Ok, I have succumbed to the pressure and decided to create a blog. In reality it means I will have somewhere to post my thoughts about my time away from New Zealand and satisfy you lot with photos as well.

Check out the links to my photo albums on the right-hand side of this blog page.

I guess I should bring you all up to speed with what has been happening since I arrived.
Here goes...

6 September 2006

After leaving New Zealand (in a very organised fashion I have to say), I flew to Sydney for three days to catch up with friends. My good friend and partner in crime Winnie put me up at her digs in Lilyfield. It was a very rushed three days as I attempted to catch up with as many people as time/schedules would allow (sorry to those I missed out on seeing - you'll have to come visit me!).

8 September 2006

Saying goodbye to the land of Oz, I started a 14 hour hellish journey I never wish to repeat again. I love flying Emirates but fortune did not favour me and I was stuck in the middle of a row of people with no foot room on a packed flight. What made it worse, a poor elderly woman took a turn for the worse across the aisle from us, and after having practically every crew member and doctor they could summon virtually sitting in my lap they managed to bring her around. I was relieved for her, but there was a stench in the air that remained there for some time. Needless to say, sleeping on this flight was not an option.

9 September 2006

At last! With my feet firmly on the ground (or sand) I was finally in Dubai. We arrived around 5am and it was already 33 degrees. Dubai airport was this huge barn-like structure, and for the amount of people milling around it was unusually quiet. I sat down at a cafe and ordered a large coffee which cost £4 and it arrived in the hugest mug I have ever seen. Just over an hour to stretch my legs and then it was back on the plane for part two. As we were taking off I had a great view of the famous Sails hotel on its own little island and saw the massive palm tree island - stunning. These folks don't do anything by halves.

Managing to procure myself a window seat for the Dubai to London leg, I was much more comfortable and although I hadn't slept in 26 hours, the view from the window was far too interesting to miss. We flew straight up the Persian Gulf, hung a left before we got to Iraq and then a right before Gaza Strip. It was quite a surreal feeling flying over these war torn countries I had heard so much about over the years, and the reality of the situation hit home when I saw a couple of fighter jets go whizzing by.

Even at 30,000 feet, I could make out cars, buildings and the many oil facilities below.

We flew north west over Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary and with hardly any clouds, the views were amazing. Thanks to the onboard wizardry of the Emirates system, I was regularly informed of our exact position.

The most interesting part of the journey was flying directly over Frankfurt, it looks like an amazing city (well as far as I can tell from that height anyway).

It wasn't long before we were crossing the English Channel and we soon landed at Heathrow. It felt great to finally have this long journey almost at an end. I was met at the airport by my good friend Anthony, it was nice to see a familiar face.

Ant accompanied me to Clapham Junction where I met Leisha and Derek, my gracious hosts for the next few weeks. A quick hello and then it was head to the pillow!

10 September 2006

After a good nights sleep, it was time to explore the city. Leisha, Derek and I spent the day roaming the inner city, taking in the sights of the likes of the London Eye, Big Ben (not so big up close), The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and then lunch and a spot of shopping on Oxford Street.

After lunch we headed back down towards the river to check out the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower of London is a pretty impressive structure. You can see where it has been added to over the years. I heard they are thinking about refilling the moat around the building.

Aside from the light blue colour scheme, the Tower Bridge is interesting too, I intend to go back and do the tour at some stage in the near future.

We then met up with Karyn Hall (another theatre friend from Hamilton) and her partner for a drink at a pub on the south bank, a fitting end to a busy day!