Financial Cost of Ben's Stupidity

1. Charger for his macbook - 50 pounds
2. Flip flops - 5 pounds

to be continued....

Monday, 27 June

Lucky to be staying with Steve and Dyann Rowe in Enfield in the upstairs loft.

Awoke early in the morning to blue sky and sun. The weather today was like a warm sunny day in late March in Perth. 30 degrees according to the weather man! Dyann produced some fantastic muesli to get me going for the day.

I met Ben in Convent Garden where we picked up shoes for Ben's dad from Dune before heading down a side street for coffee to get the day going. After this we meandered down to the River Thames and found Trafalgar Square where the sun was out and it was quite a sight!
Used the GoPro camera to make a time lag of the view form the National Gallery before heading inside. Was a great surprise we had - We saw the Monet's Water Lilies and Van Gogh Sunflowers among many other famous pieces. It was fantastic being able to see works from Van Gogh after visiting his Gallery in Amsterdam last year only to discover that all his famous works were on loan to other galleries around the world. I have ticked of a number of well known art works over the past year, maybe I should make a bucket list and start ticking them off!

Ben and I then jumped on a boat on the Thames which took us to Greenwich. We saw many famous buildings along the way. The highlight was a new skyscraper which was under construction called "The Shard". Not sure if it was to balance out the gherkin on the other side of the river!

The sun was out the whole way down and we took some great pictures of the important buildings along the way. We saw the Greenwich time clock and also the Maritime Museum which was next to the Royal Navy College.

Somehow the timing was perfect - we saw Princess Anne land and leave in a car which drove right by us! Proof is attached!


We then met up with Ed and Jim Hall, and Richard Dandridge for a few beers in a typical english pub near Trafalgar square. Caught the tube home and was in bed by 11pm!

Sunday, 26 June

In comparison to the flight which I took to London last year on Air Asia, Emirates is truly exceptional. The best improvement is the ability to plug in a laptop to the seats with your charger! I have been able to create my first movie using Final Cut Pro and will upload it when I can. Also means I can watch movies and write on the laptop, rather than being restricted to the inflight entertainment!

There is also unlimited muesli bars… which I plan to gather up over this flight and the next to give me some free treats over the next month or so.

Ended up with only a couple of hours of sleep last night, didn’t feel the need to get a good nights sleep – there was too much anticipation and excitement. I am on a flight taking me on an adventure and its all very exciting.

Should have taken a window seat, would have been able to use the GoPro to take some great shots of the sunrise above the clouds, maybe next time.

Stomach is still rumbling though – think I will tuck into mums sandwich which she made for me this morning at 3am! (I am saving the famous apple and date cake for later).

Once again, took advantage of the friendly staff and was sent on my way with a little bag full of shots... they will come in handy. Was also given the opportunity to scope out first class; don't belive its worth the 22k it costs...

Excited to have finally made it to England!

Pondering whether to not sleep... might be a good way to transition into GMT???!!!

Brief itinerary

Very brief itinerary:

26 June: Perth
26 June 2011 to 1 July 2011: London
2 July to 8 July: Ibiza
9 July to 27 July: Croatia
28 July to 3 August: Hungary
3 August to 31 December: America
1 January to 28 February: Canada
29 February: Home ~ Perth!

All packed, alarm set for 3.30am. Not sure I will be able to sleep much tonight; a cocktail of anticipation, excitement, nervousness and the thoughts that I won't be sleeping in my bed for 8 months! Bring it on.

Had a wonderful butterfly lamb with roasted punkin, sweetpotatoes, mushroom and dads favourite; Brussels sprout! Mum made the most delicious apple and date cake for dessert. Heading to Helvetica with Ben, Liam, Georgia, Greg, Siamac and hopefully Rosie if I can persuade her for a all time classic cocktail - a amaretto sour.

Had the most enjoyable day. A nice way to be sent off on a great adventure.

Frantic packing is under way! Making attachments for gopro, catching up with friends to say goodbye, saw Robert Millner which was great. Once I leave I will have time to write properly... so much to do in little time right now...

One week to go

It has been a very busy week; had an exam, played my final hockey match for the season, attempted to pack and preparing for my final two exams on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This time next week I will be in the air, heading to Dubai, before landing in the UK. I am so excited, but trying very hard to stay focused for these exams. International Management is on Tuesday; I am well under prepared, because I spent too much time on Structural Analysis (which I nailed) and because I have steel 3111 the following day and that seems to be taking up all my study time!

Most of the trip is organised, I will upload an itinerary soon... There is still much to finalise, and Im also a little nervous being away for so long.

Bought a GoPro HD, so will be able to share some great images and footage of some of the things I get up to when I am away! Very excited about that.

Back to study.

This time in 2 weeks I'll be in the air

A little scary knowing I have 14 days until I leave for 8 months... So much study to be done, and so much packing to do! Going to be a juggle, but I believe I have it down packed.

First exam on Wednesday - 3110, should be good - Im looking forward to knocking them off.

Been looking up great theme parks in the USA. Six flags is on the way down to Philly, so I may have to stop there and check out the roller-coasters!!!!

Ok, back to study...

2.2 Weeks to Go

I plan to get this blog up and going after tremendously failed attempt this time last year. It will work because I am taking my laptop with me, and will therefore have a means to write when ever I have time on my hands. When Im busy I will try to update it every few days. It is a goal of mine to keep a travel diary, this will be it.

It also means I can keep in touch with family and friends, and show them how much of an awesome time I am having.

Anyway, exams first. Lots to organise as well.