Day 26 - Transit to Rwanda

A 4am taxi ride to Heathrow was the start of a very long day's travel. Rwanda is a bit tricky to get to as only a small number of airlines fly there.We flew with Brussels Airlines (Rwanda is a former Belgian colony) but it meant we had to transit through Brussels. We had two things against us. The hour & a half flight from London on the Avro RJ85 (above) was delayed & the airport in Brussels is a mess with the terminal splintered and connected only by bus. We even had to get on a bus from the first aircrat to the terminal. It was a major (and sometimes confusing) scramble but we made it onto the A330 (apologies for the blurred photo below) bound for Africa. The airline attendants are really nice and the service good on Brussels Airlines, but there's no entertainment system in the head rest in front of you. The scenery was clouds over Europe & Egypt & the Sudan were a featureless brown desert from the air. The long flight was very, very long. It was 9.30pm local time when we touched down in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.We were met at the airport by our personal guide, Robert (below). He was recommended by one of Kerri's work friends who had been over there with a medical team. Robert takes the team on safaris every year when they visit. One of the big problems with travelling in Africa is knowing who to trust. Robert is definitely one of those people. http://rwandaadventuresafaris.com/
Robert dropped us at the hotel and organised to pick us up in the morning.
The Africa Adventure was about to begin!

Day 25 - London Sights

The last day in England started with a tour of St Pauls Cathedral. It's an impressive structure but nowhere near as interesting as Notre Dame & they don't let you take photos inside! We did the self guided tour around the main floor. We climbed the many stairs to the whispering galley inside the bottom of the dome. From there we exited to the outside where we had an unobstructed view of the city (above). After admiring the view, we climbed the stairwell inside the skin of the dome to the top spire. It wasn't any better than where we'd just come from, but we had to say we'd done it. We also descended all the way to the crypt to check out all the famous dead people before exiting through the gift shop...???
From St Paul's we made our way to Buckingham Palace. After all, you just have to include the palace in a trip to London.The palace is guarded by both the police (below) & the army (above).

We walked along Constitution Hill (above) beside the palace all the way to Wellington Arch where the New Zealand & Australian war memorials are.

The Australian War Memorial is quite clever. They have every town in Australia written on the wall with some brighter so they spell out the places where the Australians have fought over the years.

As a joke I said to Kerri "I'll bet you can't find Mullumbimby" figuring that she'd never find it amongst so many towns. Almost immediately she said, "Found it!". Sure enough, there is was. Couldn't believe it!

We walked along the edge of Hyde Park for a little way. The squirrels were all busy stocking up for the winter.We arrived at The Serpentine (below) which is the big lake that dominates the park.

As for St James's Park, there's no shortage of birdlife.

We had to leave the park (passing the Albert memorial above) because Kerri & Julie had an appointment to have high tea at the Kensington Hotel.I would leave them for the rest of the afternoon opting instead to spend the time in the science museum & the Natual history Museum.

The Science museum has some very old & some very famous machines including Puffing Billy (below) which is the very first commercial locomotive. And it isn't just a replica.

Each area in its 4 floors has a different theme from plane to cars to space vehicles. There is a whole floor dedicated to water craft.

Next door is the Natuaral History Museum (entrance below). I was slightly creped out by this. I've become accustomed to visiting modern zoos with the animals not only alive, but in quite natural surroundings. Having not been to a museum for many years, I'd forgotten that stuffed animals are somewhat disturbing.There were some very cool dinosaur fossils including a large number of oceanic reptiles found on the English coastline. The second entrance was decorated for an exhibition (below). I'm not sure what it was about, but it looked the part. The dinosaur section had some lifelike animatronics including the two raptors (above) and a scary looking T-rex (below).

We all met back at the hotel at Earl's Court and had dinner at a pub around the corner. We said our final good-byes to Julie and spent the late evening trying to do our laundry so we'd have something to wear in Africa.

Day 24 - Regent's Canal

We had to be up early to catch the first Eurostar out of Paris. Fortunately the Metro was pretty empty being a Saturday so we were at the station in plenty of time. We were pretty subdued for the trip back. I guess the early start took its toll. After dropping our gear at our hotel (and Julie's at home) we met Julie at a place called Little Venice on Regent's Canal. There are canal boats that take you to Camden Lock.

The canal boats cruise along Regent's Canal where people live on boats (above) and even restaurants like the one below.

The boat stops at London Zoo before finishing the cruise at Camden Lock (below). At Camden Lock there's a huge market including some great food stalls. We were there on a Sunday so the markets were in full swing. The crowd plus market combination was a bit much for me but I toughed it out while the girls did their thing. I must say the steak sandwich at lunch was pretty nice if a tad messy to eat.

After escaping the markets we went back to central London. We'd arranged to meet up with some friends from our South American trip 2 years previous (Emma, Richard & Melissa). Tattershall Castle was the venue. Strangely enough its not a castle at all, its a floating river boat that's been converted into a floating pub.We said good-bye to our friends who had to head for home (being it was a school night).Julie took us to Brick Lane (above). Brick Lane is a street of Indian Restaurants, some very good & some not so good. A bit of local knowledge goes a long way.

We settled on one & ordered a couple of dishes. My choice was a prawn Jalfrezi which are normally medium heat. We were shocked when the first couple of bites nearly blew our heads off! It was a clear indication that what Aussies think is hot is a long way off. Julie made the mistake of eating a whole bean that wasn't a bean. I think I did as well because my mouth was well & truly one fire!

Day 21 - Tower of London & Greenwich

Our second day in London started at the Tower of London. I'd had a rough night having woken at 3am & not being able to get back to sleep. The jet lag was to blame but I wasn't ready to let it ruin the holiday. We arrived not long after opening to avoid the crowds. We waited just inside the gate for the next tour guide. The Tower is guarded by Yeomen who are all ex-army. This has been tradition for a very long time. These days the Yeomen are chosen for their story telling abilities & wit. Our guy (above) was a great story teller & most certainly had a sense of humour.Our friendly Yeoman pointed out all the interesting places in the Tower such as the Tower Green & Queen's House (above) & the White Tower (below) The White Tower is the place where the royal armoury is stored. There's quite the collection of armour in the White Tower. Henry the VIII seems to have the most items in the collection. It's all very oversized for someone who was small of stature (as well as other things).The crown jewels are stored in Waterloo Barracks (below) within the walls of the tower. The jewels are all very flashy but you aren't allowed to take photos of them. Lots of bling I can assure you.
The Jewels are guarded heavily by a number of different military types including the ones wearing the busbies (below). From the walls of the tower you can see a few of the London sights including the ridiculous gherkin (below).Julie met us for lunch outside the tower before taking the ferry (below) along the Thames to Greenwich.The ferry took us under the Tower Bridge and past many of London's tourist sights. At Greenwich we stopped at the markets (because that's what women like to do when on tour). There was all kind of local handy crafts. The typical kind of rubbish at most markets the world over.I knew little of Greenwich before we arrived there. I knew the world's 0 deg meridian ran through it & was named after it, but that's it.

Greenwich is home to a building called Queen's House (above). I'm not sure why because she doesn't live there. Greenwich University is right across the road. Both are pictured below.

The big landmark in Greenwich is the Royal Observatory (below).The main game with the Royal Observatory is the bench mark for the Prime Meridian (Zero degrees latitude). All the bench marks have the current version & the older technology. Below is the older Prime Meridian, above, the flashy new monument.The bench mark for world time is also at Greenwich. The atomic clock lives inside one of the buildings at the Observatory.
Again, the old world clock is still on show (below) along with measurement bench marks for length & sea level.

There is a complex sundial (below) that is calibrated for all times of year. It's great that they've created a piece of art in the process. The observatory has a planetarium & a big telescope (below).
Time to leave Greenwich. It was a pleasant surprise for me & I had never even contemplated going there. Hat's off to our local guide, Julie.

A few more sights in the afternoon including HMS Belfast (above) from the ferry and Cleopatra's needle (below).

We stopped for a while for a beer at The Porterhouse, one of many pubs along the Thames. Later we had dinner before going our separate ways. The girls went to a show (Jersey Boys) & I went for a wander to take in the sights at night.

Trafalgar Square (above) was my first target. It looks very different at night time.

Westminster Abbey (above) takes on a very sinister appearance. The caked on soot doesn't help its image. The Houses of Parliament are definately more photogenic at night.

Even the London Eye has some aesthetic qualities at night.

The 3am start had finally caught up with me so I caught the tube back to the hotel, had a shower & crashed for the night. Kerri came back not long after. Tomorrow we'd be on the move again.