19th August.

Surprisingly slept well and awake before the alarm at 6am. Breakfast at the motel was one dollar each extra and there was a really great variety of food, the best we saw whilst we were away. Both very hungry and helped ourselves to cereal, toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and apricot tarts. Still could have eaten more but it just seemed indecent. Just goes to show our body clock wasn't on breakfast time. Our normal breakfast whilst away was very small.
Quick walk down to Southern Cross Station and we were off on the train to Ballarat.
Onto the bus to Hamilton. It seems that some things have changed with V-Line. They had an employee there organising the luggage into piles for the different sections of the trip. No hand held luggage on board the bus unless it was placed in the racks, not on the floor under the seats 'where it could hurt another passenger'. Go figure? You would think falling from an overhead rack would be more of a danger. No alcohol, hot drinks or hot food allowed and the driver even went for a walk down the isle to check that everyone had their seat belts on.
Off to Hamilton and very happy to see water running everywhere. Arrived at Hamilton and collected by Annette's mum and escorted home. Very pleased to see the old place again.
Just in summing up we were surprised we stayed so long in France. It really is pretty easy to get around the country and again we found nearly all the people we had contact with very pleasant and helpful even if they couldn't speak any English. A lot of people had never met Australians before and were amazed at us just wandering around their country with backpacks. Annette got to see lots of churches and chateaus. We got to sample lots of food and Annette became pretty good at reading the menus. The only regret I have is we didn't get up into the alps but there is always next time. Hope you have enjoyed following our wanderings this year.

18th August.

Still a long flight and arrived in Melbourne both suffering from night shift trauma. Into the duty free where a couple of purchases made then to customs. No waiting in the line with the new passport. Just scan it and receive a ticket and then off to the I.D. station where insert the ticket and stand in front of the face recognition camera and off you go. Found the packs already going round and round so into line and quickly checked. Packs not search this year as when asked told them that we were held up last year when they washed the tent pegs and ground sheet so this year we made sure everything was clean of dirt.
Out into the Melbourne weather which was only about 8 degrees but we found to be refreshing rather than cold. On to the sky bus and into Southern Cross terminal and a short walk to the Ibis Motel in Little Bourke Street. Lucky for us they had a room available straight away so we were in bed by 9.30am with the alarm set for 5.30pm. Slept straight through.
Up and off and met Felicity in Collins Street and caught a tram to Richmond where James had booked a table at a pub. Had a lovely steak for under 7 dollars, yes that's right. Said goodby to James and back into the city where we were still hungry so had desert and coffee with Felicity. Said goodby to her and after midnight before we were in bed and asleep.
Home tomorrow on the train to Ballarat then the bus to Hamilton. Looking forward to it.

17th August.

Arrived in Singapore reasonable fresh and alert. Still impressed by the airport facilities. Had a quick light meal when we would have loved to have had just cereal. Then off to have a shower and again felt really refreshed after, ready to tackle the flight home to Melbourne. Into customs where one of the customs officers took a liking to Annette and gave her a pat down. I would have loved to had a photo of that. Not long to wait at the gate and we were on board. Seemed to take awhile to get airborne and will admit that I nodded off.
Up and hardly anyone on the plane, at least up top anyway. Dinner served which woke us both up a bit and we both spent the flight watching movies but again a couple of times I nodded off waking up to find I hadn't slept long as the movie was not much further advanced. It was only later that I learnt that Annette had been kind enough to pause the movie when I was asleep. Ta to her. Didn't dawn on me that I hadn't paused it before I nodded off.

16th August.

Today we leave London. Since the last two days have basically been boys days we are off to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum for a bit of culture. First it was pack and last minute route and times checks to the airport. All organised and off on the tube to the museum.

Arrived and just heaps to see and for free. Much too much to absorb in one day. It had something for everyone. Paintings.

This one by John Constable caught my eye as soon as we entered the room.

Me checking a photo of it.

Pieces of buildings.

Lots of sculptures, large and small. These two looked like they came straight out of star wars.

Heaps and heaps of jewellery. Couldn't get a good look there due to all the girls standing around going weak at the knees. Honestly, you had trouble walking through the display. This brooch was in another section, could have been medieval section. Can you imagine wearing it and someone admiring it and then you opened it to show them what was inside? You have to wonder what would happen if you lifted his hands up. Maybe the expression 'boner' comes from this? (the mind does tend to wander a bit.)

Beautiful fabric in another section.

Here some wit had squashed all the wind instruments and made a floating display between the floors. I actually liked it.

The whole building was huge and halls big enough to take large displays.

Display either going up or down.

A bit of modern art in the front foyer.

Rooms full of china.

The detail.

Large section of iron works. Most just a bit too fancy.

Back to the hotel and collected the packs and back on the tube to Heathrow airport. Interesting watching the type of people who get on and off at the different stations. There was a definite class difference.

Into the airport and a short walk to terminal three where we booked in and went through customs. Had our carryon backpacks swabbed for explosives and two more ticked off his unofficial list of how many to do that day.

Now it was just a matter of having a look around the duty free, grab a meal and wait, wait and wait for the gate number to come up on the screen so we could get ready to board. The signs stated that some gates were a twenty minute walk away. Shot of the crowd waiting.

Gate number one which was only a short walk. Getting close to leaving now and I can tell Annette's just a bit nervous by the number of trips to the toilet. Off on the full plane and as usual very well looked after. Apart from a few patches of bad turbulence an uneventful trip to Singapore.

15th August.

After yesterday success we thought we would try a few more boy things today. Caught the tube into the London city centre where we walked to the Tower Bridge past the monument of the great fire of London.

Went past the remains of an old church. One that had been redecorated by the Luftwaffe during the war. It had been turned it into a very nice garden area inside the walls.

Onto the Tower Bridge.

Then into it to visit the engine room. Very nice and interesting.

Next off to the Shakespeare's Globe. I didn't feel the need to go in so I stayed outside people watching. Annette said it was interesting but it was just as well I didn't come in. She didn't tell me about the guide!!!!!

One of the port areas where the tall ships used to dock to unload the tea. Now filled in and a nice area to sit.

This bloke was doing his best to get patrons into the London Bridge Experience. I think he put just as many off. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable especially when he lowered the blade and it touched her neck.

Visited the HMS Belfast. Told you it was a boys day.

Just as we got on the Tower Bridge was raised to allow an old ship in.

You could get nearly everywhere on the ship except the engine room which was undergoing refurbishment which was a pity as I was looking forward to seeing that. Just a couple of photos. Bit like the RAF, run out of battery power here too. Inside the 6 inch gun turrent.

Torpedo. I've got to say it looked impressive.

Six inch guns?

Looked really like a stuffed cat! Here it was asleep. In the potato store it was catching a mouse.

The displays had sound as well. This was just like the old school dentist and even smelt like it. Talk about putting a shiver up your spine.

Back to base and off to dinner and met up with Karen Sweeney who is now working over here. Pleased to see she was dressed up just like the UK girls. Off to bed, flying out tomorrow.

14th August

Back in London for a few days and apart from the scaffold changing from one building to another as they clean up in preparation for the Olympic games it all seems much the same.

Decided to visit a boys attraction today and caught the tube out to the Royal Airforce Museum London. Thought we would be there for a couple of hours, wrong. Five and a half hours later we had seen most of it at a reasonable pace but it really is an all day visit. The guide book said they had two other museums one being just as big.
What can I say, if you have ever been remotely interested in this sort of gear it's a must visit. They had displayed from the earliest planes to the modern jet fighters like the Typhoon.

As a boy who painstaking put together toy models of the second world war planes it was a bit of a treat to see the real thing. They were all here. The Mustang. The Lancaster. The Messerschmitt. The Spitfire. The Boeing B17G -flying fortress. You could say they had them all.

Seen enough. I didn't think so.

Fascinating stuff. Movies you could watch, visual displayed, kids talks explaining how and why planes can fly that the adults enjoyed as well. The list went on and on.

Left late afternoon and back past the rows and rows of identical two storey semi detached houses. Just mind blogging the amount of them. Dinner then off on the Ghost Bus Tour. Past this pub on the way.

Yes I know, a bit corny and it was. They had an old bus straight from On The Bus painted black. It was worth going on just for that experience alone and remembering how when we were little kids we used to fit three to a seat all the way to school.

Three young girls got on and the boys putting on the show must have been rubbing their hands together as they provided a lot of the entertainment during the ride. In more than one way.

Annette laughed until she cried. The rest of the bus did when he touched Annette on the shoulder from behind and she got such a fright she jumped and yelled out the shiver word. They all knew we we Aussies after that.
Back to the hotel and bed.

13th August.

Today spent travelling from Orleans to Paris and then Paris to London. The train system in France is fairly simple to use and quick.

View out our window of the hotel in Orleans.

View of the bathroom with the dare I say cute round toilet. It was not as practicable as it looked for reasons I'm sure Annette would prefer I didn't mention here.

View of the street which is typical around the area we stayed.

Raining in Paris so apart from walking out into the street, just to say we were there above ground again, the time was spent going through customs and waiting for the eurostar.

Arrived in London and only a very short walk to the hotel and booked in. Again a view from the hotel room window. A bit different to the one in Orleans.

Dinner at the nearby Irish O'Neil pub and a few clothes washed in the sink and hung up to dry overnight.