Thursday 30 July

Well up at the crack of dawn again to another London morning. Not at all hot, just lovely in the sun but a bit chilly out of it. Strapped up my ankle as I twisted it yesterday and had to stop my walking earlier than I would have liked.
Off we went - firstly travelling by bus then we were supposed to transfer over to a train at Mile End. That would have been fine but we missed the stop and having no idea where we were ended up travelling to the end of the line which was Poplar ?????. At the bus stop we asked a young woman for some help and she put us in the right direction. Back on a bus again and into the city. This time no problems.
We drove past the Tower of London which is one of my favourite places to go to in London. maybe I will get there again over the next few weeks.
Here is a photo of it from the bus.

We ended up in the Strand and wandered along the streets again looking at the shops. There are just so many people in London - I did wonder why they were not all at work but could be sitting having a coffee and it wasn't even lunchtime. I think it is just because the population is so big.
A quick coffee for us and then lots and lots more walking. We went to Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Regent Street and just all over including Covent Garden which is another of my favourite places. A few stops along the way for a coffee or cold drink and a rest for my aching ankle. Overall I was very pleased with myself for getting all this exercise.
This photo is just a photo of Chris and I in the midst of some very tall and old buildings on our walk. I have also included another photo of Chris standing outside New Zealand House. This is where New Zealanders go if they need help in London.

Wednesday 29 July

Well here we are in London -I must admit it is hard getting the body back into sleeping at the right times. Woke up very early so off we went first into Canary Wharf to have a look around. There are some great shops and a new place called Crossrail which we had a wander around. Sat in front of the fountain at Canada Place for a wee while.

Then we travelled by train and walked to Knightsbridge which is a very wealthy part of London. On the way we walked through Hyde Park and saw this lovely squirrel. He was quite long really and very quick but we managed to get a photo of him.

  There are lots of embassies from different countries there and we walked past these to look at some very expensive shops. We visited Harrods the big department store. Oh my goodness you do need a lot of money to be able to afford some of the things in there. It was very busy. I have shown a picture of a part of the toy department. Just a very small part I have to say.

I have also tried to upload a video of Chris playing with the toys. They have people there whose jobs are just to play with the toys and talk to customers.

Tuesday 28th

Here is the flight path for the Singapore to London part of our trip. A thirteen hour flight and not a lot of sleep.

Finally we land in London and then through to the border control. There was a huge queue so we needed to wait ages to be able to show our documentation.

Tuesday 28 July

We have landed in Singapore after a great flight and are now at Changi Airport waiting for our next flight to London. I am sitting in an airport lounge trying to work out how I can get my photos to come through. That might need to wait until I get to London - will get there though.


This is one of the sky trains that takes people through to the different terminals that they need to leave from at Changi Airport. We do not need to use it this time. There are three big terminals at Changi Airport and they have lots of shops and exciting things to do. At this terminal there is a butterfly garden. We may get to see it.

I also was lucky enough to use one of these special massage chairs for my aching calves. I want one of these at home.

 

Monday 27 July. 9.45 pm
Here we are at the airport about to go through to security. It is all so easy with the new e- passports.

The first part of the trip will be to Singapore which will take over 10 hours. We will arrive there at around 7 am in their time and 11 am in NZ.

Maori Language Week

Monday 27 July

Today is my last day in New Zealand before I head off tonight on the plane to London. I have had the great privilege today of going back into school and going with our Kapa Haka group to the Genesis Energy building in Ellerslie where they performed in the opening of Maori Language week.

I was so proud of all the children - they were confident, sang beautifully and then helped the people who work at Genesis Energy to complete their Te Reo wordfind.

Thanks to Maggie and Albert for inviting us and a special thanks to Ms Noakes who organised it and Whaea Carol and Aarani for their support each week.

 David is opening the performance. David has only been in New Zealand for 11 months and is one of the big bosses at Genesis Energy. He did a great job of reminding us - He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world. It is people , it is people it is people.
This is something we understand well at May Road School.

The Kapa Haka group had a bracket of six songs which they performed. Evidence of many weeks of practice.

Ka pai!!!!!!!