Cheerio from England one and all,
The flight Melbourne Hong Kong very uneventful as we both slept the majority of the way, no highlights including the food, the movies and the quality of the qantas female uniforms - ghastly silver blue polyester frocks with aboriginal artwork vomited all over them that over time react rather badly to the static built up as the space waitresses move up and down the aisles on the aircraft carpet !!!
Got to Hong Kong airport around 6am to find the whole placed closed up, save for a couple of food places. Put our plans to buy a small PhD* camera on hold somewhat. This left us with a hour to kill over ordinary coffee and more fluorescent lighting.
The next leg proved more arduous and despite having to turn right rather than left when boarding and not enjoying those snug little capsules and jarmies in first class, this stage started with grave concerns for our mental stability. Immediately in front of us was not one set of new parents with a real live baby accessory but TWO. Each of these sets of dotting parents came complete with a wriggling, snuffling baby girl - one a few weeks old and the
other around the "sitting up by themselves" old. To say this caused me some consternation is
probably understating the situation somewhat.
However all my concerns about squawking, movement and distraction techniques being deployed in the need to entertain child were unfounded. These two little girls and their parents were just tremendous. And the little girls too cute for words. I must be getting soft in my old age !!
Shame the smelly, noisy, demanding young man behind us wasn't as well behaved. Still it wasn't all bad. We were in the middle section with Siobhan on the aisle seat. I was next to her and I had the dream fellow passenger - did not make eye contact, did not engage in any conversation at all and weighed around 90 kilos dripping wet! No oozing into my zone or space, so all good.
We arrived at Heathrow, brought the Oyster Card and were on the London Underground in no time headed fro South Kensington station. What a system. Our digs are just around the corner from
the station at Imperial college where we were to stay at Beit Hall (thanks for this brilliant tip Andrew Dureau) but they moved us to Tizard Hall which is right opposite the beautiful Prince Gardens - a small enclosed lush green space surrounded by terrace buildings. Amazing
and all this for 80 quid a night including a breakfast each morning in the Senior Common Room nearby on campus. For all these Enid Blyton children , I feel like I am part of the Upper Fifth at Malory Towers!!!!
The location is just mind-blowing. We are down the road from the Victoria & Albert Museum and
around the corner from the Albert Hall. The surrounding buildings and nearby shopping area are straight out of a film set. Once showered and settled in we headed out for a wander for the remainder of the day. We ended up in a pub - natch, The Zetland Arms built in 1845 and once owned by Charlie Chaplin's brother. Once I work out how to drive this thing , I will be posting the photos so come back to see the place at this post.
We are overwhelmed with the beauty, history and the grandeur of the place. We have a big day planned to orientate ourselves and in the meantime will get those pictures happening. In closing I will say this, if this is what these people call SUMMER, then I feel for them. It was sloshing down rain when we arrived, grey and a balmy 16 degrees!!!!!! They were walking around in t shirts, bare legs and thongs. These people are lunatics. Have to go out and buy
warm stuff pronto!
Love Kelly & Siobhan
*Means a "Press Here Dickhead" camera that does not require a degree in photography to operate said piece of equipment
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