We left Wellington on Thursday evening and flew to Heathrow via Auckland and then L.A. It’s never what you could call a pleasant experience, I can think of much better ways to spend 30 hours than jammed into an uncomfortable Economy class seat in a 747, but I have to say that this time it wasn’t as bad as we anticipated. Sophie is now 18 months old, which means she is mobile and gets pretty bored if she is forced to stay in one place for too long. However, the timing of the flight meant she was really tired by the time we took off from Auckland and had a good sleep, much to our relief. In fact, she only really started to give us problems about 2 1/2 hours from landing at Heathrow, but by then we had all had enough.

We’re currently staying with Norman and Shirley in Epping and getting used to being in the UK again. I managed to sneak off with Norman for a quick pint yesterday, we went to a traditional English pub in Epping High Street (open fire, oak beamed ceiling and everything) and I had a great pint of the guest ale, Sussex Gold. It’s surprising how busy everywhere is, even Epping High Street is a bustling metropolis compared to Whitby! The roads are so much busier here, driving isn’t much fun at all and we’re not used to how unfriendly everyone seems. I suppose it’s what you are used to, but even in Wellington CBD you normally have a bit of smalltalk when ordering coffee, going into a shop or whatever. Here it’s very much “all business”, nobody really makes eye contact or says hello unless they have to. That’s probably a bit harsh, but that’s how it seems sometimes.

Still, it’s nice to be among family again and Cindi has made a surprise appearance not once but twice so far! Today we allwent to a local place called Kids Korner, where local parents take their kids to shout at them. Just kidding, but you would be forgiven for thinking that was the case. Sophie and Kei had a nice time and Sophie surprised us all by staying awake and alert for 11 hours straight (3am to 2pm - yes you read that right!) We aren’t too badly affected by the jet lag this time, Sophie’s still a bit topsy-turvy but hopefully she’ll come right soon enough.

Lots more UK adventures to come, stay tuned!