Hung around Billericay in the morning then caught the bus to Chelmsford to meet Chrissie for lunch. Had a lovely lunch at a pub up the road from her office. She then drove us home on her way to a meeting. Another sad farewell but hopefully not too long before we see each other as it has only been 3 year intervals since they left Australia. Back to Wakefield rd to finalize packing and wait for taxi to Heathrow. Can't believe we are actually going home, it just se...

Had a very lazy but relaxing day. Finished off the washing and packed bags ready for tomorrow. Went to the high street for lunch with Laura and visited my favourite shop in Billericay, Kasbah, and scored some clothes in the end of summer sale. Just waited for Chrissie to come over after work and went to a bar for a few drinks and chat. Got fish and chips on the way home for dinner and a lazy night on the couch.

Got a bit of washing and all the domestic stuff organised in the morning. Headed off to London around lunch time and straight to Lillywhites for Stephen to buy his new wardrobe. Very quick shopping spree, 6 polo shirts and 48 pounds later we were on our way to the pub to meet Kim and Wombat. Had a good afternoon catching up with them and then headed to Liverpool street to our other appointments. The tube station at oxford circus was closed, apparently too busy, b...

Up and driving out the hotel carpark by 8.55. Unheard of for us. Can't believe how heavy our bags are considering we haven't really bought that much. Pretty much smooth sailing to Paris until we got to the airport and we had the same problem finding the car place as we did when we tried to pick it up. Obviously the roads have changed but they haven't reset the gps. Eventually consulted the map they gave us and that was simple. It's very frustrating when you can s...

Spent most of the day organising bags to take to Croatia and what to leave behind. Walked up to Bakers Arms for lunch and a pint and then went for a stroll around Stock. When Chrissie got home we went to a lovely pub The Windmill for dinner near the reservoir .