Great Chesterford

Today Sam and I took the train from Hounslow into London to catch the national express train to Cambridge. We had 1 detour on the way as we needed to swap trains and we hopped on a train 1 minute too early, ending up at Stansted airport. Took a few more trains to make it to our destination. We stayed with Eve's parents, Chris and Henry King at the beautiful Mill House. Had a lovely

time. We also walked around the cute village of Great Chesterford.

All Blacks VS England

Today we were very excited to be heading to Twickenham Rugby Stadium to see the All Blacks take on England. We left our hotel in London and made our way on the underground to Hounslow where our lovely Days Inn hotel was. Shared a taxi with a couple of English rugby supporters to a great English pub. Had a few Guinness and walked to the stadium. We were lucky enough to see the All Blacks drive right past us in there bus!!! The atmosphere was incredible with 85 thousand people singing and cheering for England. We were a bit out numbered but had a few kiwi supporters around us. The All Blacks winning 19-6! The Black ferns played the English female rugby team after. Very interesting to watch as they also did a great haka. Got lost when we tried to walk home to our hotel after the game! Had an amazing time :)

Madame Tussards

The third day in London we took the bus to Madame Tussards, the famous wax museum. We caught up with many famous stars and luckily because its winter, we didn't have to Que for 4 hours to get in (there are some positives of winter). It also included admission into scream, a scary walk through London's medieval times with live actors.

We then walked down to Buckingham Palace to visit the queen for afternoon tea. Unfortunately we missed the guard changing ceremony because it only happens on odd days.

We walked home through the Wellington Arch and saw the NZ and Aussie war memorials.

Went to Harrods (superstore). Biggest shop I think I have ever been in, AMAZING!!! (7 stories)

London

Had a semi early start to make the most of our hop on/off bus tour. Had excellent live commentary on board. Went to the London Dungeon first, a horrible medieval place (Sams idea). Very well done but very scary! Next was the Tower of London, where all the crown jewels are kept. The tower had an King Henry exhibition on also. We took a river cruise down to the London Eye which was lovely. Got see the amazing architechure from the water. Just before dusk Sam and I took off up into the sky on the London Eye. Beautiful clear blue sky which was great (haven't seen it since). Half way around it got dark (4pm) so we were fortunate enough to see London in both aspects. We pretty much had a pod to ourselves. We finished the day by hitting the late night shops on Orchard road and Hamleys toy store (7 stories of toys-every kids dream-especially ours)

1st Day in London

Had a great day on the Hop on/off bus getting our bearings and seeing the amazing city. Took about 5 hours to get around the entire circuit due to the queen opening parlament. Had a nice dinner at a English restraunt around the corner from our hotel. Paddington is a great place to stay, very close to everything :)

Sentosa Island Singapore

Visited one of the biggest shopping centres with over 300 shops, one being "Build a Bear" which I did, very cool, now have to carry all round London haha. Spent our arvo in Singapore relaxing on Sentosa Island. Caught the bus out to the island as cable car is not working due to repairs. Went up on a sky ride and down by luge. Had a tour through the famous Merlion Lion, a huge statue standing approx 100m tall. Spent some of the arvo on the beach. Very interesting outlook onto the oil rigs. The sand is all trasported in to form the beach. At night we watched an amzing preformance called "The Songs of The Sea". Huge fountains of water were shot into the air and projections of light formed on the water. So clever!

Home to pack for a semi early flight to Heathrow

Hop on/off bus around Singapore

Spent the day seeing all sorts of attractions including Little India, huge shopping centres, China town, botanical gardens (including the famous orchid gardens with over 60 000 different colours) and city quay where we both bungy'd!!!! We had drinks at a pub and met Brigitte who Leanne went to uni with. Had dinner on Orchard road then walked home amounst thousands observing all the amazing christmas decorations. Even tried out the famous singapore sling 2 drinks for $50!!!!

Singapore Zoo and Safari

Had a great time visiting the world famous Singapore Zoo with a huge range of animals followed by the night safari. A highlight being- walking amoungst bats in the dark, riding an elephant and being kissed by a seal!!

Our leaving Party

Great night, yummy pizzas and awesome company!!!

31st October 09