Wandering round Westminster

After a whirlwind tour of historical London it was time for Mum to head off back to Bristol and for me to start my tour, first however, we had the day to explore a bit more of London. The first stop was the Palaces at Westminster. We took the tube to Westminster Station and walked towards the parliament building. It took us some time to find the ticket office (which was hidden down a set of steps, behind a wall in a building across the road), and took us just as long to get through security. You had to have your photo taken and have the pass around your neck while you’re inside. The queue was long but we got through and wandered up to the gates of the Great Hall, where the tour began from. There we joined another queue and waited for our tour guide to arrive. We climbed the steps from the hall and headed inside. My first impressions of the building was that, compared to Australia’s parliament house, it certainly had more plush setting and a lot more history. We were told about the gun powder plot and how a bomb had hit the parliament during WWII. The House of Commons was directly hit and did a lot of damage. They rebuilt the parliament after the war just the same as it had been. It was interesting to note that if all members of parliament were to attend, there wouldn’t be enough seating for them all. This is because there is something like 350 seats and 450 members of parliament. It was kept this way so it would not look too empty when it was seen on television. We also walked through the House of Lords and all the way to the Queens Chambers. It was also interesting to note that the House of Commons is the one place that the Queen is not able to go. When opening parliament she gives here speech from the House of Lords with the doors open through to the House of Commons so that they are able to hear. It was good to go around the parliament and it certainly was impressive. Once the tour finished we left the parliament and wandered outside and over the Westminster Abbey, which is just across the road.

We queued once again. It cost about £18 to get into the abbey which came with an included audio tour. We wandered around with the speaker to our ear through the abbey. We queued, then entered the tombs of previous kings and queens. They have a café at the abbey. It is in the cloisters area. While this seemed a bit tacky it didn’t stop us from having a cup of hot chocolate there and a muffin. As I walked around the abbey, I kept thinking back to how I’d seen it on the television with the wedding of Charles and Diana, and more recently, Will and Kate. You could picture they walking down the isle, saw where the guests sat and when we left the abbey we did so via the western gate where all the guests, including the queen, entered on that day. It was amazing to think of the history of the place. We just don’t get that in Australia.

Mum was booked on the 5 pm bus so we headed back to Victoria Coach Station and had dinner in a nearby pub. I said goodbye to Mum and the wandered back to train station to collect my bags from the Left Luggage section. I’d planned to spend a little longer in London that night before heading back to the Bus station but an hour later I’d looked in all the shops I’d wanted to and lingered on as many benches as necessary so decided to head to the airport early. My flight was leaving ridiculously early the next day so I decided that I would just spend the night there (rather than paying for a nights accommodation and having to leave super early anyway. It was just getting dark when I arrived at Stanstead after a bus ride that seemed to take forever. With my backpack on my back and another in my hand, I entered the airport. After making three circuits of the check in area I chose the spot where I would spend the night. It was a row of benches near one of the large windows overlooking a car park. I sat down and took out my book. Five minutes later I decided that the book wasn’t exciting enough and went off to find a W H Smith store. Half and hour later I had a new book (and a multi adapter for my camera) and wandered back over to my spot. It was a long night. I slept for about two hours all up. That was pretty good considering how busy the airport was. Even at two in the morning the cleaning staff were still driving round on their little floor sweeper buggies past sleeping passengers without a second glance. I know this as I saw several of coming round and random intervals throughout the night. At around four in the morning I changed my spot, fearful that if I fell asleep again (a slim chance but a chance none the less) then I would not have my phone alarm to wake me as the battery had run out. I relocated to a dirty bit of floor near a wall plug and after plugging in my phone, lay down again. An hour and a half later and it was time to line up for my flight check in. I wasn’t the first one there, which surprised me, I did notice however a few tired faces in the crowd and recognised them from various places around the airport. They’d obviously spend the night there too.

Historical London

Day two in London and we had more sights to see. It was going to be another right royal day. Our plan was to go to the Tower of London in the morning and then head over to Hampton Court Palace in the afternoon. We arrived at the Tower just on opening and walked through the imposing front gate. I’d been to the tower once before (in 1999) and now, over ten years later, nothing had changed. It was still as impressive as before. With buildings that have been there for centuries, little change is good. It lets you picture the history throughout the Tower. We wandered around the Tower, through the exhibits that they had set up in many of the rooms, and pictured what it would have been like throughout history. The most impressive thing though, was the Crown Jewels. I guess that’s what everyone really goes there to see, the crowds were a testament to this. We waited in line, slowly winding our way into the vault. The Crown Jewels are kept in a massive vault with solid metal doors about a foot thick. You pass them while standing on a conveyor belt (flat escalator) and slowly glide past them peering in through the thick glass at the glittering jewels beyond. They certainly were impressive. Actually, impressive doesn’t really even come close. They were very impressive. Spectacular even, and this is coming from someone who sees jewels as expensive polished stones. There were many crowns in there, each more breathtaking than the last. Each crown was set with not just jewels, but pearls, lace, velvet and a lot of just as impressive stitching. After having a second look, and stopping to admire a solid gold plate (exquisitely cast and bigger than my car) we left the Tower and went to Waterloo Station to catch the Southern Line train to Hampton Court.

Hampton Court Palace is the large red brick building next to the river. You can see it from the train station. A quick walk over the bridge and you are there. From the ticket office you walk down a long road which leads to a roundabout and the front entrance to the palace. Surrounding the main court are long corridors, formal gardens, staterooms and lots of kitchens. They say that Henry VIII enjoyed his food and the palace certainly attests to that. The food preparation wing took up almost one side of the palace and were quite impressive. Our audio guide told us what went on in the kitchens and it was amazing to think of all the people working in there. It was kitted out with all of the modern facilities such as roasting spits and boiling pots and had massive fires which must have made it quite uncomfortable for the child who would have had to turn the meat on the spit. The rooms were impressive as one would imagine and the garden, formal in its creation, had secret areas surrounded by high hedges which would have been private to the whole court. These were filled with flat lawn, greet shrubs or colourful flowers. Water features were also common throughout these private little gardens and in front of the orangery. It was interesting to hear about the palaces and how they operated. Being there made the history even more interesting.

First day in London

It was about seven-thirty when I awoke the next morning. A cup of tea and half an hour later Mum and I were on our way down to breakfast. The breakfast room of the hotel was the basement level. It was tiny. I couldn’t he having a quick look into their kitchen on my way to the continental breakfast buffet. It was clean and all stainless steel but I questioned their washing and sanitising process with the breakfast dishes. I put it out of my mind (my work is dull enough as it is without doing it on holiday), and buttered my toast. After breakfast Mum and I wandered into town.

Our first stop was the Buckingham Palace ticket office. We purchased tickets for the 11 o’clock entry and then went for a wander around St James Park and watched the squirrels. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Buckingham Palace is the most impressive palace I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a few!). I couldn’t say there was one thing that didn’t amaze me, from the carpet to the ceiling it was stunning. That isn’t even taking into account any of the history or moments of the palace that I’ve watched on the telly. We ambled around listening to audio tour and taking our time, taking our time to soak it all up. We saw an exhibition of the Royal Faberge collection which consisted of some delicately carved and super expensive ornaments including quite a few of the trademark eggs. It was impressive. It took around two hours to go through the ‘guest wing’ and before we knew it we were standing on the steps overlooking the rear garden. After a few photos we headed down one of the winding paths, past the lake and out of the palace grounds.

After a quick lunch in a pub we once again wandered off through the narrow streets. We ended up in Westminster, by the cathedral to be exact, and went in for a look. It was impressive inside but the view from the tower was even better. From the top you could see most of London, the classic skyline all around with 360o views. From the top you could see the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the dome of St Paul’s and even Buckingham Palace. It was windy at the top, but the sunshine shining down made it an even better view.

We couldn’t stay up there for too long as we had an appointment. Laura was paying for a treat for both Mum and me. Afternoon tea at Browns Hotel, one of the poshest establishments in London. The spread was impressive, three tiers of scones, sandwiches and cakes. And of course tea. We spend the rest of the afternoon sitting in the luxurious surroundings and eating all we could. After going through two set of tiers and two tea pots full of tea, it was time to head back to the real world. And we wandered out the land of top hats and into the one of baseball caps.

The flight from Brisbane

I was excited when I arrived at the airport. Dad dropped me off around nine at night. My flight was due to leave a little before midnight so we were in plenty of time. After one last coffee I said good-bye and wandered downstairs to start the customs process. It took hardly any time at all. In fact I spent more time filling in my form than standing in line. Before I knew it I was through and browsing in the souvenir shops on the other side. I toyed with buying a camera duty-free but in the end, even the tax free prices were too much for me to part with at that time. After much umming and ahhing I wandered over to the gate.

I was the first one to arrive so I sat down, took out my book, and started the wait until it was time to board. The crowds slowly gathered and before long the announcement came over the loud speakers that it was time to board. I joined the queue and presented my ticket and passport to the lady at the gate. It always surprises me that you have to show it before you board the aircraft, especially in an international airport when you’ve already gone through security and customs, the airlines mustn’t have much faith in airport security. Of course, this part has nothing to do with security and more to do with keeping the general public in a prolonged state of fear in order to push government policy and politicians’ agendas, but I digress.

I’d like to say the flight was long and uneventful. It was long but not uneventful. Unfortunately. After dinner was served and the free alcohol was given out the guy in the seat behind me started to make a fuss. This involved kicking the seat in front of him, grabbing through the seats in front of him and yelling at the top of his voice to the people sitting in the seats two rows ahead. Unfortunately for me, I was stuck right in the middle of all of this. And doubly unfortunately for me, the flight crew did not want to do anything about it, no matter how many times me, and the person sitting next to me pushed our ‘call’ bells. Despite a few indifferent warnings from one staff member, the man behind me did not change his behaviour. For the next six hours I had to listen to him yell for more whiskey (he obviously couldn’t hold his drink, but the crew kept serving him until about four hours into the flight). He at least stopped trying to reach through the gap between my (and my neighbour’s) seat. This could have been because the last time he did it I grabbed his arm and tried to tear it from his shoulder bending it around and down in the process, but I’m not sure. I was glad when the captain’s voice came over the speakers that we were now going to land. The man behind me didn’t stop yelling all the way down and even out into the terminal. The crew smiled at him and said a cheery goodbye as he left. It’s a shame that the crew didn’t show the same courtesy to the other passengers when we were in the air. I swore then that I would never fly Malaysian Airlines again. It wasn’t just their service, but also the way they showed complete disinterest in the thoughts and feelings of the people sat near the drunk, and just appeared to want a peaceful flight (from where they were sitting down the cabin).

Unfortunately this promise was broken four hours later when I boarded my next flight to London (but I swore to not go with Malaysian Airways once this holiday was over). The next flight was a lot better than the last. I still didn’t get any sleep, and my seat was next to a bulkhead so I had half the leg room of all other passengers (including those in the rows) but at least I could sit without someone yelling behind me. In the following 12 hours I watched the Harry Potter. Harry Potter movies to be more exact. Movies 2, 3, 4 and 5. I also watched several episodes of the Simpsons, the Big Bang Theory and several mind numbing episodes of some other reality TV show about a someone with too much money and no brain. After what seemed like an eternity (as I’d had to resort to watching the reality TV show) the plane touched down in London. It was good to get off the plane. I walked through customs and then had to wait about half an hour for my bag to come through. After that I was out into the main terminal.

It was the faces of Mum and Aunty Carole who greeted me at the Arrivals gate. It was good to see them and despite not sleeping for the past 48 hours, I was happy. We caught the Tube into Victoria Station and had dinner in a pub nearby. Fish and chips and a pint of Fosters never tasted so good. I told my story to sympathetic ears and we all agreed that the flight crew should have drugged the man to keep him quiet (we didn’t, but it would have made my flight easier). After dinner Mum and I said goodbye to Aunty Carole and wandered off to find our hotel. A quick look at the GPS on my phone and we were winding our way through the busy streets of London. The hotel was a simple one but the bed was comfy and the shower hot. After climbing the 99 steps up to the room (over four storeys) it was very welcome.

Holidays!!!

After four years the time has now come. I'm off on holidays! It's been a while. So I'm looking forward to it. My plan is to do a tour around the Baltics and a bit of Scandinavia.

Suit Up!

Yesterday me and the EH admin had the important job of going through the disaster response kits and updating them. This involved making a list of everything in the kit such as high-visibility jackets, overalls, clip boards, pens and helmets and seeing that it was all there. On this occasion it was.

Getting Closer

As I said before... Vrooooooom!

Down on the Bogger

This machinery was used to collect all the mined rock. The front bucket flips up and over living the rock to the carriages waiting behind. This is apparently the only working one in the world as they have now been banned as they were very dangerous.

Going underground

While up in Tennant Creek I decided to do a bit of sightseeing. This is me out the front of one of the many mines that are found in the Tennant Creek area.

Vrooooooommmmmm!!!

Almost got to tick one off the bucket list. 40km/h short!