We're all going on a ...

Summer holiday!

Road trip, UK style.

Stay tuned.

And again...

Yesterday it was back to London, this time with a firm plan to go back to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's. Baker Street, for those not in the know, is the home of one Sherlock Holmes. His presence is everywhere there - from a motif in the tiles on the tube platform, to a statue on Baker Street and even his own museum.

We eventually got in to Madame Tussaud's, despite their best efforts to keep us waiting all day. Let me just say that they need to learn how to keep crowds happy from the Wimbledon organisers! We fought our way through the ignorant and rude people throughout the wax museum (and managed to not kill anyone in doing so - I'd not had any caffeine at that point, so this was not easy!). I think the highlight of the experience was the live scream part - seeing Lisa actually jump so much that she was about a foot off the ground was priceless!

We had to zoom out of there pretty quickly, as we had tickets to go and see We Will Rock You (yeah, it was my third time, and still as good as ever!). We got over to Tottenham Court Road, met up with the others, and rocked out for the next three hours.

After the show we headed over to Covent Garden. We wandered through the shops and markets, meeting up with a couple of my other friends along the way. Then, after a little side trip to the Australia Shop (Bundaberg ginger beer and strawberry Freddo Frogs mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm), we went down into Leceister Square for dinner.

After dinner, the girls I'd seen the show with all wanted to go home, but I stayed out with Matt and Mil. We strolled over to Carnaby St, which I have to say wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It's one of those streets that seem to be in London folklore - like places such as Portobello Road and Notting Hill. It wasn't anything like I thought it was going to be, sadly. It's an upmarket street, much like Chapel Street in Melbourne. Oh well - at least I have been there now!

We wandered back over towards Regent and Oxford Sts then, before deciding to go to St Paul's Cathedral - another place I hadn't yet been. The walk there was a bit like picking a direct line along the major tourist attractions - from Regent St to Picadilly Circus, down to Admiralty Arch and along the side of Trafalgar Square, and then along to the end of Whitehall and to the Thames.

We walked along the Thames, trading bits of random information (topics ranged from the Great Fire of London to the geography of Egypt!). The obelisk that is along the path still has damage from a bomb that was dropped during World War II. We kept walking along to Blackfriars, and then up to St Pauls. We were distracted on our approach to the cathedral by a funny street sign - not the kind of thing you normally associate with a church!

I still am stunned by the intricate work that was done on buildings like this, especially given the time frame. St Pauls was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It was finished in about 1710. It's enormous! We didn't go inside, so I'm sure I'll go back again at some point.

We then headed along Fleet Street (where there was a barber shop, but not where we could get a photo with a street sign in it as well). Along the way we found the place where Twinings Tea started. That's what I love about London - you can find all these random places without even trying!


Next we walked past the Old Curiousity Shop. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it's a wonky building. It seemed like there was either construction or renovation going on inside, so we didn't see any curiosities, but it was exciting for its Dickensian references all the same!


After all that we walked over to Holborn tube station to go home (passing the Australian Embassy along the way). It was late, I was shattered - and I was still over an hour away from home! Two great weekends in a row, and I'll be spending the next one in Wales. Roll on Summer holidays!

Being social

Well, I've been out the last two Saturdays, up to mischief and enjoying myself! Last weekend I met up with two friends from home, and we spent the day in London doing various things. First we wandered through St James Park, stopping momentarily to look at the animals made out of fake plants. It was some kind of save-the-animals charity, but the elephants were far more exciting!

From there we continued on to Buckingham Palace, getting there in time for the changing of the guards. It wasn't my first time to the palace, but it was my first time seeing that. Unfortunately I didn't see what happened inside the palace gates, but I did see them do their march up the road and inside. I need to grow a bit more in order to see things properly!

Next we headed over to Baker Street to go to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. That was a bust - there were huge queues that didn't really move, and we didn't have all day to hang around as we were going to the theatre to see Wicked. We ended up leaving, and going for a wander down Oxford Street instead.

We saw the show - amazing. If you don't know what it's about, it's the untold story of the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. It was great, and I'm now looking for a copy of the book that it's based on!

After that we headed to an Indian restaurant in Covent Garden, before finally heading home.

Am I no longer a North Queenslander?

I spent part of today, which is Summer, walking around in the rain. It was 14 degrees. I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and pluggers. Am I losing touch with it all????

Wimbledon!

Last weekend, the girls and I headed out at the crack of dawn, on our way to the ultimate tennis event - Wimbledon. It was a long enough trip just to get there - up at 4.30am, out the door at 5.45, and arriving at Southfields tube station at 8. 20 minutes later Tamara and I had met up with the other two girls, Yana and Sabrina, and were on our way to join the queue.

It was amazingly well organised, to the point where we hardly noticed that we'd waited 4 hours just to get in the gate. Other organisations should take note - this is how to do it and keep your crowds happy! It really was phenomenal; my queue card number was 7965, and we were there 2 hours before the gates even opened. We even got freebies along the way - sunscreen, muesli bars and, best of all, strawberries! One tradition out of the way before we'd even got inside.

The girls and I with our queue cards.

Once we got it, we tried to take a moment to get our bearings. The girls were in desperate need of a potty break (have to say bless teaching - ensures you can hold it for a REALLY long time!). The nearest toilets were beside the Wimbledon Shop, so naturally that's where we wandered. We all ended up buying the same cap, which made for some good photos.

Next up it was time to watch some tennis. We started on the nearest court to where we were standing, which was a boys singles game. Not a bad introduction to the tennis - got us in the mood for bigger games. We had bought ground passes, which allowed us to see any court except Centre Court, and Courts 1 and 2. This didn't really matter, as it was early enough in the Championship for high ranking players to be on outside courts.

We left the boys and headed over to Court 18 to see what was going on there. It's a bigger court, kind of the next step down from the 3 big ones. We had to wait for a change of ends and for seats to free up, but we waited, as it was Ai Sugiyama and Alisa Kleybanova (who lost in her next round to Venus Williams). It was Sugiyama's 16th Wimbledon in a row, so although she lost, we saw some amazing tennis. We hung around for the next match, which was Jurgen Meltzer and Arnaud Clement. Clement lost to Rainer Schuettler in an epic quarter final match the other day. It was blazing hot, and we were facing the sun, which didn't help matters. The girls gave up after the first set, but I rated it, so I stayed for the second.

Ai Sugiyama

Jurgen Meltzer

Arnaud Clement

I ended up leaving at the end of the second set, as it was just too damn hot. I never thought I'd say that in England! Just before I left, I looked across to the box where the players and supporters sit, and who should stand up but Alicia Molik. I was too slow trying to get my camera back out though, so no pics.

I caught up with the girls, who were watching a mens doubles game, and we headed over to the practice courts. We weren't quite sure who the players were there, but lets just say their groans were forced and fake. Totally wrong. From there we wandered back towards Court 18 so that I could see who'd one the match I'd been watching, but it was still going. We stopped for a bite to eat, and took a seat on Henman Hill (or Murray Mound as it's being called now), to watch the big screen. Andy Murray was playing Tommy Haas.

From there we stood around waiting to get back into Court 18. The Clement/Meltzer game finished, and we went in. We watched a mixed doubles game, followed by a women's doubles game. It's so quick!

After that, it was about 8.30pm, and we'd been sitting in the sun all day, so we made a move home. Finally, at 11.30, I was home and SO ready for bed! All in all, awesome day, awesome weather, awesome experience.