This February has a very big birthday in it. So a friend and I decided to spend a week in Sydney celebrating it.
I booked an Uber to get me to town then we caught the Sky Drive bus to the airport, which was a lovely feeling because from that moment on everything would happen without needing to organise it or stress about it – our holiday had begun.
According to the weather forecast and concerned friends the weather in Sydney was stormy with massive downpours affecting all travel, but about 30 minutes before landing all that cleared up and we arrived in sunshine.
Passport control and immigration was incredibly easy and fast and bag collection was amazing – our bags turned the corner the second we arrived at the carousel. The airport train turned up two minutes after arriving on the platform and the hotel was only a 5-minute walk from Wynyard Station.
After checking in and discovering our rooms we headed out in search of a liquor store so I could buy beer. Strange thing about the Sydney CBD – none of the supermarkets are licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily there was a liquor store not too far from the hotel – turns out everything was not far from the hotel – this hotel is in an awesome location.
Day two – Tuesday 11th of February
Big huge day of shopping. We started out with breakfast in a Martin Place cafe, then straight to the Lego Store. From there we went up to a fancy shoe store and then a wander round David Jones.
Lunch in a cafe up from the Myers food court, clothes shopping in Uniqlo (where they even do fast free alterations), then over to the Apple Store. Lastly Dymocks then back to the hotel to relax.
No idea why WordPress decided the Apple logo should be that huge, and I can’t adjust it.
Day three – Wednesday 12th of February
Today we had a couple of tours booked so we were very excited and up early, but first – breakfast on the landing in the hotel lobby – most fabulous indeed.
First was a backstage tour of the Opera House and this time I even got to sit inside the main concert hall, the tour was awesome, and we learnt so much. After this we wandered around Circular Quay and filled in time till our 12:30 Long Lunch Harbour cruise this was on a large multi storied Captain Cook boat, the food was great and the staff were lovely.
After the cruise we caught a ferry across the harbour to check out Luna Park, but when we got there, we found out it closed at 2:00 so we missed out by about 20 minutes. Instead, we wandered around the waterfront and caught a train across the bridge back to the hotel.
Day four – Thursday 13th of February
The big birthday – this required a special breakfast in the hotel lobby restaurant before setting off for the Rocks area and the Art Gallery.
After enjoying the air-conditioning in the art gallery we headed for the bridge, walked under and around it getting some great shots of the Opera House and harbour.
From there we headed for the QVB building to have lunch and buy a new Penhaligon’s fragrance.
For dinner we had reservations in the O Bar & Dining revolving restaurant, on the 47th floor of Australia Square. Because it was my birthday we received a free glass of bubbles each when we arrived plus they gave me a really lovely birthday card and exquisite dessert.
The views were amazing, the staff we awesome and the food was sensational. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather – it was a beautiful sunny day and after our two-hour time limit they found us a table in the bar so we could watch the sunset and enjoy a cocktail.
Day five – Friday 14th of February
Our last day was all about getting home. My hotel tv had a cool alarm feature, you could pick a time to wake up and what channel you wanted to wake up to, so I chose Channel 7 for the breakfast tv. I woke to the stressful news that the Sydney train staff were on strike and there were hour long queues to get on an airport train and traffic in the city would be gridlocked. So, we decided to check out early and get an Uber around 9:30 – this was a great plan and we got to the airport without incident and in plenty of time.
About 30 minutes after we got inside the terminal it started to rain – the first time since we arrived on Monday and the rain was so heavy there was flooding, however it didn’t affect take off and apart from the screaming babies in rows near us the whole trip home was great.
After lasting 15 years working for the same company, I deserved a treat, plus we get long service leave after 15 years so I needed to use it and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this milestone, than a trip to Sydney for a holiday and some shopping in the brand-new biggest Lego store in the world. Turned out this was a great way to celebrate and everything was awesome with many highlights, there were no disappointments and everything went as planned or even better than I hoped for.
Day One – Tuesday 27th of February
Up super early to drive myself to the airport and check in to the Park & Ride car park, it was raining and there were many holdups on the way so when I got there and found a spot I was very relieved. So relieved I didn’t really take much notice of where I had parked till I saw a huge reminder notice asking everyone if they had taken note of where they parked, so I took a photo of the area where my car was focussing mainly on the big black building in the background (more on this at the end of this blog). Luckily it had stopped raining so I didn’t get wet while dragging my bag to the bus stop. The bus turned up after a minute of waiting, I got on and the very kind bus driver even grabbed my suitcase so I didn’t have to try and lift it. And so my holiday officially begun where I can start to sit back and relax, everything going forward is out of my hands and I had plenty of time to relax and grab breakfast after dropping off my bag and clearing security.
Great flight over and as luck would have it, the lady seated next to me was very skinny and took up no room at all. After clearing customs etc I went in search of the pick up point for Uber cars, however that was harder than I thought and not that cheap so I ended up catching the train to Central Station and an $11 Uber to Darling Harbour where the Park Royal hotel was excited to see me (even at 2:00 rather than 3:00) and a fabulous upgrade to the Club Floor awaited. The upgrade was on a standby if available basis for only $60 extra and you had to accept the offer a few days in advance. The upgrade gave me access to the Club Lounge with stunning views, fully cooked breakfasts, snacks and refreshments throughout the day and 2 hours of free drinks from 5:00 – 7:00 every night. My suite had TWO toilets!
After falling in love with my room I had a whole afternoon ahead of me and I wanted to suss out how long it would take me to get to the Opera House in time for tomorrow morning’s tour, so I set off up the hill from Darling Harbour to George St, jumped on the light rail train and went all the way to Circular Quay. When I turned a corner and saw the Opera House I was filled with joy, even though I have seen it several times before I still get goosebumps when I see it in real life. I took a walk around it, took some photos and headed along the wharf to find somewhere to eat. I ended up in Wahlburgers, had never been before even though we have one in Auckland now. It had a really cool concept where you sat at the table, downloaded the app, ordered food and paid for it all within the app. However the app didn’t like my card so I had to use ApplePay which was mega easy and cool, but that meant I was paying in NZ dollars and there would be an exchange rate difference & comission – oh well I’m on holiday, so never mind. The food was great and the beer very refreshing.
After that I wandered around Circular Quay then headed for the train to take me to Town Hall Station (nearest stop to the hotel) & Woolworths to buy beer and snacks. Shockingly that Woolworths wasn’t licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily right next door was a small liquor store attached to a pub so I bought beer from there and I’m pretty sure I bought beer from there back in 2015.
Day Two – Wednesday 28th of February
Wide awake very early I think because of the time difference & the excitement of trying out the free cooked breakfast in the Club Lounge and then the Sydney Opera House Tour. The breakfast was amazing and the view was great.
After that I had a nice leisurely stroll up to the train which took me all the way to the Opera House. This was the second time I have done the Opera House tour and it was really different from the first time which was cool and this time I finally got to see inside the main Concert Hall, which has been a bucket list item since 1981 (not that I had a bucket list back then). Loved the tour and I’d definitely do it again if I ever go back to Sydney.
After the tour I headed back to the hotel to collect my bag then set off for a wander around the shops mainly to check out the Apple Store and the brand new Lego Store. This was my third attempt at checking out this particular Apple Store, in 2015 we were too early and didn’t have enough time to wait for it to open before we needed to check out of the hotel and in 2020 it was being renovated, so this time it was open and I could buy stuff!
The Lego store (biggest in the world) was everything I hoped it would be, but I left my Lego passport back in the hotel so decided to just wander around but come back tomorrow with my passport and buy something then.
Day Three – Thursday 29th of February
Today a heatwave was scheduled for Sydney, so just as well my plan for the day revolved around shopping in airconditioned stores. The heatwave was even on the news last night warning everyone to take care and stay hydrated and the high was going to be 39 degrees. It only got to 35 but that was way hotter than anything I’m used to, but it sure did look like a stunning day outside.
After an amazing complimentary breakfast, I headed out to Darling Harbour and the Chinese Friendship Garden which I figured would be a nice cool and shaded spot to start off while waiting for the shops to open. However that plan was very short lived coz there was a long walk to the garden and none of it was undercover and it was already 25 degrees and way too hot for me. I found out what the cool shaped building next to my hotel was (above left pic) – it’s simply called the W and they use words starting with W to name their rooms, such as the Wow suite and the Wonderful room. After seeing that the walk to the gardens without cover was too much, I headed for the nearest bridge which was the Pyrmont Bridge (a heritage-listed swing bridge) to get me to the heart of the shops.
First stop was Myers – I figured they would have a nice air conditioned cafe for me to sit and enjoy an iced coffee. But on the way to the cafe I discovered they had Penhaligon’s fragrances which you can’t buy in NZ so I checked them out and discovered they now have their very own shop in the QVB mall, so I decided to go there on the way back to the hotel. The cafe was great, their Lego store was cool and the Westfield mall was all decked out in rainbow colours for Sydney Mardi Gras.
From there I headed out the back door and ended up on Castlereagh Street, this was symbolic because yesterday while I was wandering around the Apple Store a friend in Australia messaged me asking me if I was anywhere near Castlereagh St coz there had been a shooting there and I should avoid the area. But I had no idea where it was and everyone around me was carrying on like nothing was wrong so I figured it was quite far from where I was – turns out it was just one block away! I saw straight ahead there was a beautiful park and a massive cathedral so I headed for that and stood in the shade for a bit.
From there I had a wander around the stunning David Jones department store. It was like stepping back in time to the fifties glamour era. It had a wonderful Lego shop, a massive bank of about 10 lifts all in a row and the most visually stunning shoe store like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I only ended up on the shoes floor coz I was looking for the men’s loo.
After that I headed to the Lego store and found something to buy – this time I had my Lego passport and when I told the salesperson she said, “Oh I hope it’s not your real passport”. Apparently a lot of adults see the sign and think they can get a Lego stamp in their real passport. I bought the Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit set, (a) because it wasn’t that heavy and (b) because it wasn’t that big and would easily fit in my suitcase, plus I’d never seen it before and didn’t know it existed. Next I went to Uniqlo for clothes that a couple of friends recommended big time, but by then I was hungry and so hot and the crowds were beginning to annoy me, so I found a pair of shorts to buy and escaped. On the way to the QVB building I stopped into Dymocks and enquired if they had a book I’ve been trying to find in NZ for years and they actually had one copy left yay.
To finish off my fantastic shopping experience I found the Penhaligon’s shop in the QVB building and it was stunning and they had exactly what I was looking for in several sizes (Myers only had the big size) and when I told the salesperson I was from NZ so going on her mailing list probably was not a good idea she loaded up my bag with many free samples!
Once back in the hotel I had several beers and enjoyed the view while I contemplated what to do next. Then I realised I hadn’t been to the Club Lounge yet to try out the free snacks and all day beveridges, I was the only person in there so that was nice.
After checking the time and cooling off I headed out for one last walkabout to Darling Harbour and the Madame Tussauds exhibition.
The ticket guy thought I was a bit strange trying to get in that late in the day – it was about 4:30 and they closed at 5:00, but I knew that would be plenty of time for me and there wouldn’t be any crowds. It was cool but often felt eerie because I constantly felt like someone was watching me and I’d turn around and it would just be a wax figure. The pic above right where someone is taking a photo of something had me fooled for ages – I waited very patiently for them to take the pic so I could get past them.
From there I thought it would be cool for old times sake to catch a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay – check out my 2015 & 2020 blogs. As soon as I turned up to the ferry peer and got on, it took off and the breeze was lovely. Once at Circular Quay I got some frozen yoghurt something that’s hard to find now in Auckland, then took a really long walk all the way around the quay and under the bridge. After that I headed back to the hotel.
Day Four – Friday 1st of March
My last day in Sydney – I thought about going for a walk around Darling Harbour one last time but in the heat without shade and not a whole lot of time left before I headed to the airport, I figured it was best to have a very leisurley luxurious breakfast in the Club Lounge and then take my time doing coffee while packing my bag.
Air NZ sent me an email saying my OneUp bid had been sucessful so I had been upgraded to Premium Economy OMG – I’ve only ever flown Economy Class, so this would be my first time experiencing something a bit better than Economy Class.
It was sad leaving my fabulous hotel suite behind (how will I cope with just the one loo when I get home LOL). The Uber came quickly and there was only a little wait for the train from Central to the airport. Check in was easy and so was passport control and security. The flight was delayed about 30 minutes but as I was flying Premium I got to board early so it really didn’t matter and for the first time ever I got to turn left after boarding!
Premium Economy was indeed quite classy, with proper cutlery, glasses and plates, bigger meals, lots of drinks, big comfy seats, flash headsets and only 21 seats in the cabin.
Passport control and security was fast and easy, and the Park and Ride bus turned up as soon as I got to the stop. But the bus actually stops to let everybody off at a different stop from the one you board after parking your car, but I thought I was at the same stop and headed for my car in completely the wrong direction. Once I got to the spot where my car was supposed to be I realsied I was definitely not in the same area I had dropped my car off at. Luckily I had taken a photo of where I parked but it focused on the large black building in the background – and in the dark that couldn’t be seen and I had no idea where my car was. The car park was massive and dark and I was the only person wandering around dragging a big suitcase behind them – thank goodness it wasn’t raining! I took a closer look at the photo I took of where my car was parked and noticed a tiny sign saying I was in the Blue Zone C – but I was in the Z zone – the other end of the car park, that’s when I realised there are two bus stops!
Sometimes it’s easy to look back on a year and think it wasn’t a very good year, maybe it’s because the bad things that happened stick out more than all the good things. So I decided to look back through all the photos on my phone as a reminder of the cool/awesome things I did in 2023. So these are the highlights, plus a couple of non highlights but they were pretty big events:
January
~ Michelle here from the UK, stayed over at her AirB&B. ~ Movies at the Silky Otter. ~ Not a highlight but… worst rain in history for Auckland (non stop every day for weeks), floods everywhere. ~ Built the Lego Lighthouse.
February
~ Birthday bridge walk – new Mangere Bridge with the gang. ~ Titanic 25th anniversary edition in 3D with Michelle. ~ Orbit restaurant, Sky Tower for dinner to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. ~ Celebrated my birthday with Lisa then walked up Mt Eden.
March
~ House & Garden Tour with Barb. ~ Brunches with friends. ~ Built the Lego Tokyo architecture set and Groot.
April
~ Got Covid for the first time, not a highlight but a significant event. ~ Went on a blind date. ~ DVD nights with friends. ~ Brunches with friends.
May
~ Brunch with Teresa up from Cambridge.
June
~ Wellington on the train with Dad and Paula, saw the Brickman Jurasic World exhibition. ~ Long weekend in Tauranga, hung out with Nic, stayed in a brand new Quest hotel in Mt Maunganui. ~ Bought big 50″ TV – amazing service and after sales service from Harvey Norman dude.
July
~ Flew to Wellington to do some Excel training. ~ John & Donna’s in Whangaoaroa. ~ Actually got flown to Whangarei for training coz all the roads are flooded or broken. ~ Got my first Lego passport after brunch with Ange.
August
~ Wellington for two whole weeks for an induction at the call centre. ~ Wine tasting with the gang.
September
~ Coffee and chocolate festival, stayed over with friends in the city. ~ Built the Lego Galaxy Explorer.
October
~ Election time.
November
~ Auckland Brick Show with Lisa.
December
~ Xmas at the Pullman. ~ Made a big start on the courtyard after several years of neglect (holiday project). ~ Many BBQs with friends.
Wow it’s been a really long time since I added anything to my blog. There have been plenty of things I’ve wanted to blog about so maybe they’ll appear eventually now that I’ve got the ball rolling again.
Dad and Paula thought travelling to Wellington on the train one last time would be a wonderful thing to do and they asked me if I wanted to join them. Absolutely 😊. So, we set off very early on Saturday morning (the 10th of June) by taxi to the train station, check in was super easy and all the staff could not have been more friendly or helpful.
Up front there is an open-air carriage giving photographers a place to take great photos without the window reflection spoiling your pics, and as you can see the weather was perfect for us. After all the rain we’ve been enduring lately it was a huge bonus and I felt incredibly lucky.
The first time we did this train journey it was raining, and it was summer so there wasn’t much snow on the mountains, but it was still a spectacular sight. So that was the main reason for doing the trip again – we were hoping to see snow on the mountains, and we weren’t disappointed – not only was there lots of snow, there wasn’t much cloud hiding anything, and we got to see a whole mountain that we didn’t see last time.
The train trip takes 11 hours and is a very relaxing way to spend a day, seeing the country, eating and drinking and the staff were super helpful the whole way, even when we got off the train, one of the staff made sure we found the taxi rank and helped us down stairs with all our bags.
The train in Wellington.
On Sunday morning while Dad & Paula enjoyed a sleep in, I walked to the brand-new exhibition centre Tākina which is across the road from Te Papa to see a Brickman Lego dinosaur exhibition.
The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, and not windy at all which Wellington is world famous for. So the walk back to the hotel was marvellous, it was also nice to be wandering around Wellington like a tourist rather than rushing off to work.
We stayed in the Quest Hotel 256 Lambton Quay which I really enjoyed, nice clean rooms with everything you could need, including a fully equipped kitchen, dishwasher, laundry and hundreds of movies available on demand. Plus the location is right in the heart of the CBD, near a supermarket and the Cable Car – perfect for us. And we were lucky enough to have rooms that looked out over Lambton Quay.
At lunchtime we ventured out to the Cable Car and had lunch in the restaurant next to the cable car station. Stunning views and great food.
Next, we visited the cable car museum.
On Monday I headed back to Auckland, it was cool to see a Lego dinosaur at the airport promoting the exhibition I’d been to on Sunday. Great weather for flying home and I even got to see the mountains again, but this time from the air. Once back in Auckland I caught the Sky Bus which was only $18 and I had the whole top deck to myself.
And in case you’re wondering… Dad and Paula flew to Christchurch the next day to take the Tranz Alpine Express to see more snowy mountains.
After a 2-year absence the brick show was back 5 & 6 November. In 2020 it was a small part of Armageddon and in 2021 because of Covid it didn’t happen at all. So, this year I was a bit more excited about going to the show than normal. And I wasn’t disappointed, there was lots of stuff I’ve never seen before, so thank you Lisa for coming with me.
The winners of Lego Masters NZ were there with the winner’s trophy. Yes the box of chocolates is made of Lego.
One of my favourite builds in the NZ Lego Masters show from my favourite team was also there in miniature form – it was life-size in the show.
Interestingly even though I’m not a huge Hobbit/LOTR fan, my favourite builds were from those movies:
If you look closely at the next photo you can see each little scene is made from one colour:
There was even a life size motorbike:
I have a campervan model just like the one below, but this one opens up!
In the next video you can see actual water running through the model – I’m sure I’ve never seen real water used in a Lego model before.
Lastly, one more pic but it’s not Lego – amongst this guy’s Lego models were a bunch of old computers that actually worked and ran programs to make his Lego models work. These took me way back to the 80s. So cool.
My last day in Sydney, and one of the many kind things the guy at reception did for me when he upgraded my room was ask me what time I was headed for the airport and extended my check out time till 12:00 for me. So that meant I had half a day to enjoy the amazing room and do some last minute shopping.
I figured I had enough time to race to the Westfield Mall to check out Myers Lego department and then go up the Sydney Tower, the sun was shining so it was a great day for going up the tower. The salesperson in Myers said the same thing about the Sydney Skyline set – it has been retired.
My trip up the tower was probably the fastest “been there done that” sightseeing I’ve ever done. I even asked the girl selling tickets how long it would take. Crazy question I know but I needed to know if there was a long wait to get up there – there wasn’t.
I made it back to the hotel in time for one last look at the spectacular view, grab my bag and check out.
Because it was so hot I contemplated getting a taxi to the airport, but then I had noticed a lot of taxis driving around with their windows open, so I didn’t like my chances of getting a taxi with air conditioning. Plus if there was traffic I’d be quite stressed, so I caught the train which was fast and easy and nowhere near as hot as the one I caught from the airport.
I made it to the airport with plenty of time for several beers and shopping, but I think that should have been the other way round, because it was hot and I was thirsty so I drunk many beers quite quickly and then went shopping. This of course made the purchase of the really expensive new Apple earpods with noise cancellation very very easy. But I love them, and thank you to everyone who gave me birthday money – this is what you bought me.
Oh and as I passed through bag search, guess what I found… the Lego Sydney Skyline Architecture set, for about $20 cheaper (duty free) than what it would’ve been if they’d had it in any of the stores I went in to.
The flight home was fun and I managed to finish off the movie I started watching on the way over – Judy, starring Renée Zellweger. The flight even had wifi so I needed to take a picture of something so I could post it on Facebook (seemed like a good idea at the time), so this is the pic I posted.
Getting my bag and going through customs etc was easy and a very kind friend was waiting outside to pick me up and take me home.
Very exciting morning, I went on a tour of the Sydney Opera House. The tour was fun, educational and well worth taking the time to do – I loved it.
At the start of the tour you have to put on these headsets and receiving devices which was not a good look or a good feel and I said to the guide “do I really have to“. He explained the device was so I could hear him talking no matter which way he was facing or how far away from him I got, which is perfect for someone like me who always straggles behind the pack, taking photos and looking at things just that little bit longer than everyone else. After only a couple of minutes I was loving the headphones.
We got to see inside several of the different theatres and learnt how all the different stages work and watched a video on the history of the Opera House.
From there I went back to the hotel to enjoy my incredible room and view and then headed out to Bondi Junction on a bus. The bus departed from a stop right across the road from the hotel so it was easy, with no wait time and I got to see a lot more of the real Sydney than if I’d caught the subway.
My reason for going out to Bondi was not for surfing (ha ha) but to find the Lego Shop and some hard to find Australian TV show DVDs in JB-Hifi.
Interestingly the Sydney Lego Shop wasn’t any better than the one we have in Auckland and I was disappointed they no longer sold the Sydney Skyline architecture set, apparently it’s a retired set and I’d missed out. I never really wanted it before now, because the Opera House in the set looks weird and there is a building I didn’t recognise.
While there I found a great place for a very late lunch called Lobster Tail Seafood with a great view of the Sydney skyline from an outdoor deck.
I did manage to find a couple of the DVDs on my list in JB-Hifi but I didn’t manage to find my way out of the 5 floor Westfield mall. I had to consult a directory map touch screen several times. Exit is not a search option, but Bus or Train is!
The castle that proudly sits at the centre of Disneyland in California is NOT the same as the one that is in Walt Disney World in Florida or Tokyo Disneyland. It’s also not the same one as Lego used to create their model that I built at Xmas time.
The original castle in Disneyland California is known as the Sleeping Beauty Castle, here is a photo I took of it when I went there in 2012.
When Walt Disney World was built they used the Cinderella Castle which is much taller and more spectacular and it is this castle which features in the Disney Logo and at the start of the Disney movies. When Tokyo Disneyland was built they copied the more spectacular Cinderella Castle as its centrepiece. Here’s a photo I took of it way back in 1985.
The Lego Disney Castle I built this Xmas is the Cinderella Castle.
Apparently Walt Disney was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany while on holiday there before construction began of Disneyland and based the Sleeping Beauty Castle on it, it is also rumoured that the German castle was his inspiration for the Cinderella movie castle. They both have turrets with blue tops but to me the Sleeping Beauty castle has a closer resemblance to the German one.
There is also an urban myth that Disney have to pay Germany (or the owner of the castle) royalties – but I think it’s just that… an urban myth.
I read this article and thought, wow it’s so true and thought I would share it with you. So if you’ve ever wondered what the attraction was or if there was any benefit to making something out of Lego, read this…
My last full day in London, so I made the most of it by catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen yet and visiting the Lego Store one last time.
I expertly navigated my way to the Lego Store all by myself, catching a train and the Tube just like a real Londoner.
There was a queue to get in to the Lego Store but it moved quite quickly and there were friendly staff chatting to people in the queue to take their minds of the fact that we were all queuing to get in to a shop to spend money.
If you look closely you’ll see something I find mildly amusing… there is actually only one child in the queue to get in to this toy shop, everybody else is an adult!
It was a sad visit in a way, knowing this would probably be the last time I ever visited this shop, so I needed to make the most of it – but I couldn’t buy everything I really wanted because there is only so much Lego you can fit in one suitcase. It was cool though that I managed to come here on my first and last day!
After that I was really hungry and couldn’t wait till I met up with my friend to eat, so I popped in to a pizza place in Leicester Square right next to the last place I ate at 30 years ago (Burger King) after my big farewell with the people I worked with.
From there I got myself to the Tate Britain where I met up with a friend who is a member so we got to eat in the members’ lounge like VIPs and attend the Hockney exhibition for free.
I hadn’t seen this friend for about 5 years so it was cool to have a catch up. The gallery and exhibition were very cool. We have a David Hockney print on the wall at work which I walk past every time I go to the kitchen for coffee (so that’s loads of times) so it was awesome to see the real thing. We couldn’t take photos so here’s a couple of pics of the fab light display at the entrance.
And here I am feeling very happy observing some cool taxis – they’re not all black anymore, although most of them still are.
From there we walked past the parliament buildings to get in the massive queue for the London Eye, even tho we had a ticket for a specific time booking.
That turned into quite a drama. There were millions of people all hanging out around the area where you queue for the Eye and we could hardly move and then suddenly we were all told to turn around and head back to the bridge and go around the back of the building due to an incident. This was quite scary as we didn’t know what was happening and nobody wanted to move and we were all being pushed backwards. I’m was also aware that this is the very place there was a terrorist attack a couple of weeks ago adding to the whole situation.
Eventually we made it to the massive queue of people waiting to get on to the London Eye. Some people had tickets, some didn’t and nobody knew where to go or what to do and none of the staff would tell us what was going on. So we waited… and waited… and waited and then suddenly the queue moved and then shrunk and then stopped again. Turned out they had closed the London Eye for some unkown reason and we were handed a form to get a refund. We looked up at the Eye and noticed it wasn’t moving and half the pods were empty and some people looked very stuck in a couple of the pods, so we guessed it broke down and were very glad we weren’t actually on it when it broke down. Imagine suddenly needing to go to the loo and being stuck up there.
So we decided the best thing to do instead of going on the Eye was to get a bottle of wine and sit on the grass enjoying the sun and make the most of our short amount of catch up time together.
After all the wine was gone we walked along the Southbank towards where my friend had to catch her train home from. That’s where I noticed there was a beach!!! Right in the middle of London!!!
It may have had something to do with all the wine we drunk relatively quickly but on that walk in the sunshine – everything looked sparkly and stunning and we decided we shouldn’t wait five more years before we had another catch up, and as we met each other originally in Japan back in the 90s we made a pact to meet again in five years time in KOBE!!!
With that very exciting and happy warm fuzzy thought we said goodbye and I headed home.
New Horizons 