. Waylands smithy. The Ridgeway. Drive to Devizes where staying in Travelodge.
Day 10: (Thurs) Visit Avebury, West Kennet Long Barrow, Silbury Hill.
Day 11: (Fri) Visit Stourhead. Amazing gardens.
Day 12: (Sat) Stonehenge. Woodhenge.
Day 13: (Sun) Wookey Hole caves. Glastonbury.
Day 14: (Mon) Bath. Bath Abbey, Roman Baths, pump room, Priory Gardens.
Day 15: (Tues) Bath. Assembly Rooms, Jane Austin centre
Day 16: (Wed) Lacock Abbey. Fox Talbert museum (inventor of photography!). Wander around Devizes. Wiltshire Museum.
Day 17: (Thurs) Drive back to London and return car. Train to Paddington and wander around Paddington. See Canals and Little Venice.

Having a great trip so far, even if the driving made me a bit homesick. The roads are far too narrow, far too poorly sign posted, and the english are far, far too fond of roundabouts! Thank goodness I hired a sat nav, even if it did try to steer me into buildings a couple of times :).

First day

I arrived in London Tuesday night, after a 26 hour flight (including stopovers). The friends I am staying with very kindly met me at the airport, and lent me an Oyster card to use on the train to their place. They have a very nice one bedroom flat, near a station, and are letting me sleep on the sofa bed in the lounge.

The next morning, I headed off to the Tower of London. I will put up photos later, but the tower was excellent, well worth a visit. I saw the crown jewels while I was there, and was pretty impressed.

Going on a holiday

I had a somewhat unexpected break in my employment, due to the project I was working on being suspended. So I decided to treat this as an excellent opportunity to take a trip I had been wanting to do for some time.

I am visiting the UK!

I am sorted out with flights, travel insurance, initial accommodation and luggage.