DISNEYLAND – THE ORIGINAL

We’re posting in flashback from England again. This is our last post about the USA. Our last day was spent at Disneyland and what a fantastic way to end the trip this was.

Disneyland was the brainchild of Walt Disney, wanting to create a place where children and adults could have fun together. The other reason for its existence is the fact that the general public wanted to meet Mickey and Minnie and all the other wonderful cartoon characters. After a lot of hard work by many people, the most by Walt himself, and for the cost of $17 million the park opened on July 18, 1954. Although, the first day was an absolute disaster, dubbed Black Friday forever. LA was going through a heat wave and the recently laid tarmac melted as people were walking on it. The plumber couldn’t complete the water fountain installation meaning there was no water for people to drink. Counterfeit tickets were created meaning 30,000 instead of 15,000 guests turned up and the catering was insufficient. To top off all that there was a gas leak causing the shutting of half the park. All in all a disaster but in the days to follow all was sorted and it has been a success story ever since.

It really is a place to have fun with children, even big ones like us. We thoroughly enjoyed a day and night of wonder looking around and riding as much as possible. It is always packed with people so a lot of time is spent in queues but you get there in the end. Half the fun we had in the day was watching little children light up in wonder as a favourite character would pass, especially during the daily parade, at this time of year Christmas themed. We loved Mickey’s Toon Town and Fantasyland, getting lost in these make believe worlds.

We went home to rug up for the evening and to eat dinner and then headed back in for the night. The lights were just gorgeous creating the magical atmosphere that Disney is famous for. We were treated to a spectacular show called Fantastica which is the dream world of Mickey Mouse projected onto a misty water screen and includes appearances of lots of wonderful characters. Between shows we fitted in a our last few rides and in our opinion the best rides in the park. The New Orleans style haunted house was just the right amount of spooky and we loved the Indiana Jones Adventure ride, although our absolutely favourite was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The fireworks were just spectacular and a very fitting end to our time in the USA. We all decided that as much as we had really enjoyed our Disney adventure we would not plan a holiday around it, it was just good to do as a part of our LA adventure. Universal Studios we felt was a much better adventure along the theme park line with much better rides for us adults, a win to Florida.

Well, this was the last night for our USA adventures as we settled down to a lovely hotel stay, free from our Wyndham rewards, and woke to do our final pack. We had talked our way into a late check out at 2pm so perfect for our then trouble free trip to the airport to drop off the car. Alamo is a rental car company I would recommend to anyone, they have been a trouble free experience and have gone out of their way to make it so. We have completed 13,100 miles of travels through this amazing country of natural wonders, big cities and very interesting people. Time to return to Blighty to see our family before returning to Australia so do stay tuned for more fun to end our world adventure, or part of it at least.

We had a trouble free flight and were met by Graham right on time, helped by following our flights progress on the good old iPad. It is a bright but cold sunny day and we enjoy the last minute views from flight over England of the green fields and hedges. Back on the ground we spend our time catching up on what has been happening over the last 3 months and reliving some of our adventures. The Bells welcomes back with the Christmas lights shining and fire glowing bright, just gorgeous. It is so good to be back.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album DISNEYLAND.

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS

We’re now back in England getting ready to spend another wonderful Christmas with family. This post is about the rest of our time in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills up until our last day in the USA at Disneyland.

So, what else did we get up to? Next stop was Hollywood where we spent most of an afternoon at the Hollywood Museum that is housed in the Max Factor Building. Yes, you are right, this is the building purchased by Max Factor in 1928 and eventually opened as the place of business and creation by the man himself in 1935. Hollywood’s ‘make up king’ was considered the father of modern “make-up”. Born in Poland, Max Factor became the beautician/make-up artist to Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family. After immigrating with his family to the United States in 1908, he fulfilled the American Dream. Through his innovative ideas, and hard work, Factor built a cosmetic empire. From Hollywood royalty to housewives of America, Max Factor’s stylistic genius changed our vision of beauty. He created silver screen gods and goddesses as well as a new look for the everyday woman. I cannot imagine that there would be any woman who has not had a Max Factor item in their make up bag at some point. This is the place where it all began.

Max was a pioneer that recognized that the make up and skin tones must match the hair colour, something especially important once the camera is rolling. He was the person who made Marilyn Monroe blonde and Lucille Ball a red head and proceeded to create the makeup to suit. He is also the creator of lipstick. Where would we be without this amazing man? The most bizarre thing to see is his beauty calibrator. Max invented this scary-looking machine to aid in the perfect application of makeup. The contraption helped identify the areas of a person’s face that needed to be enhanced or disguised. The beauty micrometer became a huge hit in the movie industry. It actually looks more like a sophisticated object of torture and apparently ended up being used in horror movies. Not his greatest success but you have to admit he went to all sorts of lengths to get the perfect ‘look’ for the women, and men, of the world.

It is a fabulous Hollywood Regency Art Deco building that greets you with the gorgeous white and rose marble lobby complete with chandeliers and gold leaf. On this floor one can browse through the original make up rooms designated by hair colour. There are four floors of photos, memorabilia, horror, costumes and so much more from days of old and modern movies. It was a pleasure to be lost amongst all these treasures.

We are lucky enough to be in town for a movie premiere for Inherent Vice, so we spend a couple more hours just wandering around Hollywood Boulevard, soaking in this surreal world and checking out the stars on the pavement, that make this the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before securing our spot outside Hooters opposite the TCL Chinese Theatre, hoping it is the one that will give us the best view of the stars. We are not disappointed as the evening unfolds and we get to see the stars, our favourites being Reece Witherspoon, Jena Malone from Hunger Games fame and Maya Rudolph from Bridesmaids fame. What a fabulous day in down town Hollywood.

Another day is spent touring around and exploring Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive (just gorgeous but a little out of the adventure budget) and the Hollywood Hills. No more stars spotted on this day. In daylight this is not really that spectacular, it does tend to sparkle a bit more in the night. You can see lots of big gates to big properties but privacy is the issue here, and who would expect anything less. The views over LA are great from up on the hill but it is just a sprawling urban mass with a surprisingly small high-rise district. We pop into the centre of town to the Town Hall and are able to pop up to the 27^th floor that offers a wonderful view of the inner city and surrounds. All in all we soak up as much as we can before we head back in the atrocious traffic to get to our beds. We all decide that unless we were to be stars we would not want to live and commute in this city, it would drive you absolutely crazy tackling the traffic on a daily basis.

Time is running out very quickly now but we have one more adventure planned for out last day and night, a trip to Disney Land. We have done all the packing and are moving into a 4 and ½ star hotel right at the gate so we will have a fantastic day of adventure and childhood fun followed by a lovely evening before we head off to the airport tomorrow. We’ll tell you all about it later.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

LAKERS IN LOS ANGELES

We have been making our way to LA for this specific day for a very special reason. We have tickets to a Lakers game tonight. We spend our day sorting out our plan of attack for between now and the end of our journey in the US on the 14th, accommodation, what we want to see and experience, getting in supplies and generally doing the house keeping and taking a little time to rest before the big night.

Off we go into the heart of LA to the Staples centre. The traffic is horrendous causing tense moments as the minutes tick past, even though we know we have left ourselves plenty of time. We are just as excited to see the venue as the game. This is a state of the art venue lit up to thrill and excite and we are excited. We find our seats, way up high, and look down with anticipation wondering why there are so many seats vacant. This does not last for long as people suddenly start to fill nearly all the seats, a great crowd of fans. The game is about to begin and the players hit the court.

On a sombre note, during the warm up the Lakers players are wearing black T shirts printed with ‘I Can’t Breathe’ in support of a young black unarmed man, Eric Garner, tragically chocked to death by a police officer whilst being arrested for suspicion of selling individual untaxed cigarettes, his last words shown on CCTV video being ‘I Can’t Breathe”. Another recent case in the news is the death of another young man, Michael Brown, shot and killed by police while unarmed and holding his hands up. It seems that in both cases there was a felony committed and both seemed to be resisting arrest, although neither deserved death. In both these cases the officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing. This has caused hot debate in the news during our travels and there is a growing protest amongst high profile sporting identities, black and brown communities and across all sections of society in general. Some of the reports I have seen highlight the need for change on how the young community and the police view each other and how both need to reflect that the police are there to protect the community and neither is an enemy to the other.

Earlier in our trip I met a woman serving in a remote US Post Office who was a victim of crime, her police officer son having been killed by a young man running from a crime, eventually caught and now serving a jail sentence. These incidents highlight an ongoing issue that, by all reports, is in a very heightened state of conflict at this moment in time. I do not presume to know enough about any of these issues to comment, and we all know how the media inflame these situations, but we hope for a peaceful resolution and better understanding on all sides. Understanding cannot be reached overnight and requires years of education and reconciliation, acceptance and a desire on all sides to live within the law, respect ones self and each other and each other’s property. Is this achievable in any country in the world? I hope so.

Watching the warm up is fun and they seem to not miss a shot as they practice, especially Kobe Bryant. The crowd erupts into what will be a continuing hub of excitement as the Lakers take on the Sacramento Kings. Game on, and the Kings are off to an early lead that the Lakers spend the entire game trying to catch, sometimes levelling but always dropping back again. The crowd is enthusiastic to say the least and they are very vocal when certain players miss their shots. We are impressed by the actual presence of an official Lakers band that play great music fitting to the moment getting all the fans cheering on their favourite team.

During the game we are reminded that Bryant is getting closer and closer to overtaking Michael Jordan to becoming the third highest points scorer of all time behind Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. These four giants of the game are the only players to have scored over 32,000 points. Tonight is not the night but with only 31 points now required the next game is going to be crazy, sadly it is not a home game, tragic for the fans (Note, next game completed and now only requires 9 points but it’s still an away game next). This guy is awesome to watch, poetry in motion, not showy or flash, just brilliant and has an impact on the game as soon as he steps on the court. We are so glad we have had the chance to see him in person. How far will he go up the points ladder in his career and will he catch Kareem on 38,387 or Karl on 36,928. It is a big ask for this 6’6” 36 year old, who has played basketball professionally since he left High School and always for the Lakers. I feel it is more likely that he will retire a champion and give his battered bodied a rest. Good luck Kobe, we will be watching closely to see how far you will go.

Also on offer to all the fans is free Taco’s if the Lakers win the game and the Kings are kept under 100 points. At the last break we decide together that even if they win it would be highly unlikely that the Kings would not score 100. WRONG. Lakers come up with only minutes to go winning the game 98 to 95. Very exciting to say the least, and not only because we get free tacos!

Game over it is time to leave the stadium. Here is where we have to congratulate the efficiency of the staff at this venue. We have been to many sporting events, concerts etc. and crowd control is always an issue. Not at Staples. It was quite magical how a large number of people were ushered effortlessly out into the street and beyond, all receiving their taco vouchers, within seemingly minutes of the end of the game. Congratulations Staples.

We linger on outside to get photos with the bronze statues of some great sporting heroes, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, hockey star Wayne Gretzky, basketball stars Kareem and Magic Johnson and Jerry West, and long time broadcaster for the Lakers, Chic Hearn. There seems to be plenty of room out there for at least one more sporting giant, good luck Kobe. Our evening is coming to an end as we soak up the atmosphere and the lights of LA. Sadly it is quite a long drive home but at least at this time of night it is a steady flow. What a fabulous start to our LA experience.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

PARIS TAKE TWO

Another day, and what would be our last for this trip, of exploring Paris on foot. Starting with visits to the Church of St-Sulpice and the Church of St-Germain Des Pres, both old churches that are in disrepair though there seems to be some restoration work going on. It seems The Notre Dame gets all the attention but these churches are worth a look too, especially if you read The Da Vinci Code first!

Moving on from here our walking took us through some yet unseen parts of town, to another large church whose name I can’t recall, past some modern street sculptures and water features and to the bazaar Center Pompidou, built with it’s insides outside. Touting the best view in Paris we can only assume they mean the art inside because what could be better than the Eiffel Tower? All a bit sick of art (gasp) we decided to give the inside a miss and took off again in search of somewhere nice to have a very late lunch.

We ended up finding a fantastic little crepe restaurant on Rue Jean du Bellay, Ile St-Louis, and had a scrumptious three course meal finished with delicious crepes, salted caramel for Mum, apple and cinnamon for Mikayla and chocolate and banana for me, yum! We would definitely recommend this place. We hadn’t anticipated desert and had planned to go to Bathillion for ice cream so we stuck to it, until we got there. Bathillion is famous for having 70 flavours of delicious ice cream, they lie, there were only ten, of the most boring, flavours on offer, very disappointing so we gave it a miss. We didn’t need it anyway!

A brisk walk back to Vincent in the rain, this time with our rain coats, and we decided it was time to move on. We were so proud of Mum as she navigated the traffic towards and along the Champs Elysees and around for one last look at the Arch de Triomphe, until next time.

From here we got stuck in a traffic jam for about three hours and spent the time discussing how annoying it is when people stare at us in Vincent like he has one way glass and we can’t see them and how everyone would get so much farther much quicker if the drivers weren’t so selfish. We were in a dark, gloomy place at that point in time!

When we eventually got out onto the open road we were much happier, as was Vincent’s gear box, and we ended up finding a cute little camping spot next to a play ground near Giverny, our next destination.

In the morning it was straight to Monet’s Garden where I went crazy with flower photos. So much variety of beautiful blooms it took me ten times longer to get around the garden than Mum and Mikayla who had to wait for me before entering the water garden via the underpass.

The immortalized water garden is just as beautiful as you would expect and we visited at the end of the optimal time of year. Row boats sit amongst lilies and willows at the edge of the pond and the quaint bridges are picture perfect, funny that!

Monet’s house is also brilliant and just as exciting as the gardens. My favourite part was Monet’s office/living room where he painted in the later years of his life and where the walls are literally covered with paintings on canvas. I loved the kitchen as well. You can also see Monet’s collection of work by other artists and the view from the second story is pretty special.

The town of Giverny is gorgeous too, with it’s cute little homes and sweet gardens, we would have liked to have spent more time relaxing here but alas it was time to move on. If you’re looking for a photogenic town this one makes the cut.

The next day was spent driving again, broken by a stop at Beauvais Cathedral that we spotted from the main road from miles off, it’s that tall. This cathedral is extraordinary in that the roof is so high, pretty much the height of the spire. Inside the ceilings are just as high, which makes room for double the stained glass windows and a tremendous effect. Unfortunately it seems the architect was a little too ambitious as parts of the floors as sinking and scaffolding holds up parts of the ceiling. There is also a grand astronomical clock here, one of the best and most detailed we’ve seen, so we definitely put Beauvais Cathedral on the must see list.

After a log drive we ended up camping near Arras ready to get stuck into what would be a week or so of World War I and II history again as we moved along through France and Belgium.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album PARIS (for photos of our previous visit) and BACK TO FRANCE (for this visit).

BACK TO FRANCE – REIMS AND INTO PARIS

N.B. As you may have noticed we are very behind on our posts. Too much traveling, not enough writing! The post we’re writing now are a progression through our last weeks in Europe though we are currently touring around England. Hopefully we will be up to date very soon but in the meantime our posts are flashbacks and we’ll let you know when we’re back to our current travel.

In Vincent some days are just driving days and lucky for us there’s usually something interesting to see along the way. The view is always changing and when it’s average we console ourselves that this is a means to an end. Though we didn’t have to this time as we were driving through the very pretty champagne region of France.

We love France for so many reasons, the food, baguettes, crepes, pate, the cute little towns that you drive through frequently, Paris, chateaus, and most of all the people, some of whom we’re lucky enough to call friends. We also love that Mikayla and I get free entry into most “tourist attractions” because we are citizens of the EU, lucky, and France is one of the only countries that do this.

We arrived in Reims in the early afternoon and went straight for the Cathedral here, the Cathedrale Notre Dame, the venue for Royal coronations when they were still being performed and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s been heavily restored since it was bombed during World War I. It’s very similar to the Notre Dame in Paris that I would recommend seeing instead.

We also spent some time at the museum next door where we learnt a bit more about the Royal coronations, got to see some crown jewels (not nearly as extravagant as expected), and had a giggle at the very feminine poses of the French Kings through the ages. Next was the Basilique St-Remi, another UNESCO World Heritage Site with an accompanying museum that contains an ancient relic collection to rival The Vatican.

The next day, on the way into Paris, we stopped at an English War Memorial and cemetery. These are always moving places and we were set to visit a lot more to come.

During our first visit to Paris earlier this year, new to wild camping, we stayed in a camping ground on the outskirts of the city. This time we went for it, driving straight into the city center, along The Seine and by the Eiffel tower before finding a suitable spot to park Vincent next to Cimetiere du Montparnasse, near the famous Le Catacombes. Quiet though pretty busy pedestrian wise we thought he’d be safe here to leave during the day and stay in at night, thankfully we were right!

Our first day in Paris we walked through Cimetiere du Montparnasse and attempted to see Le Catacombes but when we saw the line, stretching around the block, we decided we would try again another time. So, it was on to Paris’ Pantheon where we walked straight in with no queue to explore the expansive artworks on the inner walls and the sculptures surrounding them. The crypt here is also very interesting as it houses the tombs of famous historical figures, a few being Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie, among many others.

Usually extremely lucky with weather (I can say this because I am writing overlooking the Sound of Raasey from the Isle of Skye, Scotland and there isn’t a cloud in the perfect blue sky), we saw more rain visiting Paris in summer than we did in winter. Stuck with no raincoats we left the Pantheon, running between the shop fronts until the rain subsided.

Into the Jardin Du Luxembourg, deserted and drenched, we made our way through towards the Rodin Museum pausing briefly to admire the Palais Du Luxembourg. The garden is more like a big park with water features and large expanses of grass to picnic and play on. We would have spent more time here had we not been afraid of getting rained on again.

We arrived at the Rodin Museum and had to wait in our first line of the day. Though we didn’t wait very long we decided that visiting the sites in Paris is much better in Winter when there are no lines.

We started in the lovely gardens while the rain was holding off and were greeted with The (famous) Thinker, contemplating away, before moving on to see more sculptures like The Kiss, Balzac and The Burghers of Calais. Inside the museum shows a collection of finished works as well as drafts of the famous sculptures in various sizes and materials. As you walk around you notice that the subjects in the sculptures are tortured beings, reason being they are all included in “miniature” on Rodin’s Gates of Hell. After visiting the Rodin Museum we loved spotting the sculptures out on the streets around Paris too.

To finish the day we walked to the foot of the Eiffel Tower, seriously considering going up again, before realizing we probably wouldn’t see that much through the fog anyway. Strolling back in the direction of Vincent through the Parc de Champ de Mars we couldn’t help but stop and look back frequently, Paris and The Eiffel Tower really are special parts of the world.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album PARIS (for photos of our previous visit) and BACK TO FRANCE (for this visit).

VINCENT ON THE MOVE

A very exciting day began with an early start at Matt and Kelly’s getting ourselves packed up to travel to Leatherhead to meet Vincent, Dave and Lauren.  It was also an exciting day for the flat as new windows were to be fitted, another major job in the renovation.  The cats were on edge as the workmen began to make a lot of sawing and hammering noises that sounded like they were knocking out more than a couple of windows.  We left about 11.30 and managed a fairly smooth run on the trains to arrive at our destination just before 1.

Soon after Vincent came along to pick us up.  We had a final run down on him, hope we remember it all, and sorted out the business side of things and then went off to lunch. Dave had done a service on him and got him in tip top order for our first trip in him. We had another great couple of hours with Dave and Lauren over a delicious meal at The Plough. It was then time to drop them back to their accommodation and make our way back to Maggy and Grahams.  It was a perfect photo moment, our first and Dave and Laurens last time with Vincent.  I am sure our new friends were very sad to see him go but with darkness falling we had to venture out into the big wide world.  More hugs all round, I think Dave would have hugged Vincent if he had arms long enough.

So started a rather long journey across to the other side of London.  We managed to get easily to the first petrol station to give Vincent a little drink and then with only one little detour and one stalling of the engine across two lanes and an awful lot of beeping I presume was directed at me, sorry Vince, we  headed on to the M25. Within a few short moments it was down to a crawl, 1st gear most of the time for about an hour and then we managed to get a clear run giving Vincent his head to take us safely along the route home.  Georgia is an excellent navigator, thank goodness, so we arrived without further incident, very pleased to see the welcoming Christmas lights at The Bells.  Our journey had been made rather more interesting by constant rain, our first in our time here so can’t complain.  Maggy and Graham had a quick look in the dark and wet and were suitably impressed by out new addition to the family.  In the next week or so we will sort him all out and work out what we need to make him our new home.

It is with some pride that we can add that he is considered a “Classic Vehicle”.  Mikayla has always wanted to own a Classic and now we do.  It is really great to have a man in the family, hasn’t happened for quite a while now.  We will treat him well and hopefully he will look after us on our travels.

HARRY POTTER WORLD

I wish I was a witch! As huge fans of the Harry Potter novels and movie series, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Harry Potter World, was a highly anticipated part of our London experience. And it did not disappoint!

Maggy gave us her car again (and some hand written directions) and we made the trip to Watford. We were greeted by the enormous wizards chess pieces from, The Philosophers Stone, and upon picking up our tickets entered a world of magic and wonder. After a quick lunch to pass the time (the cafe could have really gone to town with dish names the Weasley Twins would have been proud of, but was just like every other cafe) before our tour started, we joined the line to start our magical adventure.

First was a quick run down of how J.K. Rowling’s novels were discovered and the process of making them into a film series. Then on into a movie theater for a quick run through the highlights of all 7 movies. They joked about it being all 7 movies in full, back to back. I would have been fine with that! After this the screen was pulled up to reveal the entrance to the great hall. Amazing! Even more amazing was what we saw when the ornate doors were opened.

The great hall was all decorated for Christmas. The Christmas banquet was laid out along the table that runs the length of the room. The Christmas trees were complete with witches on broomsticks flying around the top and beautifully decorated. The robes of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and our personal favourite Gryffindor were on display with the house crest. With these were the uniform worn by Robert Pattinson, as Cedric Diggory, during the Triwizard Tournament, The dress robes worn by Cho Chang, Neville Longbottom’s cardigan and Harry’s Gryffindor gear! At the teachers table stood Snape, McGonagall, Filch, Trelawney, Flitwick, Mad Eye Moody and most noticeably Hagrid. Most notably Professor Dumbledore stands front and center. 

Time in this room is limited as there are tour groups sent through on a regular basis but after leaving the great hall our time was our own. As you will see from our photo’s there is so much to see whilst walking through each studio and set. I don’t think you would be able to see absolutely everything in one trip. It is all done in so much detail and we discovered things that you would never pick out just by watching the movie. It’s even hard to pick out highlights because it is all so interesting and astounding but I will try.

For me the costumes, make up artistry and wigs were outstanding. As were the Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore’s office and, I hate to say it but, Umbridge’s office in the Ministry of Magic. In my defense, it is pink!, The Burrow (The Weasley’s Home) is absolutely my favourite set in the movie, novels and now in person in the studio. The clock on the wall with the whereabouts of family members, the self knitting needles and the self washing dishes are incredible. I wish all dishes washed themselves! The potions classroom in the dungeons is fantastic too, every bottle has a different potion or ingredient on the label and the potions stir themselves.

We got to ride a broomstick while wearing a Gryffindor robe (sit on a broomstick and pretend to ride it while watching ourselves on a computer generated background). And did the same in Arthur Weasley’s magical Ford Anglia. In an outside set we had photos in the car, on the knight bus, riding Hagrid’s motorcycle, at the door of number 4 Privet Drive, and at the gate of the Potters’ cottage in Godric’s Hollow. We even tried butterbeer! Mikayla and I thought it was delicious, although very sweet and one glass was more than enough. Mum had tried it before and already knew it was way too sweet for her!

All this was finished off with the castle room. I can’t even explain just how amazing the model of the castle is but breathtaking and spectacular are a good start. It is cast in daylight and night time intermittently and at the moment is dusted with snow for Christmas. Absolutely stunning!!

Four hours and 516 photos later we had seen Harry Potter World, and already wanted to go through and do it all again! We survived the shop unscathed, i.e. didn’t buy anything, and headed out into the freezing cold to start our journey home. And boy was it a trek!! We started on the M25 and and were going quite well until about 4 miles from the exit we needed to take onto the A12. We hit traffic. London traffic that is a million times worse than Perth traffic (yes, yes it is possible). Stop start all the way to the exit and this continued along the A12. Suddenly we heard sirens behind us and everyone moved to the side to create a third lane through the middle of the two lane road. Five ambulances, five fire engines and three police cars went through and traffic stopped completely, we thought it must have been a huge crash and hoped no one was hurt.

When traffic had been stopped for quite a while mum decided it was time to turn off the engine, as did everyone in the jam. One girl even jumped out of her car to retrieve a sleeping bag from her car boot, she obviously knows London traffic and came prepared. Mum was very tired and finding it hard to stay awake so we encouraged her to have a sleep while we kept an eye out to wake her up when the traffic started moving. Mikayla and I took turns holding her head up and comfortable while she slept for about an hour. Yes you read that correctly, one hour asleep in the drivers seat on a major road! Crazy! We eventually arrived home to Maggy and Graham’s after a one and a half hour trip that ended up taking four! All in all Harry Potter World was very much worth it!