Street art

Dismal grey walls make a great canvas for street art, these are some of the best examples I found near Tottenham Court Rd tube station. Are they Banksy works?

Loo’s, knives and gambling

Tweet, tweet, woo hoo, hoo woo, chirp are the strange sounds that greet me this morning. The squirrels say hello on the way to the station  I am really liking all the wildlife.

Today’s assault starts at the London Eye, with 20 other tourists we cram into a capsule and head for the skies, perfect views of all the places we have been and where we are going. Helps get a much needed orientation of where everything is in this amazing city.

After the excitement of the eye it’s time to spend a penny, well 50p at Jubiloo. Hilarious place, a toilet block with entry gates, two very entertaining attendants, toilets adorned with union jacks and automated hand washing machines that are out of a Jetson’s cartoon. They even encourage you to tweet about your experience using #jubiloo.

The tide is out on the Thames and some banks are exposed, we see a knife and speculate what it had been used for and how it got there. Someone in the party has a very vivid imagination.

Crossing Westminister Bridge we discover a gang of illegal gamblers complete with lookouts and foreign accents playing the shell game. The ring leader’s hands are stuffed with 20 pound notes and the players just keep giving them more money.

More ancient beauty unfolds in front of us, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We take to the surrounding streets and snap away with all the other tourists.

No rest for the wicked, onto No 10, then Horse Guards to try and make them laugh and then through St James Park and up to Buckingham Palace to wave to her majesty.

Home for a scrumptious baked dinner and a special jubille edition of Antiques Raodshow. Could not ask for a better day. Fell into bed exhausted.

Day 1 - Orientation

Tower Bridge in the sunshine

Jane and I at Roman Ruin

Brought a fossil in these markets

Met at the airport by Jane, her Mum and Jeff and whisked back to Lewisham. Along the route there where lots of strange houses in rows that all look alike and even spotted MI6, sitting like a glass monolith next to the Thames.

After a restorative cup of tea and bath it was time to go explore London.

It was cold and windy, first stop was Covent Garden, shops, shops, shops, market, more shops, hmm, lots of pretty things. Even visited the Mac store. Hmm, will need another bag to come home. Radley is the current favourite.

The sun starts shining, the crowds get happier, street performers make my think I am watching the start of a Guy Ritchie movie. We board our first bus a red double decker have to sit upstairs, go by lots of buildings, see first glimpse of the Gerkin and end up at the Tower of London, it is all a bit surreal.

Now its really happening my first Roman Ruin. Yes a few thousand years of history under my hands. Where is Tony Robinson and the Time Team gang.

Tower Bridge is looking beautiful in the sunshine, we walk across it the Thames in much wider than I expected. Explored around the riverside, more shops, more people and lots of union jacks from last weekend’s jubilee celebrations. Totally feel like I am in another country now.

Its hot now and with all the other tourists watch the boats go up and down the Thames. With the blasting of horns London Bridge opens to let some boats through. We are exhausted and reluctantly head home.

A wonderful day finished off with strawberries and cream washed down with Pimms.

Landed in London

6 hours to go

Feeling like a zombie, but what an experience. Started with the first class QANTAS lounge, a la carte menu, funkiest décor, ticker tape departures display and amazing picture book library. Total luxury. Had to have a cup of tea and scrumptious cake to get over parting from Stephen.

We board and the A380 is the quietest plan I have ever been on.  The seat gods must have been shining sat with Kristy and Karen, who both like to talk as much as me.

The entertainment system was top notch the best part was Skycam, a camera placed on the tail of the plane. Especially good to watch at take off and landing.

 Somewhere over Australia David the chief steward came over an gave me a personal welcome to QF1, asked about my trip and flying experience and gave me a business class kit and some fancy headphones. What a surprise, thank you to whoever arranged that I think I know who you are.

We arrived at Singapore airport late at night and it was littered with sleeping bodies, in every imaginable position and place. Found an outdoor garden to visit and was hit by the stifling heat the moment I stepped out, lasted about 2 minutes. The major highlight of Singapore was watching the toilet flush and the water going the other way I truly was in the Northern Hempisphere.

For the final 13 hours to London we got pampered again by the QANTAS crew with supper and hot chocolate and then they dimmed the lights for sleep time. About 4 hours out of London we saw the first big city lights, think it was Turkey. Then dawn arrived and before you know it we had landed at Heathrow.

Leaving on a jet plane

An A380 to be precise. This afternoon I board QF1 to fly 17,000kms to London.  The level of excitement is at an all time high. Stay tuned to this blog for regular updates on:

• My experiences in a city with 2,000 years of history
• How many schnauzers walk the streets of London
• What Jane my lovely host and London expert is recommending
• How I am coping with the weather
• If I actually make it to the inside of a pub

What would Captain Cook think of this?

Fortifications around the observation tent in Tahiti, 1769

My setup, 2012

Google Plus party

For a while now I have been waiting for this years Transit of Venus. Research was completed, welding filters purchased and then the clouds rolled in. Typical of any major astronomical event.

The transit is important to me as in 1769 Lieutenant James Cook sailed to the newly discovered island of Tahiti to observe the transit and help measure the distance from the Earth to the Sun. After the transit he opened sealed orders to search for the great southern land. He did not find this mythical land however he did find and extensively map New Zealand and the East coast of Australia.

Today despite the clouds all was not lost, via Twitter I found a bunch of astronomers in the US hosting a Venus Hangout online in Google Plus. For 6 hours I was entertained with stories and images from people all over the US. Sharing their images of the transit, what equipment there where using and even fence posts, mountains and clouds blocking their view. In one location a squirrel was sitting on a window ledge intently watching the telescope like it was observing. The NASA webcam had 1.9 million people watching.

So what would Cook make of this?

It took him 7.5 months to sail to the other side of the world and 2 months to set up the Point Venus observatory. Contrast that with 243 years later and I sat online in my room at a party with about 6,000 other people from around the world observing the transit. 

The next transit is in 105 years and I won’t be around for that one. Who knows what technology will exist by then.

Lunar Love

It was chilly and windy night, just the perfect conditions for a bit of astrophotography. Stephen captured these images of a full moon with a partial lunar eclipse.

A partial lunar eclipse means the moon passes through the Earth’s umbra (inner) shadow. Earth’s shadow is in excess of 300,000km so at irregular times the sun, moon and earth line up to create this interesting spectacle.