Kiwi Roaming

Our last day in the UK was low key, Karen and I went to the mall so I could get a pic sitting on the bronze book sculpture Mike was keen to see – note my book choice! Then Steve and I finished packing and cleaning our room, took a quick walk down to Waitrose to buy me a new carry-on bag (so I could check my backpack on) then we all loaded into the car and headed to London.

Paul had booked us into the Bell Inn for our final pub lunch on our way to Heathrow. They arranged a few friends to meet us there so we had a late Sunday roast about 3:30pm and enjoyed chatting with new people. We were living in Hampton Wick when Donovan was born so it was nice to be back in the vicinity – somewhere we must visit sometime, especially the palace which has been significantly renovated since we lived there.

Next stop was the Ibis Styles Heathrow where we were staying for the night, this is where we took our final selfie of the trip in -6 degrees “feels like -8”! in the carpark, not ideal for goodbyes it was so cold. It was -4 “feels like -6” when we jumped into a taxi at 5:40am and I think got colder after that, even snowing in London later in the day.

Uneventful flights and 24 hours later (note how tired we look above top), and voila we were in Melbourne.

We arrived in the evening and headed to our beautiful hotel where we are going to quarantine for 2 days, and enjoyed a very good nights sleep. The next day was one of Melbourne’s hottest this summer, we got up early and walked to the South Melbourne Market (which I love) but were totally melting in the heat when it was 32 degrees at 10am. Persevering a little longer we bought some yummy cannoli’s and lunch supplies from the supermarket before heading back to the hotel for wonderful air-conditioning as the temperature headed toward 40.

We were staying on South Bank at the Novotel which is attached to the convention centre and right next to the DFO and the views are spectacular. It was still 42C at 5pm so we decided to just go down to the river and find a bar where we could sit in the shade, where we also found a lovely breeze to keep us cool while we people watched. Once the sun went down the temperature dropped as well (back to 30ish) so we took a stroll along the riverside enjoying how busy it is and loving being back here in such a warm climate. Lots of new developments have happened at the Crowne Casino complex including some new paddle courts being built on the river edge so fun to check them out.

Melbourne is lovely as ever. Sadly there have been wild fires since we arrived so the sky is often thick with smoke, helicopters are flying over all day and night and the wind has been very unwelcome.

Steve had picked up a cold in Milton Keynes which seemed to get worse during the flight so we both did Covid and Influenza tests before heading to Don and Sophie’s the next morning where we finally got to meet Mabel – and she is simply wonderful, beyond our expectations…

Since that 42 degree day we have had another even hotter day, some wicked thunder and lightening storms, rain, and 17C “4 seasons in one day” to keep us on our toes. We’ve put ourselves to work doing chores and are enjoying life in the suburbs.