London - Crossroads of the World & First Stop

Our last lunch in Cape Town for a while with the Median Team!
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With the myriad options available to the international traveler there are very few things that are constant when comparing the trips of any two Round the World adventurers - with the notable exceptions of too little money, too much laundry...and London!

If your trip begins at any point in the English speaking world (and for many whose don't) then London presents an almost irresistable pull on your itinerary. Quite apart from the exceptional cultural, sporting, social and entertainment options it remains one of the best travel hubs anywhere in the world. Whether you are on an all-inclusive Round the World ticket, or just winging it from city to city, London offers that most important of travel options - flexibility! From here you can connect to almost anywhere - often at bargain-basement prices (especially if you take the time to shop around a bit). So it was London that we chose as the starting point for our own adventures.

Leliana and Bulelani testing the weight of our backpacks
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Our final day in Cape Town flew past even faster than the weeks before. Leaving Strand at about 9am we drove into Cape Town to the Home Affairs office in Barrack Street. After a surprisingly quick half hour wait Denise got her permanent residence stamp transferred to her new passport (no charge!). Then it was off to ABSA to drop off our leave-behind valuables in the safe deposit box; the Travel Clinic to pick up a Malaria Test Kit and treatment; the pharmacy to collect some last medical supplies and then to Canal Walk shopping centre to post some items we won't need in Europe to Denise's Mom in Germany for pick-up in June. Denise is VERY particular about things like parcel packing so my 3 pieces of tape and a rapidly scrawled address got a withering look and she took over to do it herself. When I pointed out that rewriting the address twice (once for top and once for bottom) seemed excessive I was told that it was 100% necessary - so I stepped back and let her at it. We later realised that her painstaking work was totally wasted since she had taped the second address over the first by mistake!! Vindication!! :)

Our first sunrise on the trip
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After the Post Office we met some of my work colleagues for a farewell lunch at the newly opened News Cafe - a final chance to say goodbye and snap off a few last pics. Then we drove to Cape Town International Airport and breezed through an early SAA check-in (highly recommended if you can't do online checkin - they open 5 hours before the flight and its about the only way you can guarantee yourself decent seating). We were very proud that our total checked luggage was only 25kg (12kg for Denise and 13kg for me) - less for 10 months than Denise had packed two weeks earlier for ten days in China!

Arrival at Putney East tube station in London
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Our next stop was Denise's office where we dropped off our car, disconnected the battery and draped it in its newly acquired cover. A quick change of clothes and a last round of farewells and then we were picked up by our friend Joseph who had agreed to play chauffeur back to the airport.

After a spot of last-minute duty-free shopping (Denise picked up a fleece jacket) we boarded flight SA220 and settled in for our 10 hour flight to London. Denise will tell you that her much-needed in-flight sleep was interrupted quite frequently but I deny everything! Caught the new movie 'Blood Diamond' en route - not bad but Leo de Caprio was the wrong choice for the lead - too much of a pretty boy to pull off a convincing mercenary and his SA accent needs some real help.

Exploring the neighbourhood in East Putney
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We landed at Heathrow at about 6am - a little ahead of schedule and in the midst of a spectacular sunrise. The arrivals procedure has been streamlined since we were last here and we breezed through passport control with almost no stopping. After collecting our backpacks and putting them on really for the first time we realised that even 25kg's may have been overdoing things! Imitating top-heavy tortoises we made our way to the Underground station and bought the nw Oyster travel cards. These cost £3 each (refundable when you leave) and you load them up with credits for the Tubes and busses - they guarantee you the lowest day rate for your travel and also save a lot of time en route (you also get discounts to a number of London attractions) - the only thing we are a little wary of is whether or not our remaining credit will be refunded when we leave - will update this entry once we know *UPDATE: Yes you get back any cash remaining - so great!*).

We caught the Picadilly line service in the direction of Cockfosters- changed as Earls Court to the District Line in the direction of Wimbledon. I noticed that the trademark 'Mind the Gap' announcement has been updated to 'Mind the Gap between the train and platform' - wonder who needed that clarified and what other gap they were busy minding before!?

Filled with Heathrow-type travellers there were quite a few back-pack type passengers and we felt quite noticeable with our gleaming new packs and (relatively) uncreased clothes! The one guy who sat opposite us still had trail dirt clinging to his gear, a souvenir oriental bamboo hat, and some university texts on 'The Vietnamese Economy in 2005' - we were amongst friends!!

Emerging from the Underground at Putney East we whipped out our iPod and followed the directions to Jon Nish's apartment in Wadham Rd. Arriving at about 08:20 he met us and gave us the 10c tour - insisting that we take his bed and that he will crash on the couch! London hospitality just got two thumbs up!! He then left for work and we had a chance to shower and freshen up.

After the showers we met up with Bev Mackenzie (formerly from Durban now one of Jon's flatmates). Our quick chat about her recent Round the World trip turned into a 3 hour discussion in which we picked up a ton of tips! Thanks Bev and welcome to the Blog!

We then walked to Putney High street and picked up a couple of silk sleeping bag liners (advised by all the travel books as the best option to avoid bed bug bites in bargain-basement backpack hostels!).  After a quick wrap from Sainsbury's we headed back to Jon's place and met his second flat-mate, Gaby, also from SA originally.  Denise used the afternoon to watch an episode or two of 24 Season 3 (we are both hooked) and then it was off to dinner with Jon and his girlfriend Jan at a local Gastro-pub called "The Telegraph (fish & chips + bangers & mash and draft beer - not a bad start to our world foodie experience!).

After dinner Denise fell fast asleep on the back seat of Jon's car whilst he was giving us the whistle-stop tour of South West London (Wimbledon etc.).  Back to the apartment and some much-needed sleep.