We caught our flight from Stockholm for Tokyo with no problems. We did have to change planes in Helsinki which was a pain, but couldnt be avoided. Actually, e flew FinnAir which was one of the nicest airlines we flew for the whole trip. The seats were extremely roomy and comfy, and the in-flight entertainment superb. Which was good, as the 10 hour flight flew by.

However we didn't get any sleep so by the time we got to Tokyo we were burnt out and jet lagged (plus factor in the 7 hour jump ahead in time). By the time we made the 2 hour trip from the airport into Tokyo and checked into our hotel we were absolutely stuffed. On top of all this was the hectic 11 days on the Contiki tour, which was full of early starts and late nights. As such, we slept fro 15 hours straight from 1pm to 4am the next morning. We woke up and watched a pay per view movie before getting ready and making an early start on the day (important as we wasted a whole day sleeping!).

Our first stop was Tokyo Disneyland. It took about 40 mins to get there by train, which was made easy by the awesome subway system they have. We got to Disneyland early, but it didnt matter as the queues for all the rides filled up extremely quickly. We were able to do about half a dozen rides, but the queues for the popular attractions were at least 90-120 minutes long. And it was hot. Bloody hot. As a result, we called it a day around 1pm. We still put in about 4 hours, and picked up some gifts so all was not lost.

We made our way back to te comfort of our hotel, which was incredible and the staff so ridiculously nice, were we relaxed and had a few drinks at the bar. We got ready and went out for dinner before painting the town red as it was our ast night of the holiday, after 3 whole months. In fact, we painted the town extremely red!! It was a fun and interesting night. We stuck out in all the bars and clubs like sore thumbs, but the people were very friendly and nice. We called it a night very late, before checking out of the hotel the next morning.

We had a bit of time to pass in the afternoon as our flight wasn't until 9:00pm. However it was again so bloody hot, and it wasnt the best of days. Aside from the heat, Malcolm had credit card problems, and we couldnt find an ATM anywhere to get money from. It took about an hour and a half to find an ATM, by this time we were hungry and thirsty, and still very hungover. We looked around town for a short while, but the heat got the better of us so we headed back to the hotel and made our way to the airport early. It was about then that the realisation that our holiday was over kicked in, and it was a bit depressing! However, the flight back was good, and once we got back to Perth it was good to see familiar surroundings, hear an Australian accent, and of course see Mum waiting at the airport :P

Anyway, that's all from me. Back in Perth now geting settled back into it. It has been an absolutely unbelievable trip, probably a once in a lifetime experience. Thankyou for reading this journal, and for all your best wishes along the way. Look forward to catching up with you all soon, and to show the hundreds and hundreds of photos taken along the way :)

Bye for now :)

Paul