WEATHER: Warm and 23C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Australian food passes the mouth after 3 months
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Some would say the cost of the Australian food was a bummer
BUYS OF THE DAY: My Australian food HAS to be the buy of the day
WORD OF THE DAY: Twisties, Burger Rings, Tim Tams and BBQ Shapes
Today is Sunday, so a day of rest, even for a traveller. I set my alarm for 9.30am, snoozed till 10.30am and thought I better get out and see some more of London. I had plans to get to Harrods and time permitting trying to get to High Street Kensington, as this is where I saw lot of travel good shops, like Kathmandu etc., as I need to purchase a sleeping bag for Africa.
So I finally got on the road at 1pm. Damn TV show Britain’s Best Hairdresser, kept me for an extra 30 minutes than planned, as I had to see who got the boot. As I was switching stations on the Tube, I saw a sign for Covent Gardens and this jigged a reminder that I was going to go to the Australian shop while I was in London. So I decided to reverse the itinerary and I went straight to Covent Gardens. This area was a hive of activity and there were people everywhere. I referenced my map and found the Aussie shop no worries and I bought up a little storm. I am planning on taking some of the stuff to Africa with me, as to how long it will last will be anyone’s guess. Now I knew it would be expensive and for 9 items it cost me $30.15!!!!! So to lay out the individual prices it was (and in Australian dollars)
$2.95 per packet of Twisties- the small packets
$2.95 for Burger Rings- also small packets
$4.39 for a box of BBQ Shapes
$5.45 for a box of Cheds
$6.06 for a packet of Tim Tams
$1.20 for a strawberry Freddo
Now I know it looks a lot, but they have to bring them all the way from Australia right? I think it is a small price to pay to have a little piece of home, especially the Twisties and BBQ Shapes. Boy have I missed them!
It was way past lunch time and I hadn’t had breakfast. As I walked out of the Australia shop I saw a TGI Friday’s and thought straight away of a steak. How long has it been since I have had a good piece of steak. I think it was on my farewell dinner in Madrid 4 weeks ago. Anyway, I decided to have that for lunch and made it a Surf and Turf and with a drink cost me $32.42AUD. I have always told clients to not convert things when they are in the UK, otherwise they would just not spend a cent, so I am not letting the exchange worry me and just try to live within my daily budget. For the record the steak was AWESOME and a nice little splurge. I have found I have been eating my main meal at lunch as I am out and about during the day and for dinner I am finding an Iceland or M&S and buying a salad and some meat and just having a mixed salad in my room at the hotel. This seems to be working out okay, getting a bit of a healthy meal, not eating out each night and saving a little dosh.
As I left TGI Friday’s I saw a Kathmandu shop down the road – score, it would save me having to go to High Street. So I popped in there, got some information on the sleeping bags and bought one of the compact bags for $69GBP. It was marked down from $110GBP, so I got a bit of a bargain. So I can cross that off my list now. There were cheaper ones but they were massive! Even with me leaving a fair bit of stuff here, I am not prepared to take up precious room in my backpack with a sleeping bag. I also need a sleeping bag for 30% of my South America tour as well, so it was worth getting a good one.
I stopped at Boots (like a Terry White Chemist) and I have topped up my drug bag, lady stuff (this can be hard to find in Africa apparently) deodorant, baby wipes (to help at camps when there are no showers), more hand sanitizer, Imodium’s, shampoo and soap. I may as well take all new bottles of all the above and leave my half empties for when I get back. A girl can never be too prepared.
So now my shopping bags weight a ton. I stopped in at Marks and Spence, bought dinner (egg and potato salad with ham) and then fought the week-end trippers heading home on the Tube. Not sure if I could get used to carrying all you’re shopping all the time on the Tube to get home. Maybe that would cut down on my shopping, carrying it all, all the time, it sucks – yeah right pull the other one.
Well I have organized my day for tomorrow and it is a busy one. I have plans to get to Knightsbridge tomorrow morning, get to the top of Wellington’s Arch, walk through Hyde Park, have a look at the memorial for Princess Diana, stop in at Harrods’s and I was hoping to get into Albert Hall, but I think I am going to be short of time. I have to be at the Brazilian Consulate at 1pm, collect my passport from the Tanzanian Consulate at 2pm and then get my arse to the Mozambique Consulate between 2-4pm. After that I am free as a bird, depending how long Mozambique takes, maybe I can head back to Albert Hall? I’ll have to see how time goes tomorrow, but a BIG day. I’m getting the hang of the Tube, and it really is an amazing system, considering it is the oldest underground railway in the world, the first section of which opened in 1863 on what are now the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. In 1890 it became the first to operate electric trains – amazing.
I’m loving being back in the Western world, but I am also looking forward to heading to Africa in 5 sleeps and what it holds in store for my next 3 months. There is a lot of TV coverage on the African drought her in the UK. It is always a dry country but it is even worse this year, mainly in Ethiopia and Kenya, which apparently is the worst it has been in over 60 years. There is a web site that you can donate money to www.dec.org.uk The crazy thing is that it only takes $25 to help 400 people, $50 helps a whole village and the numbers just increase with the more that is given. I have already donated, so have a look at the web site and if you can help, no matter how big or little the donation is – you will be helping people who need it- just have a look.
I am still thinking about that damn Playbook, and I have to say I think I am going to buy one tomorrow if I have the time, otherwise it definitely will be a Tuesday purchase. A gadget-holic, like myself, just can’t pass it up, but I have looked at all the pros and cons, compared it to the IPad, and seems to come up trumps each time and I think it will be really handy for my blogging. At least I just didn’t rush in and buy it the other day, for those of you who know me, know that that was a pretty big deal, but the lure is just too great and I will adjust my Africa budget so that I have the money and will not be using any ‘savings’. See I told you I could talk myself into it!
On that note I better get some shut eye and recharge my batteries for tomorrow.
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