On Sunday 11th August we had a leisurely trip up to my niece, Jacki and Tims house in Auckland where they have kindly offered a piece of their large lawn for us to store the bus on while we're away. We had bought a new breathable cover to keep Debussy cosy and Len's challenge the next day was to try and get it on in between the heavy showers which kept coming from nowhere. The instructions stress that the bus must be dry before covering which was more than a mission but I know he did his best! Before the cover went on it was spring cleaning time and we were lucky to be able to squash all the things remaining in our fridge into Jackis!
It had been really good to spend time with the family and grandchildren in Tauranga, seeing some of their sport and musical activities - Madi playing the keyboard expertly in the school band, Amelia also doing well on the piano and Jack showing us his talent on the guitar, Oliver and Tommy's scary plays and Sofia's enthusiasm in all things! We are going to miss them!
Tuesday 13th August we were picked up by the loquacious shuttle driver who told us about all his family and friends as he drove us in 3rd gear to the airport - Thai Airways this time as we will spend a few days in Thailand on our way home. We felt there was a little more leg room on the flight to Bangkok than we have had on Singapore but from Bangkok to Heathrow there was considerably less room, especially when the people in front reclined their seats. However I managed to watch 6 movies while Len saw 3 and played a lot of games. Good calm flights really with just a little mild turbulence on the second leg but not much sleep so we were pretty tired when we arrived at Heathrow 30 hours after leaving Auckland.
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The Premier Hotel close to Heathrow allowed us into our room just before noon probably because we looked a little untidy sprawled on their chairs halfheartedly trying to keep our eyelids up. Once in our room we were quickly asleep and didn't stir for 4 hours after which we had to try and leap up fearful that we would never get to sleep again when night actually came. Dinner in the Hotel restaurant was a bit of a let down, the menu reading more appetitisingly than the food looked on the plate. However the beds were nice and comfy, the room spacious (especially compared to what we are used to!) and we had no problem sleeping for reasonably long intervals through the night.
Breakfast the next morning was at a little cafe called Moniz 10 minutes walk down the road that we had visited previously when staying at the Doubletree Hilton which is over the road. The only problem being that we arrived at 7.30 and it didn't open til 8.00am so we did a wander around the streets which are litter-ridden, noisy with the constant overhead planes, mostly uncared for houses, and a generally not-very-safe feeling though, as with the rest of London, nobody ever looks you in the eye and are suspiciously surprised if you give them a greeting.
However the breakfast was again hearty and cheap, the waitress polite but guarded. No friendly openness around here but we know that the villages are better!
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