London

The flight to Madrid took about 13hrs however it seemed a lot faster than what it was, even though I was in the middle seat, meaning it was harder for me to get up and move around the plane. Basically whenever the guy next to me looked awake, I asked him to move so I could get out and get a drink and move about the plane. It was not long before we arrived in Madrid. This is where the strange things started to happen and I can now understand why South America has so much ‘red tape’ and is so backward in their thinking. All I had to do was to go from my Landing gate, to the train station (the train only went from Terminal 4A to Terminal 4) and then onto my departure gate. Sounds easy enough… well think again. During the process of transferring from one Terminal to the next (you can only get to and from 4A through 4) I had to go through customs. Yes, customs and that was before I left 4A. During the process I ran into a Brazilian couple, who are the parents of Brazil’s #1 female volleyball player. I chatted to them in very bad Portuguese and helped them get through the mess of the airport and even got them to their correct gate just before boarding started. They said I was always welcome at their house in Belo Horizonte.

The next 2 hours went quite fast, but I was also becoming very hungry but as I had no Euro, I could not buy any drinks, and I thought it was crazy to get some money from the ATM when I was going on to England where they use the Pound. Plus, I thought, I can wait and get something to eat and drink on the plane. Good luck with that. They had changed their meal arrangements on the plane and I was left thirsty and hungry on the 2 hour flight to London. They had a ‘you want it you buy it’ deal and I had no cash. Arrh well, I guess I can eat something when I get to Deb’s house.

I had met Deb when I went to South Africa with a Mission group from Church back in 2004. She had been working as a teacher in a school that my group had been doing some voluntary work at. On the last day that we were there, a Friday, it was also Deb’s last day, so the school held a luncheon for us and for Deb. As they said that she was leaving for England and I was going there too, I decided to go over and introduce myself. We exchanged details, caught up in England (that is another funny story) and have kept in contact since. After I arrived at Heathrow Airport, I had to catch the train to Deb’s place in Kennington. Only as it was the weekend, track works were being carried out, so I had to take the scenic route. I didn’t mind. What was another hour on top of 16hrs on a plane or in an airport? The best thing was, as I exited the tube station, Debs was crossing the street on her way home from the corner store. I don’t think she had changed a bit in four years. It was hugs in the street and then a short walk to the house, only 4 down from the same corner.

The remainder of the day, I basically settled in, met some of Debs’ housemates and slept. I woke at about 4 so that we could go to church at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), where Nicky Gumble is the vicar and he created the programme called Alpha. London is very cold at night, especially when you have come from the Southern Hemisphere Summer. Church was great and I met some of Debs’ friends and work colleagues, as she works for Alpha, which has its office based at HTB. After church Debs and I caught the tube and went to met up with one of her friends, Alison, who was going to a Pub Quiz, with some of her friends. I was a little out of it, from lack of sleep, but I still put in and helped out with answering some of the quiz questions. We ended up coming second, which I think was a good effort. During the evening, I finally appeased my need to have some decent chips, some good old fashioned deep fried chips. Soon after Debs and I were back at her place and I went straight to bed. I didn’t wake up until about midday the following day.

During my time in London I trued to do a lot of sight seeing. The only thing is, as it is winter the sun comes up about 8am and goes down at about 5. I needed to be quick on my feet, something that I can’t be after being in South America for 9 months and having the mind set of… “If I like it, I stay, if I don’t, I go”. I went and visited a few places of interest, Big Ben and Westminster and the Westminster Abby. Everybody had said how wonderful The British Museum is but I thought it was lacking in some areas, especially Australia and the other Commonwealth Countries and South America. I guess that the Commonwealth stuff may be in the Military Museum down the road. I even walked through Kensington Palace and its gardens, through Hyde Park and onto the Albert Monument. Out of sadness, Old Queen Vic had the monument built in memory of Princey Albert after he died of Typhoid. I also sent time walking along the South Bank of The Themes with Debs and took in a wonderful ‘Fair Trade’ coffee before going onto the Shakespeare Theatre. We also went and to watch a friend of a friend’s band. They were playing in a boat, which was a very strange place to play because as you looked out the portal you saw the water lapping against the boat.

I also spent my time catching up with old friends. The first to be visited was Stephen and Shirley & their latest addition, Ben, who was only a month old. I had met Shirley many years ago, along with her 3 brothers and 2 sisters. She comes from a South American background and lived in Sydney. Stephen is an English lad who met Shirley on the internet, thinking it was another friend of his and they kept in contact, so much so, I was invited to their wedding in Sydney, where they had the reception at the Opera House. It was great to hang out with them and talk about what we had all been up too, the pizzas were great too. We were talking so much, that I forgot what time it was and arrived back in Kennington quite late. I think I woke Deb up when I tried to get my bedding.

I also spent time with Naomi, whom I think I have known for about 17yrs. We met and had a lovely little meal at a place called Leon’s, just up the road from Harrods. It was great chatting and sharing funny stories about adventures we have had. But I guess the most special thing was the day I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral with her and paid the 10Pound entry. It was just fantastic, especially when we were taking the ‘sneaky pics’, as St. P’s don’t let you take photos. I think that all the walking that I did in South America prepared me for the climb to the top of St. P’s. If you are ever in London, just the view from the outside of the little dome at the top, is worth the entry fee. St. Paul’s is very central and it gives you some of the best views of London.

I think over the Easter Weekend, I went to 3 church services, for about a total of about 6hrs of Service.
It started on Thursday night, after my dinner with Naomi and Debbie. Deb and I went to the Maundy Thursday service. The following morning was Good Friday and the services started at 12noon and there were 6 blocks of 30mins. It was designed that people could come and go as they pleased between each block. Deb and I missed the first block but we stayed for the remaining 2.5hrs. It was a great time of reflection and meditation. On Easter Sunday morning, Deb woke me with the words, “Wake up and look out the window”. I quickly opened the window to get the full effect of the light snow that was falling. It gets cold hanging out the window in just your PJ’s trying to catch snow. I had a wonderful morning of just looking out that window, wondering how Easter was going for my family and for all my friends, all over the world, wondering where they were at with their Easter celebrations… some would have been resting, after eating a roast meal, some just waking up like me and others still sleeping and dreaming of what chocolate they will receive and what activities they would undertake on that day. Later that day I went walking with Debs, as mentioned before, and after that we went to church to try and warm up. Fancy that, going to church to get warm…

After church we went out with friends of Deb, whom she stayed with when she went to Los Angeles in America. They were parents of a friend of Debs from church. They were a lovely couple and we shared about many things and I got to share with them about my time in South America. Only after talking about my time there, I began to realise how much I had done, the people I had met and the diversity of experiences that I had had. I was grateful for the time that they spent with us and they offered for me to stay with them, whenever I was to travel to the US. Saying goodbye, was a little hard, as I had said it so often, in recent days, knowing that I would be doing it again in about 24hrs, as I was leaving to go back to Melbourne the following night. On returning to Debs place, I had received notice that Naomi was back from her travels to Wales and was keen to go sight-seeing with me, so we planned to go to St. Paul’s.

After returning from our sight-seeing, Naomi and I had a great cup of hot coffee, which was needed to warm us up, as being at the top of St. Paul’s with the cold icy winds… well you get the picture. It was time for me to complete my packing and do the necessary things before leaving for the airport. Debs came with me, as she was off to visit a friend from Ireland, who was off to Burundi and was stopping over at Heathrow for about 8hrs. It was great to have her company, as it meant that I was not going alone to the airport. Deb and I departed ways at the airport, as she had to go to another terminal to see her friend. I went and checked in my bags and then waited for Debs to turn up. We chatted over a drink for about an hour and I think it was hard to say goodbye, as all goodbyes are like that. I remained positive, as I knew that I would be back in Australia in around 24hrs.

The flight to Australia was one of the quickest 24hrs I think that I have ever had. Sorry about the analogy, time just flew by. Along the way, I changed planes in Singapore and lost my deodorant, as it was over 100mL, so I smelt good on the second leg of the journey. We arrived in Melbourne about 20mins late, but that was alright, as I had told the folks to wait a little longer, instead of being at the airport at 6:30am. I made it through customs with all my bags and entered Australia after about a nine month absence. I looked for the family and saw no-one I knew, so I found a seat and sat there for about an hour waiting for the folks. With no change, I couldn’t call them to see where they were, so I decided to buy a coffee and get some change from a $5 note that I had carried around the world. As I was waiting inline, I saw Mum and Rachel and ran to greet them. It was wonderful to see them in person, knowing that I could discuss all about my trip with them in person. Dad was doing laps of the airport. We drove back to Scott and Katrine’s house to have breakfast. Charlotte had grown so much and little Hamish was not so little.

I was finally home.