Ok from the begining - The flight to auckland was fine - met up with the girls and one guy that was going to be coming to London. It was great to finally put faces to people that we had been talking too over the last couple of months. we all got through customs ok - with only a couple of us being stopped to empty out bags and discard of things like hair spray and aerosel cans (what ya expect when your travelling with 10 girls) Jo and i were smart and checked in together and so we got a seat together.Little emma was sitting directly behind us and she was lucky enough to be sitting beside three nice men who offered to give up there seats so we could all sit together. It was a long and boring flight - free drnks and movies - but it was too hard to concentrate on a whole movie so we sat around and chatted and tried to focus on movies. ok enough of the boring plane trip. Arrived in Bangkok around 12am. The heat once you steped into the airport was so intense - 32 deg - i was still dressed in all my layers (thermals jersey and long pants) so i was dying to strip but not really appropriate in the midle of the airport. If we thought the heat inside the airport was bad, we stepped outside and the heat outside was suffocating - luckily we had an air conditioned bus. we had a great guide who pointed things out as we drove to our hotel. Hotel was nice - not as nice as the website showed us - but it was still liveable. First day in bangkok we went around all the temples. it was a public holiday in bangkok a budda holiday or something,the day the budda was born and died?? i should of taken notes!! so everyone was out visiting and praying at the temples. the temples were amazing say the reclining budda and budda that was made out of solid gold. As we got of the bus at one of our stops we had this thai men running in front of us taking photos of us - was a little weird - and as we went to get back on the bus they ran up to us again and had this badges with our photos on them and greetings from bangkok writen on them - the sucker i am i bought one!! they were funny. went on a canal tour on this crazy litte boat - was amazing to see another side of living - with people living in little shelters on the side of the canals - the water was brown and disgusting with toilet seats and shoes and other disgusting things floating by. we saw lots of children swimming in the water and here we all are scared when the water was being sprayed on us!! lol it was so smelly and gross. makes you really grateful of what we have in nz. As we were walking back from canals there were all this food stands on the side of the road - and if you can imagaine being in 37 deg insane humidity and there are people selling fish on the side of the road - the smell was insane!! that day we had a buffet meal at the hotel were under the impression drinks were included so we didnt hold back on the cokes, and were a little blown away when they pulled out the bill for the drinks - was weird being charged 350 bahts for something - even though it was only like 15 new zealand $$. had a free afternoon so we hit the shops - we went outside the airport and it took all of 1/2 a minute before we were approached and offered rides in the tuk tuks - they were awesome!! they take you to their sponsers, jewellary suits etc. Emma asked where we could ride elephants and one of the dodgy guys in the suit place told her that we could ride him, didnt go down well haha. we couldnt get out of that place fast enough. Went to this unbelieveable mall was like 5 stories high and filled with shops. That night we went to a traditional thai meal the part of the trip i was most looking forward too - but it was not nice at all - after seeing fish being sold on the sold of the road i couldnt bring myself to eat it - the beef well we think it was beef was interesting. the cocktails were great though!!! the thai dancers were amazing. last day in bangkok we hit the shops again had mcdonalds for lunch they sat us down and took our orders from the table - mcdonalds in bangkok was pretty good. Burger king on the other hand not so good - but thats coming up soon. lhad a fun time in Bangkok airport trying to spend the last of our baht - me kelly and emma pulled together our money and bought some duty free vodka and a couple of crazy ailen soft toy things - destined to be our team mascots!! Burger king for dinner it was disgusting!!! red meat in my whopper was white! it was yuck! so we dont rate burger king. left bangkok at 1.15 am - got on the plane - were very excited about watching more movies only to discover there was actually no movies on this flight - argh we were pissed off. Sat next to emma on this flight. we all tried to be smart and booked in together - but we were still unable to sit together! so i was lucky to sit beside someone and not some random on the flight!!! lol lucky me. slept for 8 hours which was great - apart from the elephant feet!!! woke up from my sleebut it only took a couple of days p with cold feet so without thinking put my ankle sicks on - went back to sleep woke up 7 hours later and my feet were the size of elephants!! so swollen and hideous! lol check out the photos. freaked outa little (ok there is going to be a random piece in this email somewhere dam laptop is moving cursor on me - well done to the people still reading i do tend to go on a bit dont i ) but feet went down over the next couple of days. Arrived in london on saturday morning!! was so scary and big - and being jet lagged didnt help i dont think - but i would of been qute happy to hop back o the plane and come back to nz!!! good old me though stuck it out and went out to a bbq that night and met heaps of new people - heaps of aussies americans canadians french canadians dutch. So i am glad i didnt get back on the plane and come home :P London is proving to be a lot of fun!! first few nights were spent partying with all the people in the hostel. Went to the lion king - it was amazing!! the number of shows that are here is just amazing - dirty dancing and mary poppins is the next on our list!! signed up at an agency going to do some work in a preschool and some part time nannying. Was good to catch up with friends from home and hear all the advice they had - thanks jason and lee!! went and stayed with megan (trained with her at nzece) it was good to get out of central london and get a little routine in place. went to hyde park in the weekend for a picnic sat around and drank and ate and played rounders and "football" you are almost certain to be told off if you call it soccer over here!! we have mastered the tube - next mission is to master the buses - i have realised how lazy i have become and how reliant on having a car at home - now its walk everwhere and tube - when you go out drinking i need to remember i still need to get home afterwards by tube by a bus then some walking aswell . lol man i sound lazy. moved into our flat this weekend - emma and i are sharing a studio apartment. very little cant really swing a cat in it - but it has 2 double beds - second bed is upstairs in a loft - has a little kitchen and bathroom in it - fully furnished - so its great to have somethine to call home - at the moment we are in a three bed studio - until or place is available on the 2 july - so are sharing with one of the other girls on the trip. wil send photos of room when we move in. im afraid to say we havent done any touristy things yet! how sad are we - but that is the plan for the weekend so stay tuned for london photos next time.