London

18th September – London
We made our way to the bus station in Bath and took a bus to London. We arrived in Greenwich and stayed at a pub and had a meal. It was SO good and cost only a few pounds each. Kyle asked if the pub was new after noticing renovations, the bartender said it was 300 years old.
We met Leon after that and then left for a walk to Greenwich park where we walked and saw the lookout. This is the place where the Eastern and Western Hemisphere’s meet – Kyle stood on both so was pretty pleased with himself. We went back to Leon’s place and just chilled out while Leon had some dinner and then Kyle and Leon drank some whiskeys. It was so good to see Leon again and catch up – and see where he lives.

19th September
After a much deserved sleep-in we went for a walk to Cutty Sark boat in the centre of Greenwich. We didn’t do much today as we were so tired. We went back to Leon’s place and watched Netflix and had naps. When Leon came home from work we went to a cool pub where we sat outside and had a yarn for an hour or so.

20th September
Kyle’s Birthday!! In the morning I went to the supermarket and bought some pastries for Kyle, and some candles and a card. I arranged them all for when he woke up. It was a nice surprise but it’s always hard being away from family on your birthday. Then we took the ferry from Greenwich into London City. The first tourist thing we did was visit the London Church which was built over old Roman roads. We could see these from the crypt. We then went to the British Museum and Kyle was in his element – there was an Ancient Egyptian exhibition and the famous Rosetta stone was there. The museum was huge and we looked though almost all of it and it had ancient Roman, Greek, Asyrian and Egyptian artifacts. It was well set out and the Rosetta stone was there in all it’s glory. Kyle had a run-in with a Chinese tourist while trying to take a photo of it which was pretty hilarious. For lunch we went to Camden Markets and I had delicious vegan nachos served from a girl who was from Christchurch, and Kyle had a meaty cheese burger. Then we went to Trafalgar Square and met Leon at a pub and had a few beers and cider. After that we then went to a restaurant and had dinner super fast…then enjoyed Kyle’s present…ALADDIN the Musical! The show was really cool and we were all slightly tipsy so made it even better. The magic carpet was a real highlight!

After that the night was still young! We went to Ronnie Scotts' Jazz Bar and saw the house band – they were amazing and I could have easily stayed there all night. However we weren’t dressed for it and we were already pretty tired! After that we visited Crobar which is where Iron Maiden performed before they were famous. Kyle had an Iron Maiden Trouper Beer to be authentic. It was such a great day.

21st September
A much needed rest day! That night we went to see Les Miserables and it was phenomenal. Next level to Aladdin and one of the best shows that I’ve ever seen. It was worth the money and the cheap seats we were in.

22nd September
We left in the morning to go and see our friends Scott and Amy who we met on the Indochina tour. Amy picked us up from Stratford and drove us in her mini to Leamington where Scott and his partner Mairi lived. We were so lucky to stay with them and was amazing catching up. We bought a bunch of chocolate from the supermarket and had curry there (NZ curry is still just as good if not better) and had late night yarns.

23rd September
We slept in and then all five of us went to this nice café for brunch. It was so nice just yarning with everyone and seeing their city - it was so beautiful. We also visited another café and Kyle and Scott had a special coffee again so they were all very happy! Then we had to go, but luckily we

were going to same place as Amy so managed to get a ride there which was amazing.

Essex, Benfleet.
Kyle’s family from South Africa are living there now – Mandy, Trevor, Carmen, Ruben, Gabriel and Savannah. Heather also visited us from where she lives. It was amazing to see how well they were doing and how happy they were there. We had a Braai and it was extremely delicious!

24th September
The next morning we had a nice relaxing breakfast with them and then headed back to Greenwich by train. We then went to the Natural History Museum

which was a little disappointing as it was quite ‘old’ and needed a spruce up. That night we went into London and met up with Leon, my cousin Claire and my friend from uni, Kate. It was so nice to be around Kiwis again and familiar faces. The UK was a great place to chill out with friends and family and do some sightseeing.
- Danielle