July
2006
My First Day1
The flight into England went well, although upon arrival, I found that Vodafone had not properly activated roaming on my phone yet, which caused some hassles. I was meant to be picking Jackie up in Brighton but didn’t know where. I decided to start driving and finally about 15 minutes out of Brighton, I managed to get through using a calling card on a public phone. We then drove back up to London to meet Tom and Kyra at their hotel near Oxford Circus which was a good location. Me and Jackie went to have lunch with Deirdre, Domina and Daniella in Canary Wharf. I haven’t seen them for a few years so it was good to catch up. Jackie and I then met Tom and Kyra at Harrods and walked back to the hotel. We had room service for dinner, had a few drinks and then Dan (a friend from SB) and his girlfriend came round and we headed out to Covent Garden. It was fun for a while – went to a club where we danced on the bar, but everything closed early since it was Sunday. We met up will Will and Colm (2 other guys from SB) for a while and then headed back to our hotel for a few hours rest. I managed to sleep through till morning so hopefully I won’t get jet lagged.
Today I am up at the Spaldings house near Tewkesbury, where I will be for the next 2 days. I’ll put up some photos when I get to the Hocknells on Wednesday.
 -Ben
At least I got a pen as compensation. I did watch MI:3 though which was entertaining. I was disappointed though as there were a few movies I would have watched. Hopefully on the next leg. I assume the movie choice is the same on all flights so I suppose it’s good to pace myself since I’ll need some to watch on the way back too 
I got a few hours sleep when I first got on the plane which was good since I could barely keep my eyes open after my hectic week. Finally some time to relax (albeit in an economy class seat) and get much needed shut eye. Luckily, thanks to Tom AJ, I am in an exit row for both flights today despite the flight being full. I also got to skip the rather long queue at check in. Don’t worry, Tom, I won’t forget to bring back a carton of cigarettes for you.
) I’m looking forward to the flight because it is going to be my first chance for a good sleep in a few days. This past week has been a little crazy since it’s my last week at work, my last week in Sydney (although I’m not gone long), first week of session at uni, and it was Louis’ birthday on Monday (Happy Birthday again). This has all resulted in a taxing schedule – I’ve been out Saturday,Sunday,Wednesday, Thursday and I’m going out tonight.