THE ADVENTURE BEGINS...
I arrived at Heathrow at 4:50am this morning, Monday 2nd Feb. I was really bloody lucky that I knew the guy in Perth who checked me in (regular heavy drinker @ Carnegies) so I got away with having overweight baggage (27k instead of 20), too much hand luggage (3 pieces rather than 2) AND managed to nab my own row of seats on both legs of the journey!
The lovely Bradley Mearns met up with me in Singapore during my 6ish hour stopover and we did a whirlwind tour of his new homeland, including visits to China Town, The Quay and their top notch new condo that Brad had just moved into that day.
Randomly met 2 bogan (drunk) Aussies from Perth also headed to England on the same flight so hung out with them for a bit - They had been travelling through Asia for several weeks & both only had t-shirts & singlets so looked pretty unimpressed once we arrived at Heathrow - where it was snowing & a 'fresh' -2 degrees... Brrrrr.... Oh and snowing - "The Big Freeze" as they call it - worst snow storm they've had in 18 yrs!!! Our flight managed to get in fine, but a flight shortly after mine apparently skidded on the icy runway and off into the grass - oops... Jess & Liz - you'll be pleased to know that my 'excursion lunch' came in handy befriending people at this point - the guys were hungry and boozed as & EXTREMELY excited to be offered pretzels - hahaha.
Catherine's brother (Mike) and mum (Judy) came to meet me at Heathrow airport - Leaving their house at 3:30am to be there by 5:30am - Top marks for dedication!!! In my first here, I have already realised one thing, which is that snow in England = TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TRAFFIC!!! We spent the next 6 hours (8 hours all up for Mike & Judy) on the usually half hour drive to their house in Surrey - MADNESS! Traffic was literally at a standstill, but we managed to keep ourselves occupied by playing Hangman, writing poetry and building snowmen on the side of the M25 - One of the busiest roadways in the world (hilarious photos to follow)!!! Oh, not to mention the warm tea and jaffa cakes Judy had coincidentally packed 'just in case' which provided a lovely feast. It was a HILARIOUS start to my adventure.
I am supposed to be in London tomorrow arvo for my orientation with Smart Teachers but all busses, tube lines and airports are down now (with heavier snow predicted this afternoon/this evening) so that may become impossible. Have had a relaxing afternoon playing Wii with Mike & chatting up the Condie's gorgeous pooch, Jasper.
Will write again soon. Love all of you beautiful people.
Lots of love, Caitlin xxx
