Day 24 - Sunday 19th August

I went for a walk to Alexandra Park before breakfast ending up at Palm Court. As you would expect, all signs of the Olympic activities at Palm Court had gone. It was a pleasant morning for a walk and the view from Palm Court over London was excellent because there was little or no haze.

Amelia played at home this morning - sandpit, blow-up swimming pool, iPad apps, TV, etc.

Nicky had an appointment with the hospital mid-wife at 1:30pm. John drove her there leaving Suzy and me to look after Amelia. Although today was supposed to be the due date, the mid-wife thinks the baby will arrive within a few days.

Mid-afternoon, John and I drove to the hardware store at North Finchley to get a few things we need for their townhouse while the three girls walked to the playground at Cherry Tree Wood. John and I joined them there afterwards.

Nicky and Suzy cooked dinner at home and it was about 8pm before Amelia got to bed. John then started looking through the iTunes options for a movie to download on the Apple TV. We'd settled on one by about 8:30 and we were waiting for Nicky to come downstairs before we hit the play button.

Nicky seemed to be taking a long time and so John went upstairs to check on her. He found her sitting in the rocking chair in their bedroom. She had gone into labour and the contractions were regular.

John went upstairs and downstairs quite a few times and at about 9:30pm, Nicky came downstairs too so they could go to the hospital.

Suzy retrieved the baby monitor and plugged it in next to our bed so we could check on Amelia during the night. We never did get to see a movie.

Day 23 - Saturday 18th August

Nicky and John have a portable air-conditioner in their bedroom. Since it's a hot day, they decided to bring it down to the family room to keep us all cool.

Mid-morning we all drove to the city for brunch at xx. On the way back John noticed a warning message about the car battery and so after he dropped us off, he went to buy a recharging cable.

We let Amelia sleep for more than two hours after lunch and than went to Westfield London. For dinner, we found a hamburger cafe in Westfield and got home at about 8pm.

Amelia was very active today and so we're hoping she has a good sleep tonight.

Day 22 - Friday 17th August

Nicky had an appointment mid-morning at Primrose Hill and so Suzy and I came along too so we could look after Amelia in Primrose Hill Park. We found a playground there.

At the centre of Primrose Hill Park is . . . . a hill. After we finished at the playground, we took turns to push the stroller up to the top of the hill to get a view of the park and the city.

Amelia was too excited to settle down and have her sleep after lunch. Nicky thinks it's because there are extra people in the house - Suzy, me and Alan the Cleaner.

Nicky took Amelia to Clowns Nursery while Suzy and I caught the train to Camden Town because there are street markets there that she wanted to visit. Nicky had told us it was best to go on a weekday because it is too crowded on the weekend.

When we got there, it was very crowded and so we were glad we took Nicky's advice. We strolled up the street past the permanent shops until we reached the canal. Next to the bridge were two locks. One vessel had just finished going upstream through the lock and another one was about to come down.

Nearby there were temporary stalls in the plaza and cobblestone streets. We stopped for a beer and a gin and tonic at a bar overlooking the canal.

Suzy originally wanted a Pimms and lemonade but they told me they only do Pimms in a jug for multiple people. As it turned out, the customer in front of me ordered the Pimms in a jug. The only real difference I could think of was all the fruit they put in the jug.

Suzy then went off to look at the market stalls whereas I went for a walk along the canal. I enjoyed the walk and could have continued along the canal for hours. The scenery was peaceful and pretty with trees along both sides of the canal. The path was being used by pedestrians and cyclists.

I got back to the house about 20 minutes before Suzy. Nicky got home soon after. Suzy decided to go with Nicky to pick up Amelia from Clowns because they thought she would be grumpy after not having had a sleep after lunch.

Nicky and John had booked to go out for dinner at an Indian restaurant in East Finchley.

Suzy and I looked after Amelia. This involved giving her dinner and a bath followed by Peppa Pig in TV. I'd download a Peppa Pig book on my iPad which we read to her before she went to bed.

We got take-away fish and chips for dinner and we were still finishing it when Nicky and John got home. John downloaded a movie from their Apple TV system for us to watch.

Day 21 - Thursday 16th August

Suzy had bought tickets online yesterday for the two us to go to Buckingham Palace this morning at 11:15. In summer, the palace state rooms are open to the public. Nicky and Amelia stayed at home for the morning.

We needed to pick up the tickets before the tour and they emphasised that you couldn't be late for the tour. So we allowed plenty of time to get there by leaving just before 10am - after Peppa Pig had finished on TV.

We caught the Northern Line train to Euston and then changed to the Victoria Line train and got off at Victoria. From there it was only 10 minutes walk to the palace area. There was a long queue to pick up tickets and an even longer queue to buy tickets.

I'd been expecting a tour guide with a small group of tourists. Instead there was a large crowd who were supplied with audio guides and headsets. Because of the large number of people, progress was sometimes slow.

I thought the tour would be interesting. It turned out to be amazing. This was one of the times when you run out of superlatives. In other words, it was so good that it's hard to do it justice but I'll give it a go.

It reminded me of when we went to Versailles near Paris more than 10 years ago. Versailles was impressive but it seemed empty in comparison with what we saw today. Perhaps this is because Buckingham Palace is a working palace where the royal family lives.

Another comparison might be the Vatican in Rome. This was big, ornate and historic. Maybe the Vatican wins. On a scale of 1 to 10, the Vatican is probably 12 and the Buckingham Palace State Rooms are probably only 11 out of 10.

At the start of the tour, you see the quadrangle and then the red-carpet staircase up to the next level. You go through a series of rooms with very tall ceilings, paintings, antique furniture, gold urns and glass chandeliers. Some rooms have a view over the gardens or the quadrangle.

One of the highlights of the tour is the exhibition of royal diamonds. This is where the tour crowds are the slowest because it is probably the biggest wow factor. It's like a mini version of visiting the crown jewels in the Tower of London.

The crown jewels are classified as priceless. I'm not sure if they put a value on these diamonds (or anything else in the State Rooms) but they would be worth heaps. They include crowns that the current Queen likes to wear regularly and jewellery that Queen Victoria used to wear.

One of the rules of the tour is that you are not allowed to take photos. This is understandable because you would want to take photos of every single item here. The average tour would take days if not months.

Another rule is that you must turn off your mobile phone. I actually turned mine to silent rather than turning it off altogether just in case Nicky rang to say that the baby was on the way. That call didn't happen.

They told us that the tour of the state rooms would take about 90 minutes after which we were free to follow the path around the palace gardens. As it turned out, we finished the indoors part in about an hour but you could easily have spent a lot more time there. There was so much to see.

After leaving the building, there was a souvenir shop at the beginning of the path around the palace gardens. It was one of the best souvenir shops that I've seen at any tourist shop. Apart from the normal key rings and tea towels, there were numerous items with Buckingham Palace logos that were really useful, clever, cute and impressive.

The garden itself was OK but nothing special. The gardens in Japan were better.

After leaving the palace, we walked back towards Victoria Station and found a nice cafe to have lunch.

When we got home at about 2:30pm, all was quiet and so we assumed that Amelia was still having her sleep after lunch. Once we got to our room, we heard her voice and assumed that she had just woken up. This turned out to be a bad assumption because soon after we went in to her room to get her out of bed, Nicky came downstairs to tell us that she'd only gone to bed about 30 minutes before and probably hadn't gone to sleep.

Nicky took her to Gymboree at about 3:30pm. Suzy and I went to the fish shop to get some salmon for dinner and then to the supermarket. When Nicky got home with Amelia at about 6pm, Amelia was asleep in the car.

Although Amelia was grumpy because of lack of sleep, we were able to distract her with recordings of Peppa Pig and with the Wheels on the Bus app on my iPad.

The barbecued salmon was very tasty for dinner.

Day 20 - Wednesday 15th August

Nicky had to take the car in for service mid-morning and so Suzy and I looked after Amelia at home.

Amelia was very keen to play the Wheels on the Bus app on my iPad. Eventually the app froze and she couldn't play it anymore. At present this app seems to be more popular with her than Peppa Pig - which seemed impossible until now.

After watching Peppa Pig, Bubble Guppies, etc. on TV, we got Amelia dressed and went out to go to the fruit shop and the supermarket. By the time we had finished our morning tea at Costa Coffee, it had started to sprinkle.

Amelia goes to Clowns Nursery on Wednesday afternoons and because the car was in service, they had to get there by taxi.

This morning, Suzy had bought tickets online for the two us to see a live show tonight - namely the Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. The show is playing at St Martin's Theatre and is famous because it has been playing continuously for almost 60 years.

With a little more online research, she found that Jamie Oliver has an Italian restaurant just around the corner from the theatre. She is a fan of Jamie Oliver and so was very keen to go to one of his restaurants. (I prefer Nigella Lawson.)

Suzy wanted to do some shopping this afternoon in the city near the theatre and so we decided to meet at the theatre at 5:45pm to pick up the tickets and to ensure that we were early enough to get a table at the restaurant.

After they all left, I went for a walk along East End Road towards Finchley Central. It's a nice area with tree-lined streets, big houses, private schools, shops, etc.

To get to the theatre, I caught a Northern Line train to Leicester Square. A man selling the Big Issue magazine near the station exit gave me directions to the theatre and the restaurant.

There was no trouble getting a table at the restaurant when we got there just before 6pm. It turned out to be a good choice - good food, good atmosphere, good service plus a bottle of the house red.

After the meal, we had enough time to do some sightseeing by strolling down to Trafalgar Square.

St Martin's Theatre is a traditional old theatre with timber panelling, a bar area and even a man selling ice creams at the front of the theatre next to the stage. This added to the atmosphere of watching a show that celebrates its 60th anniversary in November.

We had tickets in the stalls downstairs. The stalls area has only a gentle slope and so it was a little hard to see between or over the heads of people in front of you. Luckily the theatre was only half full and so we were able to shift to seats that had a better view.

You can see why the show has been running for so long because it is an excellent who-dunnit plot.

At the end of the show when the actors come on for a bow, one of the actors swore the audience to secrecy about who the murderer was.

As always the Northern Line train service did a great job of getting us home. After a most enjoyable and memorable evening, we were home soon after 10:30pm.

Day 19 - Tuesday 14th August

Nicky had an appointment this morning at the hospital to see the mid-wife and get blood tests. We decided that I should go with her in case anything happened and Suzy stayed at home to look after Amelia. I doubt if I'd be very good at delivering a baby on the way to hospital but at least I'd be able to drive her there.

The mid-wife told her that the baby's measurements are consistent with a week 37 baby whereas the 40 week mark is on Sunday. Nicky thinks she's just going to be a small baby.

One of the mid-wife's suggestions has been for Nicky to do a lot of walking and so when we got back to East Finchley, we collected Suzy and Amelia and went for a walk to Highgate Woods which is just over 1km away.

Nicky and Amelia had never been to this park before. It turned out to be a good place to go because it not only had a children's playground (like most parks here seem to have) but it was a bigger playground than most. Even better, part of the playground was fenced off with special activities for children under five. Amelia loved it.

Part of the idea of taking Amelia to the park is make sure she is tired enough to have a sleep after lunch. She runs around from one activity to the next for an hour or more. I don't know if it tired her out but Grandpa was certainly worn out

Late afternoon, I decided to go for a walk to get some exercise. Initially I planned to walk along The Bishops Avenue just north of East Finchley Station. This pretty tree-lined road had lots of expensive houses.

I continued on towards Hampstead Heath and passed Kenwood House and Spaniards Inn until I reached Jack Straws Castle where Nicky and John used to live until a few weeks ago. It took about 45 minutes to get there.

Amelia loves her sandpit in the back yard. Part of the fun is filling up her watering can with the hose and emptying the contents into one half of the sandpit.  She ends up getting very wet.

Nicky and Suzy had used the new Crock-Pot (slow cooker) to prepare a delicious chicken dish for dinner. Amelia enjoyed it too.

Suzy downloaded the Wheels on the Bus app on her iPhone. Amelia loved it so much that I downloaded it my iPad too.

Day 18 - Monday 13th August

Amelia loves a cartoon show called Peppa Pig. It is broadcast from 9:30 to 10:00 every morning Monday to Friday and consists of a series of 5-minute episodes. Nicky and John have recorded episodes and downloaded episodes onto their iPads to keep her entertained.

After Peppa Pig, Nicky took Amelia to the creche and Suzy and I went shopping. We were looking for a few things for our bedroom to make it more comfortable: bed-side lamps, power boards and a fan.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk with Nicky and Amelia to North Finchley in search of these items. As we left, there were a few light showers. We bought the lamps and caught the bus back to East Finchley to buy a fan we'd seen this morning.

John had downloaded some videos to watch after dinner.

Day 17 - Sunday 12th August

We didn't wake up until after 8am and that was probably only because we heard Amelia's voice as Nicky was getting her out of bed. It's hard to figure out why I should get so tired while I'm on holidays.

Before breakfast I went for a walk for about an hour and ended up at North Finchley at a shopping centre. It was another nice sunny day with a little cloud and a light breeze that made it feel cooler - until you go for a long walk.

After breakfast, Nicky and John wanted to go to the gym and so all five of us set off in the car. It turned out that their gym is in a sporting complex at North Finchley where I'd been earlier this morning.

The sporting centre seems to have something for everyone: outdoor tennis courts, indoor tennis courts, indoor pool, outdoor pool, squash courts, gym and a large Costa cafe. Nicky and John discovered recently and became members. Even Amelia is a member. The centre is labelled "David Lloyd" and apparently is part of a chain of such sporting centres.

Suzy and I looked after Amelia while Nicky and John were in the gym. This was easy because the complex has a "soft play" area for kids. This consists of a cafe with, tables, chairs, armchairs, TVs (showing the Olympic men's marathon) and a children play area.

The play area consisted of a two-level climbing structure with netting and perspex sides. The flooring was soft matting and netting. It is a hit with the kids that gives parents peace of mind.

Next we had lunch in the cafe in the complex and took Amelia home for a sleep. Nicky needed a sleep too.

Later in the afternoon, we all went back to the David Lloyd complex so that Amelia could have a swim in the pool. John and Nicky played with her in the outside pool.

The electronic system in the car seems to be playing up and John suspects that it might be caused by a problem with the battery. This means we'll need to take it to the service station on Monday to get it fixed. It would be a problem if the car broke down when they were rushing to the hospital.

For dinner, we went to beer garden in the Bald Faced Stag pub which is only about 200m from Nicky and John's place.

We got home in time to put Amelia to bed and watch the Olympic closing ceremony on TV.

Day 16 - Saturday 11th August

Nicky, John, Amelia, Suzy and I set off mid-morning for a walk to the playground at Cherry Tree Wood Park which is near the East Finchley shops and only about 10 minutes from Nicky and John's house.

It was another sunny day but there was a slight breeze that made it feel cooler than the last few days. As always, Amelia enjoyed the playground. One of the highlights of this park is seeing the squirrels.

This afternoon, Suzy and I had booked to do a guided walking tour of Notting Hill. However, while we were at the park, the organiser rang to say that we were the only people booked on this tour and so it couldn't run today.

He suggested that we go on the Beatles tour which is more popular. After discussing the options, we decided to go on this tour this afternoon. It starts at 4pm rather than 2:30pm for the original tour. We need to be home in time tonight to babysit while Nicky and John go out for dinner or a movie tonight.

We caught a Northern Line train from East Finchley to Tottenham Court Road station where we changed to the Central Line to go to Marble Arch station.

It was 3:40pm when we got there and so we decided to go across the road to a Sainsburys Store to buy ourselves water for the walking tour. I've never seen such a crowded shop in all my life. The queue for the cash registers snaked back and forward through the shop down and around every aisle. We started to worry that we'd miss the 4pm start of the tour.

The first stop on the tour was in a Mayfair street where the Beatles first lived in London. (It turns out that Nicky and John lived just around the corner when they first moved to London.)

We saw various other places where they lived and worked. Some places had plaques on the outside wall to indicate when they lived there. Several times we caught the underground to go from one site to another.

The locations included Marlyebone Station, Soho, Baker Street, Saville Rowe, Carnaby Street, a shop selling Beatles memorabilia. The final location was the famous pedestrian crossing at Abbey Road. Our guide took photos of us posing as we went over the pedestrian crossing.

Suzy's knee was starting to hurt towards the end of the tour and she was unsure whether she would be able to finish it. Luckily she decided to soldier on because the Abbey Road location was probably the climax of the tour.

To get home, our guide suggested an alternative route rather than going back the way we came. So we caught the underground from St Johns Wood to Green Park where we changed to Green Park and then to the Victoria line to Euston and finally the Northern Line to East Finchley.

Nicky and John had a busy afternoon and were too tired to go out and so John got some take-away food from their favourite fish and chips shop.

Day 15 - Friday 11th August

This morning, I slept in until 9am because I was exhausted after the late night at the basketball. I could have easily slept longer.

Image how tired Nicky would have been if she'd gone there - she's almost nine months pregnant whereas I 'm just old and trying to acclimatise to a different time zone.

At about 10am, we set off for a walk to the other shopping centre in East Finchley which is about 1km away. This set of shops has a butcher that Nicky prefers - the plan was to have a barbecue for dinner tonight.

On the way, we passed by the street where Nicky and John had planned to buy a house a few months ago in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Nicky makes a point of walking regularly. She found this helped before Amelia was born. Along the way, she felt tightening in her tummy which apparently could mean that the baby is coming soon.

It was another beautiful warm sunny summer day with hardly a cloud in the sky.

Next we went back to the other East Finchley shops that are just around the corner from Nicky and John's house because we wanted to go to Nicky's favourite shop for fruit and vegetables.

We stopped at a cafe for coffee and babyccino (a pretend coffee for kids consisting of steamed milk and froth with cinnamon on top).

Suzy wanted to get some brandy and some dry ginger ale. I found a bottle of French brandy at the Icelands supermarket for only GBP12 and some ginger ale nearby at Budgens supermarket.

Amelia had a sleep after lunch for about an hour and was due to go to Clowns Nursery at 2pm. Suzy and I came too so we could find out where it is and so we could meet the staff so they would recognise us when we came with Amelia after Nicky has the baby.

Nicky dropped Suzy at Golders Green railway station so she could go shopping in Oxford Street. Nicky and I went home and then Nicky went to out for a few hours.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk to Alexandra Park which is about 1km away in a suburb called Muswell Hill. It is a big park with tree-lined paths, gardens and grassed areas - very pleasant and relaxing.

At the end of the park, I found a building called Palm Court. There was a lot of activity there - security people, fences, queues, buses and lots of people wearing orange outfits.

I asked one of the attendants about the building. She said the building is normally used for various events and during the Olympics it has been taken over by the Dutch as their place to watch Olympic events and participate in activities.

The building is in a prominent location on a hill looking over London suburbs in the medium to long distance with parks and gardens in the foreground.

Nearby there was an area labelled as Alexandra Palace but all I could find was a garden nursery business. I expect there would have been a lot more through other entrances.

On the way back, I walked along a pleasant bushland path called Parkland Walk on the other side of the road which gave yet more distant views over London suburbs.

When I got home just after 6pm, Nicky was out picking up Amelia from Clowns. Suzy got home from Oxford Street about 10 minutes later after tackling big crowds of tourists in Oxford Street and on the trains.

Five minutes later, John got home from work after celebrations from announcing their half-yearly results. Another five minutes later, Nicky and Amelia arrived home.

By this time, I had the barbecue going because Nicky wanted to have dinner at 7pm so Amelia could get to bed at her normal time. John pulled out a couple of bottles of Italian red wine from his wine cabinet in the kitchen.

After dinner, we settled down to watch the Olympics on TV.

Day 14 - Thursday 9th August

Mid-morning, the three girls went for another shopping expedition. In the afternoon, they went out again after Amelia's nap. I took the opportunity to catch up on my blog and photo sites.

John had managed to get two tickets to the women's Olympic basketball match tonight at the North Greenwich Stadium (the O2 Arena). It was a semi-final match between Russia and France.

Nicky had decided that she wouldn't go because it doesn't start until 9pm and she felt this would be too late for her. So they asked me if I wanted to go instead.

John works at Canary Wharf which is only one station away from North Greenwich station and so John was going to meet me there at about 7:30pm. John booked a table for us at the Rodizio Rico Restaurant in the stadium complex at 7:45pm.

I caught a Northern line train to London Bridge where I changed to the Jubilee line to go to North Greenwich. There were huge crowds at the station because one match had just finished - Australia vs USA (we lost).

The crowd control was excellent. The queue leaving the stadium was five or six people wide and snaked its way between the roped walkways as those heading to the station followed a parallel path in the opposite direction. There were plenty of volunteers to assist.

The stadium is just next to the exit from the station. I arrived early at about 7:10pm and waited near the station for John. As usual we had to go through security checks before entering the stadium complex.

O2 Arena is an impressive complex - much more than just a stadium because it contains various entertainment features including a dozen or more restaurants. Most of these are in a group on the right of the entrance called Entertainment Street. It reminded me of Acer Arena in Sydney.

Ridicio Rico is Brazilian style restaurant. People normally go there for the all-you-can-eat-meat menu. There is a salad bar where you help yourself. However the meat is provided by waiters who go from table to table offering different types of meat. Most of the time, they carve the meat from a large skewer. John ordered a bottle of Italian wine to accompany the meal. It was a very enjoyable meal.

The stadium was packed with an enthusiast audience. The match itself was fairly close. In the end, France beat Russia by about 10 points. It was a great experience.

John had ordered a hire car to take us back to East Finchley and it was almost midnight before I flopped into bed. I was exhausted.

Day 13 - Wednesday 8th August

Today we got up before Amelia woke and before John went to work. Amelia woke up as John left.

Nicky, Suzy and Amelia went shopping mid-morning. I went for a walk to explore the shops around East Finchley. I bought some groceries and picked up the dry cleaning I'd dropped off yesterday.

In the afternoon, Nicky took Amelia to her playgroup which is called Clowns.

A few months ago, Suzy and I had bought tickets for tonight's women's Olympic beach volleyball. We got the tickets from the official Australian ticket agent, CoSport and had them delivered to us at home before we left on our holiday.

The stadium for this event was built as a temporary structure for the Olympics in Horse Guards Parade in the centre of London. We got there by catching a train on the Northern Line to Charing Cross and then walked about 10 minutes to the site.

The route was well sign-posted and there were numerous volunteers along the way to assist. When he reached the event precinct, we had to pass through security - just like at an airport.

Inside the precinct, there was a park with stalls selling food, beer and wine. Most people had a picnic dinner sitting on the grass under the trees. For entertainment, there was a grenadier guards band in traditional uniforms including big black furry headgear.

Our seats in the stadium gave us an excellent view - about halfway up the stadium, almost end-on to the court and behind the flagpoles for the awards ceremony.

The first match was the play-off for the bronze medal between China and Brazil at 7pm. Brazil won by two sets to one in less than an hour. The second match was the gold medal at 9pm between two teams from the USA. This match lasted just over 30 minutes.

Although there were some empty seats earlier, the stadium was full for the gold medal match. As you would expect, there were plenty of supports from the USA. There some Brazil supporters but very few from China.

Steph and I had been to the women's Olympic beach volleyball in Sydney at Bondi Beach in 2000. Just like Bondi, the event in London was quite a spectacle. The announcer encouraged crowd participation and noise. Between points, there was music and at breaks, dancers in swimwear entertained the crowd.

We stayed for the medal ceremony and headed home on the train after an enjoyable and memorable evening.

Day 12 - Tuesday 7th August

Today is Nicky's birthday. The main purpose of our trip to London is to be here for the birth of the baby and we timed our arrival in London yesterday to be here in time for Nicky's birthday.

Last night, I didn't sleep well but we managed to sleep in until 8:15am. It might take a while to adjust to the new time zone.

Nicky was due to visit the mid-wife at Portland Hospital this morning. On the way, we stopped at the dry cleaner in East Finchley to get shirts and trousers cleaned. The hospital is near Regents Park and Nicky found a parking spot right opposite the entrance near the playground. Apparently the mid-wife said everything was going well.

After the appointment, we took Amelia to the playground. Regents Park was very pleasant with large grassed areas, fountains and beautiful flowers.

On that way back home, we stopped for lunch at Hampstead at one of Nicky's favourite cafes. This cafe seems to cater for families - most customers were mothers and their kids.

When we got home, Alan the cleaner was there. Although I'd never met him before, he said he'd met Suzy. Before I left, I'd put on a load of washing and he'd neatly folded all my clothes for me and left them on our bed. Suzy and got some groceries in East Finchley for lunch.

Amelia normally has a nap after lunch and Nicky often takes the opportunity to have a nap too so she'd better able to cope with going out this evening.

Nicky had booked for us all to go to a live show tonight - War Horse at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane. We caught a train on the underground Northern Line to Leicester Square.

Leicester square is the theatre and cinema heart of London. It was very busy with theatre goers, tourists and people finishing work for the day.

We met John at 6pm at the restaurant, Wahaca Mexican Restaurant - a walk of about 10 minutes from the station. We told them we were in a rush because we needed to get to the theatre by 7pm and so there we quick with bringing our food, wine and beers. It was a very nice meal. It was just as well we got there by 6pm because by the time we left there was a long line of people waiting.

The theatre was about 10 minutes walk from the restaurant and we got there just in time. Also it had started to rain lightly as we got to the theatre. The theatre was smaller than I'd expected. Every seat was taken and it was quite warm - it felt as though the air-conditioning wasn't coping with the capacity audience.

The show was very impressive. It was clever the way they represented the horses on the stage.

After the show, we caught a taxi home. The rain had become steadier. Half-way home, John realised he'd forgotten to pick up his bag from the theatre cloak room after the show - including his iPad. He rang them and arranged to pick them up tomorrow.

Day 11 - Monday 6th August

We set the alarm for 5:30am because we had to check out of the hotel and catch the Airport Limousine bus to Narita airport for our flight to London.

Unlike the trip from Narita to Tokyo about 10 days ago, there were no traffic problems in getting to the airport - we were going against the peak-hour traffic.

At the check-in counter, the attendant told us that business class was fully booked. I was about to tell her that we already reserved our seats online yesterday when she offered to upgrade us free-of-charge to first class. We were delighted but it did not last long because she realised a couple of minutes later that we'd used Qantas Frequent Flyer points rather than paying for the flight. She said she wouldn't be allowed to upgrade us after all. Rats! It would have been good because we've never travelled first class.

We had breakfast in the business lounge and Suzy went to the duty-free shops to spend all our remaining cash that was in Yen.

The plane's departure seemed to be going well until we were lined up on the runway for take-off. It started to rain heavily and the captain announced that he and the two planes in front of him would have to wait until the worst of the storm had passed. We were there for more than half an hour. He thought we would be able to make up time on route but we arrived in London almost an hour late.

I thought the service on the flight was very good. They served us lunch a couple of hours after take-off and another lighter meal an hour or two before we landed.

After the lunch, they dimmed the cabin lights so people could have a sleep. Initially, I didn't intend to have a sleep but, after the lunch and wine, I felt tired. By pushing a button, the seats in BA business class lay completely flat and so I had a nap for about an hour.

I'd come prepared with a power adapter so I could recharge the various devices I was using on the flight. Unfortunately the power outlets weren't working because of some problem with the plane's batteries.

Nicky had booked a car (London Airport Transport) to pick us up from Heathrow and take us to their place in East Finchley. The driver was very friendly. He moved to the UK from Sri Lanka about 26 years ago and has recently become a father after trying for 12 years - including lots of IVF that cost a fortune. He proudly showed us the photo of his son.

The driver is a very keen cricket fan with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game including Australian matches and players. He said he supports the English team rather than Sri Lanka - he claimed that Tamils like him are not allowed to play for Sri Lanka. He was keen to listen to the test match that was in progress between England and South Africa.

Nicky and Amelia were at home when we arrived and soon afterwards John came home early from work. It was good to see them.

This time we will be staying with them at their new house - they moved a few weeks ago from Hampstead to East Finchley. Our room is on the second level - the same level as Amelia's room and the room that will become the baby's nursery once the baby is old enough.

Nicky and John's bedroom is on the third level. They have an ensuite bathroom and walk-in robe. There is a cot for the baby in their room.

Nicky cooked dinner for us and we then sat down to watch the Olympics on the BBC.


When we got to bed at about 10pm London time, it had been almost 24 hours since we got out of bed in Tokyo. It had been a long day and we were very tired.

Day 10 - Sunday 5th August

Before breakfast, I went for a walk exploring the northern tower of the JR station complex and then down to the concourse area near the trains. After breakfast, we paid the hotel bill so as to avoid long queues at the designated check-out time of 12 noon.

I went back to the room to catch up on my blog and photos while Suzy went to the department store that is part of the JR complex. When she came back to the room, she said I needed to come down to the shops to see the way they sell food.

It was worth a look. They have an amazing variety of foods on display - mainly sweets, desserts, biscuits and pastries. Each one is a work of art and individually wrapped.

We checked out of the hotel at noon and caught the bullet train back to Tokyo. This time, we went to Shinagawa, the station before Tokyo where we changed to a suburban train on the JR over-ground Yamanote line.

After finding the right platform at Shinagawa, we found there was a train waiting. Suzy managed to get on board with her bags but then the doors closed in my face before I could get on. I was in the process of putting my small back into the door and was lucky not to have it crushed. The station attendant was standing right beside me with his white flag and just watched. The trains in Japan leave exactly on time and don't wait for anyone.

It didn't prove to be a big problem because the next train came about 5 or 10 minutes later. Suzy was waiting for me on the platform at Shinjuku.

We'd booked another night at the same hotel we'd stayed at before in Shinjuku. They had upgraded us to a better room - a corner room on the southern end of the building with a panoramic view of the city. The hotel had been looking after two of our bags while we went to Kyoto.

At about 5:30pm, we left the hotel to catch the train to Harajuku again. The main reason we went was to stroll down the street where people dress in colourful and unusual clothes. The streets were very busy.

It looked as though it was about to rain (this would have been the first time it had rained so far on our holiday) and so we decided to go back to our hotel for dinner.

Day 09 - Saturday 4th August

Our plan for today was to go to Nara which is about 45 minutes away by JR train. Once again, we had breakfast at the hotel buffet on level 2.

The train was quite crowded when we left Kyoto - it was like catching a suburban train to Parramatta. We got a seat but initially we weren't able to find seats next to each other. The train stopped half a dozen times before Nara and most people got off the train at these intermediate stations.

At Nara, we went to the tourist information centre at the railway station. She gave us a new map and marked out a suggested route that she said would take about three hours visiting the main highlights of Nara.

We followed her advice and starting walking up a west-bound street, stopping in at some shops along the way. It was cloudy and warm - the temperate was probably only in the low to mid 30s while the sun was behind the clouds but the humidity was higher.

The first destination site she suggested was the Three-Storey Pagoda. Worth a visit. However, we were just about the only people there.

Nearby was the second destination, Kofukuji Temple and the Five-Storey Pagoda. This was more impressive and much more popular with the tour groups. The buildings in this area were well worth the visit but the highlight here was the deer roaming the plaza.

We'd heard that Nara is famous for the deer that have been allowed to roam freely throughout the city for hundreds of years. People sell small packets of crisps to the tourists so they can feed to the deer. The deer can smell the crisps and gently approach you and nudge you for a feed. The males are bigger and have long antlers. They are more pushy than the females.

Next we moved on to Nara Park, a very large park with numerous grassed areas, trees, paths, shrines, more deer and people selling deer food. We tried to find the most shaded paths to avoid the heat of the sun.

The next destination was Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Once again worth a visit. They seemed to like lanterns here - there were dozens of them in gold and green colours.

By this time, we were ready for a break and so we went back down the hill to a tea house we'd passed earlier. This was pleasant break in a small air-conditioned structure where we had coffee and flavoured shaved ice - very refreshing.

The final destination that the tourist information centre had recommended was the Todaiji Temple which was about 1km away through the park. At first we were unsure whether we would make it this far. The Michelin Green Guide gave it the top three-star rating and the lady at the tourist information centre seemed to be insistent that we go there.

The path leading there was busy and, as you might expect, had plenty of deer waiting for a feed. There were large tourist buses parked nearby. The entrance path and building were impressive but these were just leading up to the climax.

As is often the case, there was a fee to enter this site. It was worth every penny, cent, dollar, pound, peso, etc. you could offer - even yen. They claim it is the largest timber building in the world. I'm not sure if this is correct but the structure is impressive - very impressive.

Inside the building, there is a huge Buddha statue with two other large statues - one on either side - dating back more than 1250 years. Once again, very impressive.

It seems to me, that this is a must-see site for a visit to Nara. It was the highlight of the day (with the possible exception of hand-feeding the deer). It's easy to see why Michelin gives it the top rating and the tourist information centre emphasised it. Just in case you haven't got the message yet: this place is worth going to.

By this time, the heat was getting to us and we both were having trouble with sore knees and so we decided to catch the bus back to Nara railway station instead of walking.

It was now mid-afternoon and we still hadn't had a proper lunch. The easier option was to go to the KFC next to the station. It even had a life-size statue of Colonel Sanders near the entrance - he had an advertising placard around his neck written in Japanese.

Once back at Kyoto, Suzy decided to go to the department store that is part of the JR complex at the station. I went back to our room.

At dinner time, we first went to the JR ticket office to reserve our seats for the train trip tomorrow back to Tokyo on the bullet train.

Then we explored the west side of the building complex. Starting from the concourse area (level 2), there are a series of escalators in a direct line in this huge cavernous structure leading up and up and up to a garden area on level 15 (??) with a view of the city in most directions.

One level down, we saw a restaurant or two and then more and more and more - all part of the department store complex and part of the western building labelled as "The Cube". Lots of choice - in fact, almost too much choice.

After working past all the restaurants, we decided to go to one with an Italian theme. Good food, great service and a nice bottle of Italian red.

At the restaurant, we were initially puzzled by a small unobtrusive canvas bin on the floor next to our table and similar containers at every other table. After a while we realised that people were putting their bags, handbags, backpacks and shopping parcels in there.

Back in our room we tuned the TV to BBC World. Apart from world events, they were giving updates on the Olympics. Naturally, they were mainly talking about British competitors.