Saturday June 8, 2002.

I had been counting down the days to this date for the last 6 months, as today I was leaving Australia, and spending the next 4 weeks travelling around Europe on my second Contiki tour. My bags were packed, and I was ready to venture into the unknown. So many new cultures, languages and experiences were wating for me on the other side of the world, and to make it more exciting, this was the first time I was travelling solo.

I departed Sydney in the mid-afternoon on what was going to be a very, very long flight. People say the flight from Australia to the United Kingdom is one of the longest flights anybody can take... and they are right. Before I made it to London, we had a stopover in Hong Kong where I had to change aircraft. 9 hours down, nearly another 13 hours to go. Boarded the flight to London, and settled down for a torturous experience. It is weird knowing it is broad daylight outside, while the interior of the aircraft is dark, and your body is telling you that you should be asleep as it is 4am back home.

Fast-forward 13 hours, and I had landed at Heathrow. I had made it. It was 5:20am in London, 2:20pm in Sydney, and I had been awake for 33 hours. No use complaining as I still had a long time to go before I could get to bed. After completing the airport formalities, I collected my bag, and headed for the Underground station at the airport. I had a quick nap on the train, and woke up to find that Russell Square was only a few stops away. I made my way off the train, and found myself standing infront of the station. Now the first test, where is the hotel?

After a quick walk along the streets, I found the hotel, checked in, freshened up, and went exploring. My first stop, Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. Back on the underground and off I went. After watching the famous ceremony I began a self-guided tour of London. The Mall, Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, London Eye, Westminister Bridge, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, New Scotland Yard were all visited over the next few hours.

I met my cousin Liz & her husband Will outside the London Eye later in the afternoon. After a cup of coffee, we made our way to the Tate Modern. After a brief walk around the gallery, we made our way over the Millenium Bridge, and headed for St Paul's Cathedral. A walk along Fleet Street, and we had arrived in Covent Garden where we stopped for dinner.

By this stage, I was truly ready for bed. I left Liz & Will, and went back to the Hotel to discover a blister on each foot as a result of a big day of walking. My head hit the pillow at 9pm, and I was alseep at 9:02pm... 47 hours since I woke up on Saturday morning.

The next two days were spent visiting nearly every corner of London. I took a guided tour of Lords Cricket Ground before heading back to the city and visited, Tower Bridge and walked past the Tower of London, visited Canary Wharf, Harrods, Hyde Park, Science Museum, and the RAF Museum.

At the end of the third day, I made my way to the Royal National Hotel for the pre-departure meeting. There I met Lou, my Tour Manager, and Stu, my driver who were going to take myself, and 39 other travellers around Europe for the next 21 days.

After the meeting, I went back to my room, and got everything ready for the early departure the next morning. Europe... here I come!