Day 479: Unpacking and repacking

16/11/2022

Monday morning was foggy in London, we couldn’t let the grandparents have clear blue skies all week. With the few hours left we aimlessly wondered about until we were starving for brunch.

We swung past Bridget Jones’s apartment, Fran banged on the door looking for her fourth coffee for the day, but she was not home.

We passed through the Borough Market, although we were still full from brunch and headed towards the Shard.

Along the Thames there have been 28 bronze chimpanzee sculptures to educate and spread awareness about how the species are struggling. This was perfect for the kids, with many friendly arguments about who in the family was which chimp.

Before we left the city it was one final coffee catchup with Wenna. The boy who had just sculled a babyccino moments ago was at it again.

We were then on our way to the train station with a final wave to ol’ mate, Matthew Flinders.

Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name Australia to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania), a title he regarded as being “more agreeable to the ear” than previous names such as Terra Australis. Flinders was involved in several voyages of discovery between 1791 and 1803, the most famous of which are the circumnavigation of Australia and an earlier expedition when he and George Bass confirmed that Van Diemen’s Land was an island.

It was a long busy train on the way home, trainline is usually reliable, however, there had been a big system stuff up, Carriage B Seat 51 was severely overbooked.

For this trip we were not located in the Quieter Coach so Lachlan let loose with his make shift drum set. However, that only entertained him for so long, so it was back to surfing.

It was getting dark quickly as we headed north. After a long trip we just needed one more wee train to get us home.

Interestingly in the news, “Danish artist hides enormous trolls deep in Western Australia”. They are worth a look, his Aalborg one was neat. In fact, for those serious troll lovers, Thomas Dambo has a map locating his creations.

After a fun trip to London, Tuesday was a much needed couch day. Lachlan was not too convinced about that idea as he approached V1 speed.

Eloise was glad we had made it back from London so she did not miss her dance class. Dad even surprised Eloise with the dance pick-up.

Super Mum was whipping up a roast, she had a point to prove that her Yorkshire puddings were better than the ones we had had in London. She had even made some dairy free so Lachlan could have his very own, he was a happy boy.

Seriously guys, c’mon, what is happening in Australia? “Brace for supply chain chaos as Australia cut in half after train derailed”. We will get the grandparents to smuggle lettuce back into the country. In the UK “Rishi Sunak announced BAE Systems has been awarded a £4.2bn contract to build five more Type 26 frigates, on top of the three already under construction”.

This morning it was a final tower build before the grandparents repacked their bags after a massive six weeks. They will probably need some time to recover after chasing the grandchildren about. It was lovely to have them here and show them the chaos which is our lives. We don’t think it has totally sunk in with the kids yet, they will be disappointed in the morning, we have all had such a fantastic time. Have a safe four flights home.

This evening the full team was ready to pick up Eloise from nursery, she was not impressed we had forgotten her bike throne. We do love Lachlan’s beanie with earmuffs.

Everyone, Hotel FIK is back open for business for those seeking fun out of the sun!