Bron and Warwick - 2011 overseas holiday

We got to Buckingham Palace ticket office about 12.30 - ideal time, as advice was the tours are crowded in the mornings and it's best to arrive about 1.00 am. By the time our tickets were issued, we went down the street to grab some lunch and ate it in St James' Park, then back across the road in time for 1.30 pm "tour" - not guided, but with audio so we were able to wander at our own pace.

It was fabulous; the staterooms, display of Faberge jewellery and objet d'art, and Kate's wedding dress - with large screens video talk by the maker about how the layers were done, the lace hand-made and therefore unique, and her matching shoes, and a silk replica of her bouquet; the wedding cake was in another room - all 8 layers.

We had afternoon tea in the Buckingham Palace Cafe - all lovely Regency style pale blue & white decor, then a walk through the gardens - via the shop (where a souvenir or two were purchased!) - past the lake and out onto Grosvenor Street. We walked around to the front of the Palace then along the Mall, and through St James' Park, where some very cheeky squirrels checked out visitors for food and one jumped up on Warwick's knee!

Hoped to visit St Margaret's Church (Westminster) but it had closed half an hour before we got there, so after sitting on the Westminster side of the river for a while we crossed the Jubilee bridge to the South Bank, wandered around a kids' fun park, then found somewhere to have tea: vege burger and chips at The Riverfront cafe outside the London Film Theatre. Another walk across another bridge, the Waterloo, and finally found a bus to an subway station, underground to Gunnersbury then changed to overground to Acton Central, and a 15 minute walk back "home" to Margaret and Don's.

Tomorrow we're visiting Ikea!!! Oh, and also plan to get a riverboat to Greenwich...

Last day of our London Pass, so back to town we went. First stop: Westminster - ticket shop, snack at Jewel Tower (undrinkable coffee), then walked along Millbank and over Lambeth Bridge as we had an hour to fill in before the tour began. Just had time for a fabulous vegetarian lunch - salad greens, no stodge! - at the Garden Museum - and quick look around the gardens, then back to join the queue for the Palace of Westminster tour.

Fascinating to see the ancient buildings and learn about the operation of the Houses of Lords and Commons; surprised how closely New Zealand still follows the UK system, albeit without an upper and lower house. Of course we only saw a fraction of the buildings, and it would be great to go back when the parliament is sitting.

Then hopped on a bus to the other end of town - Cheapside and the Old Spitalfields Market, now rather upmarket although there are still stalls some days. Walked around the East End streets for a while; fascinating, multicultural place - interesting art and graffiti as well as varieties of food. Getting tired, so caught bus as far as St Paul's Cathedral - where a young Asian couple were having wedding photos taken on the steps, although clearly not getting married there as it was closed for the day - and had another wonderful fresh meal of Bosco Salad at Pizza Express.

Back 'home' to Action, via Holburn then changed to Picadilly Line back to Acton and the 10 walk to Woodhurst Ave. Hadn't been home long - Warwick was standing at top of metal stairs down to garden - when a little fox trotted along the top of a fence across the road; we didn't see how it got off the fence, but next thing it was running along the road...

That was a cool way to end a long but fascinating day.

Woke to rain pouring onto roof, so decided to have a sleep-in. Rained most of the day and didn't feel like getting soaked and refreshing colds, so had a lovely relaxing day reading books and resting.

Tomorrow we're off to see more sites - possibly Windsor. I swear, though, it takes longer to figure out how to get somewhere than to actually see the place once you get there. Train, bus, coach, underground, overland, walk, tram... look up post codes... get redirected to another website... check on map... find timetable and fares... choose... print... find a better options, less changes, quicker journey, go through the whole thing again...

We could have been there and back in the time it takes to find the best transport - except that driving in London is even slower and more complicated than jumping on a train or bus! And given the choice, I much prefer the bus.

Time for bed again, and nod off to sleep with a new Charlaine Harris novel.

We've just got home (Don and Margaret's in Acton) after our first day using the London Pass which gets us into 55 major things pre-paid.

Today we went to the London Zoo, after a lovely walk through Regents Park. It's a very old zoo; not as nice as Wellington or Auckland are now. Regents Park is beautiful; typical London park - beautifully tended, with exquisite formal gardens but lots of natural meadowy space as well.

Then bussed back into central London, walked across Millenium Bridge (near Westminster) and went on the Millenium Eye - 30 minutes in a very slow moving capsule (like a ferris wheel). We're not sure if we've used up all our "wow" feelings or if it just wasn't that interesting! Still, we've done it.

Had a lovely meal on the Embankment at a place called Giraffe; Warwick had a vege burrito and I had a burger with haloumi and salad. Walked along Southbank for a while, then caught bus and train back to Acton. Even at 9.30pm, the subway trains are totally crowded and we had to stand most of the way.

Overlander - 12 hours trainride through spectacular scenery, most of which we couldn't see. 'Genuine' kiwi food from Wishbone! Disgusting coffee (train manager announced it was a South Island carriage and didn't have proper coffee making facilities) - coffee bag available, rather than range of specialty coffees as advertised.

We had a 40 minute stop in Ohakune, though, and the cafe at the station was EXCELLENT; fabulous food and lovely honey, ginger & kawa tea which soothed my increasingly croaky throat.

Had to leave train in Papakura and change to bus into Britomart - marvellous! Comfortable, air conditioned, good seats, plenty of leg room - altogether an improvement. Would take new coach over old train every time.

Finally got to Britomart, stayed the night at the Grand Chancellor Hotel, Lower Hobson Street - not very grand but more than adequate. Next day my looming throat ache bloomed into a full cold, so got heaps of things to spray, sniff and swallow from chemist - anti-viral and anti-bactgerial and anti-snoring... not the best way to start a holiday.

Wandered along Queen Street and, almost at the top, found a Borders shop with a Gloria Jeans and something resembling coffee. Back to Britomart and onto airport bus - our flight to Hong Kong left around 11.30 p.m..