Great Journey - Great Britain
So our three week, three generations journey begins (grandparents Heather & Bruce, parents Serena & Kingsley and daughters Orielle and Bronte) with the main aim for us all to see Bronte and experience her London life plus journey to Scotland (having been obsessed with Outlander) and Cornwall to discover the Cornish Miners region of Kingsley's ancestors. I have packed my new toy, a Phantom 4 drone, in the hope of shooting some amazing abstract aerial landscapes.DAY 1 - The Long Haul ... Perth to London
DAY 1 - The Long Haul ... Perth to London
This trip, like most others, has started with a sleepless night. In my reckoning if one does not get to bed by 8pm, with a 2am wakeup call to octogenarians Bruce and Heather, 2.45am taxi and the resulting airport arrival at 3.30am to keep Bruce and husband Kingsley from stressing us all out, then one may as well stay up all night to finish off last minute work issues. As you may well have noted I have started this blob in my "best English" voice as I am sure younger daughter Bronte will have developed her "Queens English Accent" after being in London for the past 10 and a half months....much to her grandmother Heather's delight!
So our three week, three generations journey begins (grandparents Heather & Bruce, parents Serena & Kingsley and daughters Orielle and Bronte) with the main aim for us all to see Bronte and experience her London life plus journey to Scotland (having been obsessed with Outlander) and Cornwall to discover the Cornish Miners region of Kingsley's ancestors. I have packed my new toy, a Phantom 4 drone, in the hope of shooting some amazing abstract aerial landscapes.
Several days before our departure I spent a couple of hours on the chat line to "Da" at Emirates in the hope of upgrading Heather & Bruce to the pointy end of the plane. Unfortunately, Heather's "Classic Rewards" flight required 174,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points and Bruce needed to spend his 37,000 points PLUS pay $7,320 neither of which was achievable. However, 48 hours before the flight Orielle (the only one to have paid full price for a fare) was offered an upgrade to Business for $1200 (Perth to Dubai only) which Bruce kindly paid for and Orielle kindly donated to her grandmother Heather. Moral of the story for the future = pay with $$$ for the flight and use your frequent flyer points to upgrade!
Arriving in London at 6.40pm amazingly on the same day we left Australia our Blueberry private prearranged taxi - a lovely Mercedes van - drove us to our Airbnb basement flat in Finborough Rd Kensington. It was SSSSOOOOOO exciting to see Bronte who turned up after a day at the polo. Blue cheese & biscuits and a glass of red was all we needed after the long flight full from four meals!
DAY 2 - Discovering Bronte's London
Day 5 : The Royal Yacht Britannia
Day 7 : Invereray Castle & The Highlands
Day 12 : The Lost Gardens of Heligan
Day 13 : From St Ives to Lands End
Day 15 : The Serpentine Pavilion & Gallery
Day 16 : Sunday Roast Dinner at the Cross Keys Pub, Chelsea
Day 17 : Street Art Walk Shoreditch, East London
Day 18 : A Visit to Bronte's Workplace, Tate Modern & Perth Friends
Day 19 : Family Friends in Moor Park
Day 20 : Greenwich via the Thames & Theatre in the West End