A post from London!

Hello out there. We arrived safely in London. We are sitting in an internet cafe near the hostel, about 2 blocks from Oxford Street. It is the biggest internet cafe I have ever seen. It is open 24 hours, no staff, and I think there are about 150 terminals.

Today was a big day. We had breakfast at the hostel, as it's included which is great. Nothing too flash, just some cornflakes, bread and jam, that kind of thing. We then had to go to the bank in Regent Street, so we wandered down there. I have no idea how far we walked today, but it was quite a distance. At the bank, there was a special Australia and New Zealander suite for new account holders, so they obviously handle a great number of Australians!

We both really enjoyed the walk to Regent Street. I was just happy to be wandering around in a strange city, just drinking in the atmosphere, the sights, sounds smells of London. It was great! We walked through Piccadilly Circus, which was really busy, and had large neon billboards. From the bank we walked back down Regent Street to the British tourist office thingy where we swapped out London Pass vouchers for actual cards. These we bought in Australia, and they enable us to enter a great number of places such as museums and galleries etc for nothing, well it's obviously built into the cost of the ticket, but ultimately we paid for it in Aussie dollars, not in pounds, and there is apparently no waiting at attractions, which will save us time.

We then headed to Tottenham Court Rd underground station to get our three day travel tickets. These saved us a lot of time and money today, as we can hop on and off any red bus or tube train in zones 1 and 2. Which is exactly what we did today.

We saw the houses of parliament, the thames. We are staying very close to the BRitish Museum, but we will go there tomorrow, as we get free entry to the Inside a Mummy exhibition. YAY!! My time at the computer is running out. I will update more tomorrow, or soon after. I am having a fab time, hope you are too! :-)

Singapore!

Hello from Singapore! We were walking towards the transit lounge and shops and I spotted free internet terminals. Now we couldn't pass that up, right??

The flight was pretty good. 7 and a half hours I believe. I slept at least half of the way, but it wasn't great sleep. It never is when you are sitting up! Scott got coffee spilled on his pants by the stewardess, but he's ok. He didn't suffer burns or anything!

I have never been to Sinapore before, so I am keen to have a look around the shops. Our gate lounges are close together, but we have three hours to kill. So I want to look around the shops. I found the place that you can get massages from! YAY! So I'll see if we have time.

Free internet rocks. I hope we will be able to find more places like this.

I am tired, but a happy camper. We have begun our adventure, and I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed in London, so I can be rested enough to see some of the sights. I was warned not to see too much in the first few days. I think that is a wise move really. We will be seeing so much on the tour, that I think three days just hanging around London, people watching, and spending time in the British Museum will be a great start to our adventure. I will sign off now, and I will update from London!

Possibly the last post from Australia!!!

Hello out there!

I have my bag packed. It weighs 16kg according to the bathroom scales. It's pretty heavy, so I may take some stuff out of it yet, but it's under the 20kg mark, which I am happy about.

This may be my last post from the Land of Oz. I have several things to do tomorrow, and then we are out of here!

I am a mixture of emotions at the moment. I am SOOOO excited to be leaving, but at the same time I am afraid that I won't like it, scared of the unknown. I know Scott is feeling similarly to me. It's his first overseas trip too, which makes it even more scarey etc!

We have cash and travellers cheques, copies of documents. I think I am supposed to take one with me. And leave one at home? I have no idea! I thought so, but I will talk to mum about it tomorrow.

For all of those who will be reading this when we are away, I invite you to post a comment on my journal and/or on Scott's. Just click on the comment link (it will say 1 Comment or 0 Comments etc). Then click on Post comment and write to me! Simple!

It is here that I will sign off. Please keep in touch. Take care, and I will "speak" to you all soon!

Alex :-)

A big big weekend

I think my last weekend in Australia for a while was one of the busiest, craziest in a long long time!! Friday night was a great night. It was fantastic to see so many of our friends together in the one spot! The food was great, the people even better!! I still think they do the best satay chicken skewers ever. I got some photos on my shiny toy too, which is good. I may even post some to my journal. If i get the time over the next few days.

Scott has been unwell for a few days, so the next couple of days will be focussed on getting him ready to fly. I have complete faith that he will be ready to go. I believe in the power of positive thinking, what harm can it do, right?

As for me, at this point I am surviving on 4 hours sleep. I locked the keys in the car, in the ignition with the engine running tonight at the airport when we dropped my uncle Tony off after his weekend staying with us. It was very funny. You have to see the lighter side of life I say.

I am off to bed. Tomorrow is a new day. Gute Nacht. Schalfs gut. :-)

One week to go

Hello there. Well, it's one week until Scott and I leave the country. I just can't believe that in exactly seven days time, we will be at the airport! I pretty much have everything I need. Apart from that pesky stuff called money of course! We have to arrange/buy travellers cheques, probably on Monday. I will get my last pay on the day we leave, so I will withdraw all of that and exchange that too!

I have my bag pretty much packed. I am usually organised with that kind of thing when it comes to trips. I need to buy shampoo, an extra battery for my camera and a camera case, and I am all set!

As for the going away dinner, it's looking pretty good! People have been a bit slack with the rsvps, but I can forgive them! I am really looking forward to having lots of people in the one spot! I was asked today if there was anything I had not bought yet, as my friend L., the sweet thing that she is, wanted to buy Scott and I a going away present. We pretty much have everything. More money is always good, but I don't want it as presents from friends. From family it's different. From friends I just want to be able to enjoy a meal with them, and say good bye.

Photos

Thank you to my nerdy friend Nic who has taught me how to post phots in my journal. I did a test run today, and it worked perfectly.

As for the rest of the preparations, I have re-packed my bag. I weighed it, but it seems to weigh about 14 kilograms. Now from previous adventures, even to Melbourne, it is most unlike me, or any member of my family for htat matter, that I should be taking so little luggage! What is going on I asked myself? Well, I wanted to take my bag not full, which I seem to have achieved. But because I do not believe our scales at home, which are notorious at the best of times, I will be taking my pack to the airport. My uncle is coming up for the weekend this Friday, and I will take my pack to the airport when we drop him off. I will dump my bag on a set of scales there, and hopefully get a clearer picture of the weight of my baggage. In theory anyway!

Dreams

I think it must be the stress of the upsoming launching off into the unknown, but I have had two bad dreams this week, and noth are related to the trip. Last night's was related to the working in the pub. I dreamt that I forgot everything, like my wallet and my passport (although how I was able to enter the UK withou one is another matter), that the boss was the woman from that terrible movie Cyote Ugly, and that I was desperately unhappy. And I couldn't call home because I had no idea how to make a reverse charge phone call!! I really hate having bad dreams. They really throw me, and I wake up feeling awful.

In other news, hardly anyone has RSVPed for our party. I don't think people realise that we need to tell the restaurant how many people will be there. I NEED TO KNOW PEOPLE!! And besides, I would lke to know who to expect to walk thru the door rather than be surprised. If I haven't heard from people, I will send an email over the weekend, demanding to know.

My ears really hurt. I think they are full of fluid, which is great if I have to spend 22 hours on a plane with them like this, hey? Yeah, a whole bunch of fun! I have to go to the doctor sometime this week or next to get drugs for the trip, so I will mention my ears. Hopefully they will clear up by the time we leave! Keep your fingers crossed for me people!!

Big Purchase!!

I did it! I bought my camera. It's shiny and cute and pocket-sized! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I took a cool photo with it in black and white of the underside of the Riverside Expressway. It's very cool. I have to show Nic, a Canon fancier herself. It is just a matter of playing around with all the settings and stuff so I am completely familiar with it all.

Otherwise, it is two weeks until we leave. I still have a range of emotions going through my head. But, overall, the strongest feelings are excitement and happiness. I have wanted this trip for so long, and it's finally here. And I have a wonderful travel partner by my side too! What more could I ask for?

It's getting closer...

I had horrible dreams last night about money. I have been stressing about the fact that I won't have enough money when we are overseas. I have a UK bank account waiting for me over there, but I still worry. Any large cash donations would be gratefully accepted!! ;-)
I am looking forward to our going away party. It will be nice to have everyone in the one place so we can say good bye. I am trying to spend time with my parents at the moment, as I won't see them for a while! It will be strange not seeing them. But, it's not like I won't be able to keep in contact! Especially with this journal, which hopefully everyone will read while we are gone.
My task this week is to purchase my camera. I want to learn how to use it before I leave, and learn how to email piccies home too. That would be nice! Oh god, more money to spend!!!

More to tell

Things are moving along nicely. I picked up our London Passes etc today from the lovely travel agent. We have to exchange them in London for actual tickets/cards I guess when we get there. We also got those under 26 cards. So even though I should have gone overseas years ago (instead of spending soooo long at uni) I can feel young, as I now have a special Youth Card, Yay me!

I packed up my bag last night to see just how much space everything would take up in my bag. Well, I was a little shocked to say the least! I divided my stuff into things I think I will need when I get there or one the plane, which I put into my day pack, and the other pile was basically everything else. My daypack was absolutely stuffed, and weighed a tonne, and that was without the 2 litres of water I am supposed to consume on the flight! My backpack was also full, and extremely heavy! And that was without the hairdryer, the guide book, the underwear, and the extra two pairs of pants I want to take. I have to do a serious cull of the things I want to take.

Still scared, but getting really excited. I am worried that I won't have enough money to spend. Scott is lucky, in that he was given a nice present from someone, as well as the fact that he earns more than me. I was promised something that didn't turn out the way I expected, which disappoints me slightly, as I would have preferred what I was promised, as it would have helped me a hell of a lot more than what I got (at least in the present!). I know that is a little confusing, but I know what I am talking about. I told mum that I just won't eat for the three weeks of the tour, as I still have to buy my camera yet. That's $700 or so, if I get a good price. I told her that photos are more important than food! Well, in the long term I won't remember what I ate for lunch when I saw La Tour Eiffel for the first time, but if I can't take a photo, I will remember that for ever!!

Anyway, enough of that. It's off to plan just how much we can cram into our first few days we are in London!