Last Day- by the Thames

Well its almost over. We have visited Winston Churchills war rooms this morning and have just been wandering along the Thames under the lovely big tree's on a hot sunny day.

Things we've done:

o Took 7 flights
o Spent 31 hours in the air
o Visited 5 countries several times
o Slept in 26 hotels and beds
o Had 20 transfers (they are the expensive bit!)
o Travelled 2760kms by rental car
o Sat in airports for 16 hours prior to flights
o Stood in immigration queues for 9 hours
o Caught 5 taxis, 3 trains, 11 buses, 2 underground trip2, 1 monorail
o Saw 9 good friends
o Made 2 new friends (Dungeness)
o Estimated to have drunk 84 pints (have been dehydrated a number of times!)
o 6 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of Ouzo, 10 diet cokes, 20 bottles of water
o Purchased 2 pairs of boots, 1 pair of jandals, 1 pair of scuffs, 2 pair running shoes, 1 pair Italian shoes
o Seen countless new places & wonders, the inside of a nuclear power station
o Best travel tip…… still that good pair of earplugs!

We are off to start the first of the two flights home- cya on the other side (literally for us)! Thanks to all those who have read, commented or enjoyed the blog:-)

Day 42 London

Good sleep again last night- there is a lot of traffic noise outside but I much prefer that to stereo's or dogs barking so all good.

We were meeting Renee Coombes from Ohaupo today so we took our first tube in 5 years and I remember why I hate them. Airless, hot, waaay underground down 8 flights of stairs. When Im in the tube I think that it would be my worst nightmare to be down here in a train if a bomb went off and it went dark- unless you also added big spiders raining down on me- and then I would need the de-fibrillaters you see on the walls haha!

The view from the bottom of the tube!

We got out and went for a walk along the tower bridge and had a giggle as we passed the underground KFC where we went on the first trip with Danni and they gave us a massive bucket with the chicken in that we couldnt get rid of cos there were no rubbish bins- we made Dan carry it and she was even embarrassed at 10!

Walked across London bridge and back then got another tube to meet Renee, Those little 9 year old girls from Ohaupo school have so grown up! Renee is doing rea;ly well and living the life here- good on her.

Had a nice lunch together then back on the tube to somewhere! had a beer in a pub then and onto the Victoria line to Oxford circus -stopped for a pint in a pub then we walked around for a bit before another! bus back to our local where we now sit having our second pint of the day at 3.30pm (well Graeme is on his 3rd guiness!) cos its hot hot hot here- gotta keep up the fluids you know!

Soho park at lunchtime!





We are going out to Heathrow tomorrow,leaving there at 7.30pm, bound for Seoul where we are going into the city for a night before flying the next leg home. So excited to see my girls, the little girl and Mum and Dad :-)

Day 41- Carnaby St to Jersey Boys in Londons West End

We decided to hit the shops again today and set off on a bright BLUE sky yay * skipping up the pavement singing happily* Our first blue sky here, however was soon to discover that I had overdressed = sooo overheated by 11am! Luckily we discovered a good shop that sold cheap cool skirts & t-shirts-> quick change out of tights, boots and long shirt! then accidentally came across a shopping area that is famous for the Beatles - Carnaby St.

Gramee found a 'Jones the Bootmaker' shop where we had previously got my favourite pair of boots from (amongst the collection already residing in my wardrobe!) Amazingly they had some great boots end of season in my size and Graeme found some brown Italian dress shoes he really liked. So carrying our booty (parden the pun) we wandered around for a couple of hours before going to the gorgeous Prince Edward theatre (opened in 1930) to see the production of Jersey Boys.

Yay we finally made it to a London West End show! Usually we have been newly arrived and jetlagged, so never get there but this time visiting at the end of the trip has been great.

The ceiling in the theatre

The show follows the life of Frankie Valli and the four seasons.
I now remember that I was born in the wrong era cos I love those old songs, "Sherry, sherry ba-a by" and "Biiiig girls dont cry". We had bought our tickets from a box office yesterday and I dont know what the girl was talking about cos the only seats available according to her were 2 floors up but in the 2 row (for 24 quid each which was great), but there were heaps of empty seats down the bottom and the whole row in front of us- was great for us and we had an un-obstructed view ( I remembered what Anna had said about checking that out prior).

Came out after into the street absolutely teeming with people- where do they all come from? It is incredible here- apart form early morning there are just so many people in the streets, it is pumping.

Got a bus back to Lancaster gate- we got a free ride cos the card reader wasnt working. Nice cos you really chew through the money even on an oyster card!
Back to our 'local' for roast dinner and a couple of pints.

Rachaels birthday pressie!

Day 40 London City

We decided to get down to Oxford St for shopping early today as we have been told it can get pretty manic if you go later in the day, and we are waking early still so we walked all the way up Bayswater Road and stopped to have a drink at a café which has wi-fi so I could check in with home and all those lovely birthday messages made my day! The girls and Mum and Dad had sent e-cards and special messages which was great too.

We headed up Oxford St and spent the next few hours looking in shops, but find the fashions in most of them are a certain style that I cant see going down well at home unless maybe you are 15 and stick thin- a lot of it here though is more formal than you see in Hamilton. But it was good still to wander down that very long street (as you will remember from last time Danni!)

We went and sat in a park that is on the edge of Soho and found ourselves in the theatre district so went and booked our seats for the Jersey Boys show tomorrow. Then caught a bus to Oxford St and wandered into the Primark dept store and OMG - literally thousands of people in there as they had a sale on and those of you who know it, will understand.

You could hardly swing your hair let alone a cat! People all bang into each other, no-one says excuse me or sorry, so we just joined in and had a look around- it is definitely cheap as. It was funny….outside there are heaps of husbands sitting, looking either bored or worried lol! Don’t blame them looking at the masses of clothes some women were coming out with.

Back to Bayswater Road to rest our tired legs after that! My knee has been aching here a lot but think it is just the amount of walking we are doing than anything else- but walking in this weather is good- its a really nice temperature, no blue sky but no rain or wind so its been fine.

Had a rest!

then tidied up- Graeme manning the ironing board in the wardrobe!

Before meeting Fiona, Darron and Rachael at a pub for a drink- So good to see them all and looking so great. No-one has changed at all and it was a case of all these kiwi (and Scottish- honorary kiwi!) accents instead of the usual british, polish, german, french and australian ones we usually hear here lol. Moved down the road to the restaurant which was lovely - had very slow service but it worked well for us as we all had so much catching up to do. Would be great to have them all back at Huntly but with everyone thriving in their current environments, we will make do with enjoying tonight!

We talked the night away before seeing Rachael off on the tube ( poor thing hs to work tomorrow) and then we went back to the pub with Fi and Darron for a nightcap. I have passed on all the well wishes from friends at the station and we said goodbye after having my dinner paid for me and a great goodie bag of british chocolates- plus my dessert came out with a happy birthday message (well they made a mistake and put it on Rachaels but it was definitely the thought which counts !) . Very spoilt tonight……

Day 39 London City, Camden Markets

Had a good sleep but woke at 5.30am as our clocks are still 2 hours ahead on Greece time! We got up and since it wasn’t raining, decided to go to Camden Markets today. Walked down to the tube station and resurrected our old oyster cards from last trip and topped them up.

We have 3 buses going along our hotel- Bayswater Road, which is really long then turns into Oxford St and would you believe it, there is one that ran all the way to the markets without a change!

Camden Markets are a melting pot of people, nationalities, punk rockers, goth, nerds, old people, young people and heaps of tourists speaking every language! The markets are actually centred around “The Old Stables” where they use to keep all the horses in pre -car days. There are a mass of life size horse statues depicting the happenings of yester-year, Danni would have loved it.
There were even some shops inside the actual stables which still have their stable doors on. We had Mexican (Graeme) for brunch and Chinese (Denise) the young Chinese lady was calling “come on darling, you want lovely chinese to eat?!” Then we had to top that off with a lemon and sugar crepe to fix Graemes previous trauma with the crappy crepes in Santorini!

Take a close look- this is the Singer sewing machine archive!

Besides all the different people there (my favourite a couple of 40- somethings in floor length leather coats, identical long straight jet black hair and lots of scary piercings and make up!) There were heaps of interesting buys. Best purchase of the day was a pair of fur lined leather boots I got for ₤40, down from ₤115- chur!

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Check it out- his hair matched his jersey and in my fav colour!

Stain glass shop

Love the seats!

Day 38 - Greece- London UK

Well it was actually a day of automobile, plane, monorail, train, taxi today! Phew a long day but easy peasy really. For all that we have seen on tv about Easyjet I have to say each time we fly them, they are excellent. They are the only airline who fly Crete direct to the UK which saves a stop in Athens airport like on the way over.

We left home at 9.30am and you have to get the petrol in the rental car right cos most companies give it to you empty and tell you to bring it back the same. Managed that fine and dropped the rental then into the Heraklion airport. Easyjet have a rule that you can take cabin luggage at any weight, as long as it fits in the baggage frame. We had to guess-ti-mate our bags weights and squash all the heavy stuff into our backpacks- and guess what?? 18.4kgs and 19.5 kgs- spot on! (At 25quid per kilo over, you don’t want to guess wrong!)

We had also purchased speedy boarding so you have first boarding for seats on the plane as they don’t allocate them. Hate that idea so always pay for it and after the bus took us out on the tarmac we got off first and were lucky to get the first row seats. They let all the families with small kids go on first too so there were a few people!

Talked to a nice English girl beside me, who gave us some tips on the Gatwick express etc. 3 ½ hours and we landed at Gatwick. Got through a longish line in immigration- funny for the day was when a Indian woman and her husband were going to try and jump the line all us non-EU people were patiently waiting in, then obviously decided better of it- walked back and out to the side where there is an Iris scanning booth that people who are registered can use, reading their eye instead of going through the normal lining up. They walk into the booth which is glass and everyone can see, but the had no idea what it was and it didn’t get them their jump in the line- instead they were locked in and the recorded voice kept saying “please look in the mirror and l\move your eye closer” Everyone cracked up as it served them right! Graeme wanted to film it for you-tube lol!

Got through immigration to find everyone else waiting as there was no baggage carousel allocated for about another half an hour.

Got the cool monorail from the north terminal to the south one to catch the train to London. The monorail is just like the one in KL, Malaysia.
The Gatwick express may be a bit more expensive, but with no stop and half the time to Victoria than any others, it is easy and worthwhile.

Then got our first London cab! Always wanted to ride in one but never had the need before. The cabbie was really nice, he thought we were Australian ( Its always either are you English or Australian?!)

Got to the Thistle hotel in Hyde Park to our ‘suite’ (what we would call a really nice room) but I guess right opposite Hyde park and usually costing $600 pn it has a good reputation! Matt in England had sent me their special they were advertising before we came and it’s a lovely old hotel with very respectful staff.

We got out and went for a walk- Bayswater Road is extremely long! Walked km’s down to Marble Arch- sooo many people, you have to soak it all up! We got our bearings and then went to a pub established in 1721 as a coaching inn. It is reputed to be the place where the sayings “One for the road” and “He’s on the wagon” came from as Marble Arch used to have another name I cant remember, where all the hangings took place.

When the men were on their way to the gallows, the jailer would transport them in the iron wagon cage and pull up there so they could have one for the road. Hes on the wagon came when they left after the final pint and meant they were never coming back! All that from a pub selling bangers and mash and fish, chips and mushy peas!

Marble Arch

Walked back to our hotel and had the most wonderful bath with tonnes of hot water- noice! We are going to go to Camden markets hopefully tomorrow after we suss out the transport and see if our old oyster cards still work!

Day 36 & 37 Crete, London

Day 37- Today we have a bit of a trek- off soon from the lovely Pepys up in the hills and drive down into Heraklion to catch a plane to Gatwick, catch a bus to the other terminal, catch the Gatwick Express train to Victoria Station and then gasp....a cab to Hyde Park! Should take car of most of the day then we want to go to Camden markets and meet Sammys school friend Renee from Ohaupo.
Dont think we will have free wi-fi at the hotel we are going too, so will just get online when I can.

Day 36 - Our day of taking it easy, staying at home and sunbathing has been thwarted! The weather was cool and cloudy and got colder as the day went on. Definitely not sunbathing material unfortunately, so we read most of the day- I managed to get through the last 2/3 of the one Pepy gave me, she has a great library of 'trades' you can help yourself to.

Went down to the village and had a lovely 'last supper' down beside the beach, then said goodbye to Pepy- until next time! Last time we stayed we couldnt take a photo of her as she was in mourning, after losing her husband and they dont take any photos but this time is is bright and happy. She has an amazing head of long curly hair that most women would kill for, but caught her just out of the shower!

Day 35- Crete, Kissamos, Maleme, Galatas

We were off today to visit WWII places of significance and with Graemes knowledge on the battles here in Crete, there were a couple of paces to see. First we drove 2 hours to the most western point in Crete to Kissamos (Kastelli) to say hi to my Grandfather again. The bay is somewhat changed, with the port being more developed but the towering cliffs that protect the bay are still imposing- especially as it was windy and covered in clouds today. I have my Grandmothers engagement ring that my Grandfather gave her which is nice to bring back here.

ANZAC poppies growing wild in the sand of the bay

We then drove on to Maleme where 6000 Germans landed in the battle of Crete. Stopped and had lunch at an amazing bakery in the middle of nowhere that catered for an upmarket crowd?!

After that we reached Galatas which Graeme really wanted to visit. He has the book of the same name which has a photo of a German soldier lying dead in the street with his tank behind him. We stood in this same tiny little road- and we are talking smaller than Ohaupo and wandered around by the memorial just up from this. It isnt lost on us that we live on the other side of the world and we know of this tiny little village where Kiwi's stood and re-took the village from the Germans.

In a nearby closed restaurant we could see their back wall had all sorts related to the NZers being there- rather freaky is on the shelf in the window is that same Galatas book Graeme has at home. Beside the memorial which Graeme recognized as soon as we arrived, is a small museum with letters and artifacts from both sides.
This postcard had been left propped up on a shelf…..

We decided to head back to our place as it’s a good couple of hours back but so easy as its just one picturesque highway the whole way.

These are the mountains where kiwis hid in caves during WWII after the battle of Crete, where they either waited the war out or tried to get out in small boats. Many of the Cretan locals helped hide and feed them. I have read a book written by 1 of 3 Putaruru brothers who lived through this- tough as nails they were!.....


Got back and had showers- it is a crack up as it is a mini length bath and the shower head is hooked at waist height- you need to get in some funny positions to get wet properly lol!

Went down to Agia Pelagia and had a great meal on the waterfront again at ‘Zorbas”. They always give you complimentary grappa (that’s fire water!) and the greek desserts soaked in honey at the restaurants.

Drove back up the hill- there are 34 hairpin turns back up that mountain!@$!#!

Day 34-Crete, To the back blocks off the beaten track

We had a great dinner out last night, sitting down at the waterfront as the sun set- nice. Graeme had the cheese (feta )pies that Nathan suggested. Man they are strong, Graeme loved them but I had to wash it down with beer haha! Such a chore……Had a wander around Agia Pelgia then drove back home- the peugot is much better but being manual, the revving is rather loud on the steep hills we have to drive up at a slow pace as the corners are really tight!

Pepys where we stay are the white buildings way up the top of the hills




















Crashed out (to sleep that is!) but we were woken at 3.45am by someone on an 027 phone ringing us- didn’t know the number and didn’t answer as it took our hearts about 5 mins to slow down! Will be turning it off from now on and Mum I will send you the phone numbers of where we are here and in London in case you need to get hold of us through the hotels.

Got up this morning and headed off for a Cretan adventure, driving up in the hills on roads with no markings that were rather narrow in places!

We stopped at a little town called Archanes and found a shop selling meat- something which is hard to find in supermarkets. They had a skinned whole animal at the end in the fridge and Im looking at it trying to work out what it is/was- then a see the feet still have their long white hair on them- rabbit…. eeuuu makes it look gory!

The Greeks use the mountainous terrain to grow grapes and olives as far as you can see- pretty impressive.






We came across a cemetery and stopped to have a look. The majority of people (men) were born in the 1930’s and almost every one had a photo on the grave. We drove past what looked like a letterbox on the side of the road- it had a glass front and a candle burning next to a bottle of beer. Am thinking it is in memory of someone who just passed away?

The GPS is back alive but still somewhat confused here in Crete…. You know how those Japanese tourists drove into the sea because their GPS told them too? Well this is where ours told us to go when trying to get out of the small lanes and back onto the motorway! It literally turned into a gravel dead end track lol.

Needless to say we did a u-turn and I told Graeme to ignore it and follow his own gut direction- he got us out on the motorway !

Power Station

We got home and made some lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon down by the pool- was really breezy today although still 25C, was too cold to swim. Graeme made us dinner- he is a 1 pot wonder here!







Went out for a walk around in the early evening- there are these massive ants here- definitely would not like to lay down in a sleeping bag with those around- they are about 10 times the size of NZ ants!