New years eve

I did get picked up in Birmingham eventually, and got myself having a number of ales in real English pubs, with a proper steakwich to see me off. See everyone loves suspense here and there. Despite the cliffhanger there wasn't much else to say about that little trip. So it's onwards to where I find myself now, getting set to catch up to the rest of the world in next year. Met my contiki family far too early in the morning and all looking our best. Well I was at least. Onto the ferry with a stunning view of the white cliffs of Dover. Which are impressive, but really are just white cliffs in the end, found breakfast and the pub. Rainy day in France Belgium and Amsterdam. Big flat countries that flood easily, no flooding though, thats what the windmills are for. Did pretty good job. Time for the eve of next year, filled with the joys Amsterdam offers. With any luck I'll share my tales of survival, or someone else will share my tales of demise. Way more suspense.

Screaming children

Aboard the worlds slowest train, and already feeling less than flash, I had the pleasure of sharing my carriage with a wee young one. This young one had decided he felt like exercising his right to scream his head off for 40 minutes solid. While his mum took the just sit there ignoring him approach. At home yes this would show he wasn't going to get the attention he was seeking. However in public, especially when in the presence of someone who wants to stick your child's head in the door so it can scream as much as it wants outside, one might think encouraging him to shut up would be preferable. Or he will get something to scream about. Like the house who's alarm goes off all day, one day they won't have a tv. Aside from that fun part of my journey this train is certainly no ktx. And I don't actually have a guarantee of being picked up at the end of it. But by the time I publish this I'll have found out, so I might skip it and save it for the next post. I'm suspenseful like that. Always make sure before you go somewhere when you don't really have a way to contact whoever you hope is picking you up.

a grey christmas. and ham.

For a Christmas to be classified as white, as little as one snow flake needs to fall. I've seen a leaf here and there but I can not say I have seen a snow flake, but I also do not know about everywhere outside the immediate area I can see through the window. So the jury is out on this one. Merry Christmas though, unless you don't celebrate it, then happy today, enjoy the ham. Firstly I traveled to the country earlier this week, spending some time in Ipswich. Again I had the opportunity to be touristy and was taken on a drive around the scenic route. The sights to be seen were lovely rolling hills, green grass, farm animals crops and the like. All incredible and breathtaking for city dwellers who haven't seen grass in their lifetime. Very similar to a drive to anywhere in NZ though. Does help to appreciate what we get so easily in NZ. I was treated to the so called 'best fish and chips in the world' in a seaside town called Aldeburgh. New Zealand wasn't consulted in this process I feel. They didn't even consult Ying Sun Takeaways around the corner. The fish wasn't too bad, although hardly world beating, and the chips certainly left a lot to be desired. All from a very promising looking town as well, although the beach did not have any sand, which put them on the back foot from the get go. I experienced some night life during my travels, going out in Colchester, which apparently has a reputation as a big drinking, police presence, party town. It was dead. In my companions defense it was Wednesday night, so hopes weren't initially high, but it was pretty mild. and regardless of continent, 17 yr olds are 17 yr olds. By 1am me and my friend were home having a quiet few more, and the girls were thoroughly unconscious. Regular night out then really, I had a great time. Christmas is always a fun time of year, there is nothing like a 7 yr old banging down your door at 8am screaming its Christmas. My general Christmas involves rolling out of bed at some stage, then presents and by then Mum has cooked lunch, and we lie around all day eating. So I have a lot of day left to fill. But thank you Christmas for bringing me ham. I love ham. So much ham. I saw the crown jewels as well if I haven't mentioned. Very sparkly. Photos of my travels are on facebook. I'm not uploading them to multiple places. At least my spelling is getting better.

I saw a squirrel and it was doing like this

The important things in life are the friends you surround yourself with. I made squirrel friends. while i was taking the photo of one of my friends another friend crawled up my back and jumped off my shoulder. It was all very exciting. In other adventures the guy i walked past on the golf course in the morning taught me the valuable lesson of, if at first you slice it into the trees, just pull another ball out and play the shot again. A key thing to remember when walking around London in the rain is that rain is wet. umbrellas are advisable. I did not have an umbrella. It took effort to avoid ducking straight into the pub and spent the day wandering around all touristy like. That was how I met my squirrel friends. You are not meant to feed the pelicans, there is probably a real reason for this but i determined the pelicans are a hated species being pushed to extinction by the english. we must fight for their survival. My tourist adventure took me to and around the palace, where I encountered another individual doing their country so proud. Cars going in and out of the palace with police detail had captured my attention and i was inadvertently in what i guess was someones ideal photo opportunity. although to notify me of this I heard "Oi Mayyyyyte, can you watch out mayyyyyte? cheeeeers mayyyyte." as drawling as an australian could be. I have been since doing everything i can to make sure my accent sounds as kiwi and not australian as possible. apparently there can be confusion. I further walked all over around central london, saw some buildings and things, stopped into the national art gallery. There are some incredible artworks, so the signs say. im not much of an art historian. although the guys walking around that looked like they knew what they were talking about had some cute hangers on. was it because they knew what they were talking about, or because they were talking about art in particular. Im not to flash at either anyway. I did learn the distinction between london and tower bridge though.. london bridge is entirely unimpressive and the americans bought it for some reason, and tower bridge is big and cool looking. so thats how that happened. not long after learning this i drunk incredible amounts of champagne. great times in london.

London Bridge isn't falling down, my childhood was a lie.

It isn't even London Bridge anymore, if what information I gathered with my ears mostly and assumed with my eyes is correct. London Bridge is Tower Bridge. I haven't asked why. I'm not sure if it overly concerns me too much, so if it does I shall make the effort to learn. Something I did learn was 20 odd hours of flying and sitting down plus the bit in the back of my jeans kills my tailbone. Really badly. On arriving to London. Heathrow is a pretty big airport, as I discovered while walking to the underground, in what I think was a massive circle around the entire place. I was pointed in the direction of terminal three, and found the thing by terminal one, where I started. While I was on my way I met a kindly fellow from Jordan who wants to visit New Zealand next year, except his journey ended at terminal three so we parted ways. The underground itself is far less underground than I had hoped. At first I thought we were just like a whale coming up to clear its blow hole, but nope we continued to meander along above ground. You seem to be going faster when you have nothing to see out the window. Whole thing had the feeling of a novelty straw, it's initially fun and exciting, but when it comes down to it you still have a little while to go before you get there. But one chocolate chunk is all it takes to bring everything to a painful standstill. I was seated next to a checkered top zebra pants wearing american girl, who upon seeing a double decker bus exclaimed "Wow there's one of the really tall buses! I thought they were a myth!" Pride of the states. Wait until she sees the dragons. Made it off the tube and saw all the sights of london in 5 minutes. I'll download touristy photos later, I may take my own photos, its really a toss up whether I want a good photo, or a photo with me in it. A good photo of something really cool, or a half attempt at a photo with me covering half of the main attraction of the photo. Also learned that my coat wasn't made in China. It was "BUILT in China." True story.

i wonder if people at airports think about things like i think about them

everyone is always in the same position, you thought you were getting on the plane ten minutes ago but now it looks more like 40 minutes more to wait. what do people think about during this time. as a disclaimer im writing what i think. it will not be extremely correct in many circles. but i dont mind because maybe three people might read this any way. and of those 3 two of them will probably give up shortly anyway. so previously i decided that the fatties over on my right are thinking about the meal. or that last bite of their 4th whopper they left on the tray back at BK. they then internally debate if they would have time to go back up the escalator, stop and catch their breath, walk back to burger king, pause while the stitch in their side isnt quite so painful, inhale the remains and then repeat the process on the way back. i think her heart stopped thinking about it. the guy across from me is looking at his son and hoping he grows up to something impressive, so the investment he made getting his wife over here was worth it. no they probably love each very much. i guess there is the general thoughts of why we have to wait longer than we thought, why did they tell us we were boarding so early even though the time they said was so far off what it would be with the flight time, and then what movie will i watch and what have i forgotten. the guy sitting uncomfortably is wondering if everyone elses security check was as thorough as his was. i didnt get the random check, which now makes me insecure, maybe there's something in my teeth? i also dont do grammar and punctuation very well. but sometimes i do. it generally depends on whether my relationships with my shift keys are running smoothly or not. right now we're on the rocks, apparently they found out. im blaming the , key. and will beat it as punishment ,,,,, ,,,, ,,,, ,, sorry you had to witness that, family violence. It's not OK. there's a spell checker but it just highlights what i've done wrong, it doesn't fix them. so guess whats not getting fixed?