DARWIN-SINGAPORE-LONDON

LONDON 8th November 2009
We did it, we're finally here and its beautiful. The flight from Darwin was a long one but seemed to pass pretty quick. Darwin to Singapore on Jetstar was trouble free. Food was good, staff friendly and the kids hired a portable TV and watched movies etc or wrote in their travel books. Singapore airport is lovely and so are the people, very friendly and Mia gave the toilets a huge thumbs up for cleanliness. The flight from Singapore to London was long but the service, food and facilities on our Qantas plane were 1st class even though we were in the cosy class...i call it that because you have no choice but to get cosy with the other passengers because its so cramped. Mia slept for about 6 hours and missed 2 meals, she curled up in the seat and went out like a light.
Just after 5am we landed in London, it was dark so we couldn't see anything. The part of Heathrow airport that we were in was horrible and very dingy compared to Darwin and Singapore...needed a good clean. We passed through customs really quick because most of the passengers were locals so they formed a different line to the holiday makers. The Jamaican woman who processed our passports was the rudest thing I've met in a long time. She thought it was bad parenting on my part to pull my children from school to come on a frivolous holiday and she was not happy. You can imagine my feelings at this point. I was too intimidated to say too much because she was clearly letting me know that she could stop us coming into the country.I told her that I had not broken any law and she started asking personal questions which I refused to answer.She reminded me that I was now in great Britain, literally threw our passports at me then waved us away. The kids were upset and I was on the verge of tears ...WELCOME TO BRITAIN ! .
After we calmed down we made our way to the baggage claim and straight away found Mia and my bags but not Riley's. That carousel went around about 10 more times and I was starting to worry. I suddenly recalled the check in guys face at Singapore airport when he asked if our bags had been through checked to London, I said they had because it was easier. He gave a chuckle and said “ yes very safe, I sure they arrive in London “and he smiled. But all was good and Riley's bag eventually turned up on the carousel. Now it was time to get some money from the ATM and find a train. We caught the Heathrow Express and arrived at an empty Paddington Station 15 mins later. You know that wall of heat that hits you when you walk through the doors of Darwin airport ? Well we were pushed back by the wall of cold that hit us when we walked out of the station, it was time for the jackets and because it was dark we went up the road to MacDonald's to put them on and have a hot drink. At first light which was around 7am I think, we walked down Craven Rd to our hotel. Very nice and cheap. We couldn't have our room till 2pm but we used the public loo to get into our jeans, jackets and to put the socks and boots on. Around 7.30am we set off to explore. We went for a wander around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park,we really liked these parks.Autumn leaves everywhere which Mia loved. The best part though were the Squirrels everywhere you turned. They were scurrying here and there collecting stuff for winter and running back up the trees, it was the cutest thing ever and I think we'll go back everyday to see them. We walked for miles past all manner of things. Harrods was shut so we had a coffee in Starbucks and headed over to Mayfair. It was cold but bearable and only became unbearable when the wind blew straight off ice and cut through us like a knife, we realised we needed new jackets so the plan was to make our way to Oxford Street

We were lucky near Hyde Park Corner when we got to see the Queens Cavalry and more, enter the Wellington Gate area for what looked like a memorial service for Rememberance Day, there were police and TV crews everywhere and lots of very fancy dressed people, naturally we blended in with them !!. We walked up Park Lane past the rich hotels and the car show rooms for BMW and Aston Martin, Riley drooled and came out at Oxford Street where along with 8,000 other people we entered this really big,flash looking but very cheap clothing store called Primark, they were having a sale. Tegan had told me about this place and I'm glad she did. It was great and we bought 3 padded waterproof jackets and a few fleece lined thin under shirts for 1 pound each ! The total cost for everything was 30 pounds, around 60 Aussie dollars...my kind of shopping. I'm glad there were so many people there because it took the urge to buy more away from me.By this time it was 2pm and we were buggered, our legs were tired and we were starting to stagger so we headed back to the hotel and up to our room. We're on the fourth floor of the hotel and although a small room its clean and has everything we need and it's cheap. At 5pm it was dark and the kids were in danger of sleeping without dinner so we went for a chilly walk to KFC then had showers and both kids were asleep by 6.30pm, I joined them at 7.30pm after down loading photos and putting them onto a USB. I'm so glad I bought the laptop, it was a nuisance on the plane but worth it. Sorry Neil !

It's now 5.30am on the 9th Nov and we're getting ready to head out for breakfast and start exploring again. Have a nice day ! For those with a map, we went down Craven Rd turned onto Westbourne Terrace, past Lancaster Gate, crossed Bayswater rd, into Kensington Gardens, zig zagged through Kensington and Hyde Park and came out on the other side of the Park on Kensington road opposite the Royal Albert Hall. We walked down to Knightsbridge st and to Harrods, then over to Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Road, over to Park Lane, down Oxford street, up Oxford st, up Edgeware rd, down Sussex Gardens road up Craven rd to the hotel.