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On Thursday we headed off to Borough Market (near London Bridge) as Ben was on a mission to pick up some exotic and very expensive beer for a friend of his. Borough Market is an exotic food and beverage market and it was quite interesting to see the various items on offer. Ben did find the beers he was after so the mission was a success.

Around the corner was the Golden Hind (Francis Drake’s old ship) which I had hoped to visit. I private tour was going on at the time so we could only walk around the outside and take pictures.

From there we walked along the south bank over to Tower Bridge. On the far side we visited Katherine’s Dock. While we have no aspirations to sail to England and up the Thames we know one or two who might so it was nice to see the last stop up the river for sail boats.

We ate lunch there, most having fish and chips. Ben also wanted to visit the London office of company he works for. That was just around the corner to where Helen and I worked together meeting for the first time. We popped by there to show the kids this little piece of family history.

Ben visited his London office and the rest of us headed back to Camden where we relaxed for the rest of the day. In the evening John brought Bao round so we could all have some last contact time.

Yesterday, Friday, we had a few visitors. Before any of them arrived the five of us took a walk along the canal covering a good distance towards King’s Cross before turning back. Amy’s friend, Alison, was the first to arrive having flown over from Ireland where she currently works. Next to join was Helen’s travel companion from long ago, Geraldine. We all headed to Camden Market for lunch. There John joined us as did the kid’s cousin Adrian. We ended up in the pub for most of the afternoon.

In the evening the kids all went off to a club in London returning at around 5am this morning.

So it’s now Saturday. Helen and my last day in the Uk for some time. We’ll wake the kids around 10am (on prior agreement), sort ourselves out and vacate the place we’ve rented. We’ll have a brunch somewhere before parting ways. They have a hostel booked in London for their last two days. Helen and I will return to her sister’s place where the rest of our luggage sits. Betty will take us to the airport this afternoon. We fly out around 8pm.

We’ll arrive in New Zealand (horribly tired no doubt) Monday morning. The boat parts are still in customs awaiting our arrival in order to sign off for them. As we make our way from the airport to Whangarei I hope to get this all sorted out over the phone. Somehow I have a mountain of paperwork stacked up to sort out when we arrive. Yach.

The Monday trip to Hampton Court was interesting. We were joined by the extended family: Betty, Paul, Emily, David, Tara and little Oliver. The only disappointment was missing the maze which closed earlier. Had I known it boiled down to a choice between seeing an old vine or visiting the maze I would definitely have gone for the latter.

Tuesday we all headed into London and moved into our accommodation near Camden Town. Having settled in we explored the market area separately. We ate out in the evening at a local pub/restaurant.

Yesterday was almost a disaster. Helen and I had to visit a US lawyer for some ongoing work we have to sort out. We agreed to meet the Ben, Sam and Amy at 1pm at the front of the British Museum. Our meeting went well so we had a good walk around the museum. We started waiting for the kids about 12:45 and gave up at 1:40 thinking they may be lost. As we walked towards the gates Ben rushed up and caught up with us. They’d been waiting at the back entrance. We hadn’t thought to look for an alternate entrance and they’d only just figured out they may be at the wrong place. A few seconds later and we’d have completely missed each other.

The vote went for a trip to the Science Museum so we spent a couple of hours there. Next we stopped off at Embankment, took a look at the river then headed up to Trafalgar Square. After a bit of sightseeing we found a pub, had a couple of drinks before heading off to Chinatown for a very tasty dinner.

Today we may go off to see the new Olympic Park and then go to Greenwich. Haven’t discussed this with the kids yet (they’re all asleep) so the plan remains open.

In the meantime I have been having almost daily communications with DHL regarding the shipment of our parts to the boatyard. The latest news is that we need to be there to sign for the parts or otherwise we’ll have to pay temporary bonds, etc. Haven’t got time to sort out the latter so now we’re trying to arrange deliver on Monday afternoon when we’ll be there. Fortunately the techs won’t need the parts until Wednesday so although it’s tight it’s doable.

On Saturday morning I headed off to the airport to pick up Ben, Sam and Amy. Overnight Chesham, where we are staying, had a record low temperature. By the time I set off it had warmed to a balmy -13C. There was some trouble on the motorway but I took an alternative route to the airport and made it with plenty of time to spare as the plan was a bit late too.

It was obviously great to see Ben and Sam again and to meet Amy for the first time.

Back at Betty’s we had some time together before family started tickling in to meet up. John, Ella and Bao all arrived too so it was a great get together.

The kids were keen to occupy their time so yesterday we took a trip over to Bletchley Park where all the WWII decryption of the Enigma traffic took place. They now have a working replica of the Bombe machine that was used to hunt down the Enigma keys. Fascinating piece of electromechanical wizardry.

Today we’re off to Hampton Court to have a look at that piece of British history.

In just over two weeks we’ll be heading back to New Zealand and back onto the boat. After recovering from the travel we’ll be into boat projects. The change to diesel propulsion will be on and I’ll be working on installing the new AIS transponder, new entertainment system and redoing the nav station. That’ll keep me busy for a few days.

Before we get to New Zealand we’re very much looking forward to sons Ben and Sam accompanied by Ben’s girlfriend, Amy, visiting England next weekend. For the first time in two years we’ll have the whole family together, complete with new addition. For the first three days we’ll all be staying here with Helen’s sister Betty. From the following Tuesday we’ve booked an apartment in Camden Town, London where we can go out and enjoy the capital more easily.

We haven’t been idle while here. Most days we’ve be doing something. Some of it has been catch up on years of being out of the country and sorting out things for our future. We’ve been in and out of London a few times and each trip we’ve had side trips to museums and art galleries. It’s now bitterly cold out so the motivation to go outside is pretty low. Very much looking forward to getting back to the southern hemisphere summer and then, later, back to the tropics.

Apologies to anyone coming here for sailing related posts. They will come soon. But for now, more granddaughter pics …..