Farewell London.....As our time in London came to a close we were sad to say goodbye to this leg of our journey. But what a great week we had! We moved on to Kensington to spend some time with Danielle and Lachie (whom have settled in to London life very quickly - Dan has even started to pick up a little of the accent!).

The first 2 days of the week were spent on our MI4 assignment with Simone and Rachel. We spent some (very peaceful) time on a barge moving through the canals in north London, finishing at Little Venice. We then caught a train to Windsor and explored Windsor Castle. It was perfect weather and the castle was incredible. It is on a hill so looks straight out of a storybook, but also quite imposing and regal. We feel like every day is a new history lesson, every building has a story that goes back hundreds of years. And yet people live amongst it, just going about their daily lives.

The next day we spent around Westminster, on Simone's part of the mission. She took us to Downing St and the Churchill Museum, which was facinating, and then on to Big Ben and to see the Houses of Parliment. We honestly think that we would never get tired of looking at these buildings. Westminister Abbey was beautiful too, but difficult to appreciate with so many tourists. The final part of the day we went out to Greenwich on the ferry and visited the Royal Navy College and the observatory. So all in all a sucessful mission! (Sorry if you have no idea what I mean by MI4, we will explain later).

There is just so much to see and do in London, even in the height of summer (although it doesn't always feel like summer) when people are away on holidays. August seems to be a bit of a lull for activities and entertainment, but we have still found plenty to do! We went with Danielle to a great Thai restaurant in Soho. Thai is a bit more of a rarity here, but we were craving it and Dan had recently discovered this place. I spent 2 half days at the highly anticipated Victoria & Albert Museum. While the collection certainly lived up to its reputation, I was dissapointed to find the textiles section closed due to a lack of staff. Also the fashion section was not as large as I had expected considering the size of their collection. I think space must be an issue. Its great that they do not charge admission fees to museums here.

We also had a look through Harrod's, where Mal found a watch for only 69,500 pounds!!! Needless to say he didn't buy it....!!

On the last friday night Mal caught up with Jess, Rob's sister and I had dinner at the top of the OXO Tower with Sonia & Sasha. This was great food, sitting outside on the balcony with great views over the Thames, on a beautiful night (they really do have nice sunsets here in London). Thanks Sonia!!

Our last weekend in London we went on a day trip on the Saturday to Cambridge with Dan & Lachie and Hannah & Brien. Having attended Cambridge a few years bach Hannah & Brien were able to take us on a great guided tour of a few of the colleges and their associated chapels. It is very beautiful and would have been a great place to study. After lunch we hired a boat (or punt?) and had a go at punting on the canals. Or maybe I should say attempted to! Despite a few collisions with other punts and nearly falling into the water a number of times, it was actually great fun. Although Mal didn't think so when I steered him directly into a blackberry bush!

We spent out last day in a typically English fashion - Lachie managed to get some tickets to a football match at Wemberly stadium between Chelsea & Manchester United. The atmosphere was unlike anything we have experienced and Dan & I were even a little scared on the way into the ground as the fans rallied against each other. But it was a great experiece - thanks again for the tickets Lachie. We ended the day with a roast dinner at a pub, or should i say a retro pub. Very English!!

A big thank you to Danielle & Lachie for having us stay and ,aking us feel at home - it was great to see you both doing so well.

All in all a great time was had in London town and we will look back with fond memories.