Last day of tour, I've absolutely loved working for Expat!

It was another morning of up at stupid O'clock for the long drive to our lunch stop at Bruge in Belgium. I was actually planning on going here on a day trip from Paris just so that I could send Aaron and Tim postcards from there.

We arrived in Bruges and there was road works so we spent about 20 minutes trying to get into the centre of town. Once there we herded everyone off the bus and I led them into the main square. I let the group go for lunch and expressly said, If you are not back here by this time we have to leave with out you as Gary will be illegally parked! I ran down to the main square, buying some postcards on my way and set about finding the post office.

I sat in there and wrote two postcards and didn't even sign them, but covered them in obscenities from the movie In Bruges, private joke, I'm sure they will both get it. I posted the cards, thinking to myself how awesome I was and giggling like a kid whose watching his best mate walk right into the prank he's just pulled.

I had lunch in the pretty little square, at Belgium's McDonalds equivalent, I would have like to have sat down at one of the nicer places, but alas there really wasn't time for that. I still got to sit in the main square and look at all the pretty, colourful little buildings and the magnificent tower of the church. Every so often a horse drawn carriage would go past adding the noise of the horses shoes to the atmosphere.

After Bruges we were supposed to go to a chocolate factory, but as usual there were a group of about six people who were late back to the bus and Gary had to drive around the block three times while I rounded them up. Same group every time, the non English speakers who can't understand the words, Meet back here at this time or If you're not here I'll leave you behind! I don't know why I accepted this tour, don't get me wrong I've had a blast, but its always been my policy as a tour leader to not accept non English speakers. I don't care that they can't understand my spiels or that they come from where ever they're from, it the fact that I can't yell after them, Mind that bus, that means they are a danger to themselves and everyone on the tour.

I made a point of announcing on the bus, why we were no longer going to the chocolate factory, which had nothing to do with getting in on time or Gary's driving hours, it had to do with missing the boat back to London. We go to Calais and I got the group to go through immigration. The Malaysians in the group had been asking me all tour about the tax refund when we got back on the boat and I had kept telling them, they had to do it when they leave the UK at the airport. I was so angry when I saw the whole group of them waving the orange refund cards in the face of the customs official who was not only processing them but actually considering denying them entry back into the UK. The Malaysians held up the process for about half an hour, but finally we were allowed to board the ship.

Gary and I sat in the driver lounge completing our paperwork for the whole trip, I was so engrossed in it that the first time I looked up I saw the White Cliffs of Dover approaching. Another vessel was blocking our berth, so we had a half hour delay and I got to look at the White Cliffs of Dover for quite some time.

We got off the bus and drove back to London, I said goodbye to the group and they all clapped, which was unexpected. I dropped Charlotte and Sam off at the Ibis, I was really sad to see them go they had been two of my favourites on this tour.

We got back to Canada Water and dropped everyone else off, lots of hugs and goodbyes. Ali, Don, Andrea and Javed were all going out for dinner at Hammersmith and Ali invited me along. I asked if they minded waiting for me to unload everything and take it all back to the office and they didn't. So I did what I had to do, and asked Gary if he needed me for anything else, to which he replied, Yeah, 6am Friday morning! Which is when his next tour is going out, I wish, I said.

So I went off to the after party, having left everything I owned at the office except my small handbag. We got the tube out to Hammersmith, with me struggling not to lead the way, as this was not my idea and I was off duty, no matter how hard I tried I always seemed to end up in front. Dinner was in a lovely Persian restaurant, which I left so full I could barely move! This was not least due to the fact that Ali kept feeding me and shoveling food onto my plate!

I said goodbye to my new friends and got back on the tube, with Javed who need to change at Victoria, Ali asked me to look after him. I looked at where he was staying, Clapham and said, You be careful walking around there at night, its not a good area! I got the tube to Victoria and checked into my hostel. The guy who checked me in was really good looking and also a tour leader, he works for Contiki. We started chatting about our last tours before I went up to my room to bed, with only my handbag and no luggage at all and went to sleep in my clothes. It's a living!