After such a late night it was certainly a surprise when our alarm when off at 7am. We had already decided there was no chance of a shower seeing as we would have to wake poor Nick and Magali up on their weekend. It was bad enough we were leaving so early anyway. We gave ourselves a wee sponge down in the sink and I washed my fringe out since there was no mirrors out of the bedroom and I couldn’t see the state of it. We had put out some clothes for the journey last night which made it a bit easier to pack everything into the bags this morning. We had separated out the summer clothes and anything else we wouldn’t be needing within the next week into another carry bag so that it was a bit easier to drop that at Erlitas without pulling our bag apart. We were also carrying a bag full of snacks and spices that we picked up over our travels and there was no way I was leaving our trusty loaf tin behind either. Although I must admit I’m keen for a break from the lemon loaf and the banana loaf. Nick was the first to wake up just before 8am and we had just sat down to eat breakfast. We had decided instead of walking to the train station which would take us about 20 minutes we booked an Uber for 8.15am. Once we had packed everything up and said our goodbyes we carted all our stuff down the three flights of stairs with Nick helping Lew carry the big bag. The Uber was there waiting for us and we loaded everything in and were off! So funny thinking about the day we took the train from London to Paris which seems like forever ago on September 23rd (Lews 26th Birthday). 5 minutes later we were dropped off outside the train station just before 8.30am and we were so early our train didn’t even show up on the screen. We lugged everything around trying to find the help desk to ask when it would begin to show and they told us to wait 10 minutes. We hung out in the middle of the corridor with everyone else watching the departure screen. As soon as it came up that the train would leave from platform D we walked in that direction, had our tickets scanned and went up to the train platform. The two bags were trying very hard to sever my fingers off so I was pleased when I could put them down. Next time we travel there is no way we are bringing so much! We waited basically until 9.04am for the train to pull up despite that being the time we were supposed to leave. Lew had been texting Nick asking about the platforms since we were allocated the carriage “18” but right along the platform it just had letters and not numbers. Thankfully he advised us that the screens above the platform will tell you what letter corresponds to the carriage number and we were able to hang out in the right place. When people started getting on Lew managed to get on in front of me and I didn’t see which way he went. I couldn’t see him down to the right and he hadn’t told me whether we would be in the carriage upstairs or downstairs. I went upstairs but couldn’t see him there either with the steady stream of people and didn’t think he managed to get the bag up the stairs. I almost got off to ask whether I was in the right carriage as I wasn’t sure if you could walk between them if I was in the wrong one. The doors closed and Lew came out of nowhere on the top floor wondering where I had got to and he hadn’t heard my phone call as his phone was on silent. Never mind we had plenty of space for all of our stuff and it was only a 2 hour journey. It went smoothly although we both felt a little rubbish from lack of sleep and no shower but before we knew it we were back in Paris! The most annoying thing about these trains is that you get in at Gare de Lyon and then you leave out of Gare du Nord so you have to get on one of the RER trains to take you two stops to the other train station. It was actually relatively easy but just meant we were lugging everything around again. I had found my gloves in the top of the bag and used them to prevent the bags trying to take off my fingers which helped a lot, especially since these things allow me to make money right?! Lew did strap one bag onto the top of our big bag to which made getting around easier. Gare du Nord wasn’t the nicest place when we arrived back in September and we wern't sure if it was going to be nice to spend the next 1.5 hours in before our train to London. We started going through the process of immigration to leave France and also to enter the UK and it was pretty easy! I didn’t get asked any tricky questions and just handed them my brp (biometric residence permit)! They xrayed all our bags and we were a little disgusted by the fact that they didn’t have any trays for your jackets or anything so you had to just throw it on the conveyer belt, yuck. We walked to where we would board and were pleased to find it was actually nice and had a few options for food. We found a space where we could get all our bags out of the way and Lew gave his parents a call. The time went fast and when I went to get us some food but I didn’t know we were about to board. Lew got some lasagne, a chocolate muffin and a hot chocolate whilst I got some sort of falafel, rice, eggplant dish with a organic soy dessert. None of the food was cheap and perhaps we should have made some pasta yesterday since they provided a microwave. It cost us €27 ($47 NZD) but we needed something to keep us going until tonight. Lew downed his lasagne like nothing else and then went to find out if we were supposed to be boarding or not. I was only half way through mine but we were unsure if there would be enough room for all the large bags we were seeing and decided to get going. It was the same story as last time and there was plenty of room available and no need to be concerned about where we would store our bag. Our seats weren't as good as last time but when the train stared moving the double seats facing each other with a table were free and we moved over. Train travel is pretty easy and another two hours went by very fast. Well I thought it was faster than it was because I forgot that London is an hour behind France so when it was 2.20pm on my phone I thought we only had 20 minutes to go but in fact we had an hour and 20 minutes to go. I got some editing done and Lew collated all the train journeys and booking references so that when we got to Marylebone station we could collect all our tickets for the next week. We were already aware we would be short on time so this was a good option for saving some valuable minutes! When the train was almost in London we gathered everything up and went to wait by the door so we could get off as fast as possible. It was 2.40pm (London time!) and our train to Oxford leaves Marylebone station at 4.06pm. Between that time we have to catch a train from London St Pancra station to Maida Vale station which involves two different train lines - the metropolitan line for three stops and the Bakerloo line for 5 stops with a short 5 minute walk to Erlitas house. We thought we could fit this in, well rather hoped we could. As we were walking towards the exit of the train platform Lew started putting our destination into Citymapper but quickly discovered that the entire Bakerloo line is closed for maintenance. Now this really threw a spanner in the works (haha! excuse that pun since they may not even use spanners to fix train lines?) but thank goodness for the wonderful Uber! I don’t understand how they are in the process of banning Uber in a London because it is so fantastic, no way we could afford a proper taxi. So Lew ordered one and we raced through the station to the pick up point only having to wait a couple of minutes. It was a typical dreary London day with drizzle and low cloud but there were Xmas decorations everywhere. We didn’t quite have time to admire them though so the sight seeing will have to be put on hold for another week. Fitting everything into the boot and front seat we begun our journey to Maida Vale in the drizzle. We were feeling rather stressed and nervous especially when Lew started giving me times in which we have to be in and out of Erlitas so that we can get to the next station in another Uber on time. As we got stuck in traffic and our driver was going 30km/hr my allocated time of 20 minutes steadily dropped to 10 minutes. I gave Erlita a call to let her know that we will be even more in a rush that expected and I apologise in advanced that we won’t be able to catch up. She was surprised that the Bakerloo line was closed and explained that she had workers fixing something in her house so it’s crowded and busy. Another 10 minutes later we pull up outside her place and I grab the stuff out of the front seat and walked as fast as possible to the front door. The door was open and Erlita was in the living room and had already collated all the mail we had been sent whilst we had been gone. There was even the margarine and peanut butter in a small bag which she also tried to give me but I said we would pick it up next week. I got the keys and Erlita asked me to bring them back up to her and not take them with me. I laughed a little at this and promised her I would return them, after all we had enough stuff to carry around the UK as it is. Once we had clarified I would not be taking the keys with me we raced down to the basement and unlocked the door to her locker and begun pulling all our stuff out. I had pre-prepared a list of stuff that we were leaving behind and also picking up since I knew it was going to be a stressful event. I managed to find my degree and other nursing documents which is all I needed and threw our sleeping bags and big bag full of clothes back into storage. Lew had already gone upstairs and ordered us another Uber and by the time I had returned the keys he had already put majority of the luggage into the car. We both awkwardly gave Erlita a hug and mid conversation began walking out the door promising to stop for a cup of tea next week. Looking at the clock as we got into the Uber we impressively got in and out in just under 10 minutes. Lew also said that Erlita has been following our blogs and gallery whilst we were away which was very awesome! It was only about 6 minutes to Marylebone station on the Uber and cost us £6.60 ($12.80 NZD) but it was well worth it and probably easier than taking the metro.

It was very simple getting all our tickets for the next week after collating all the booking references earlier on the train. Once we had double checked we had all our tickets we went straight through to the train platform only to find out we were too early with it being only 3.30pm and the train was leaving at 4.06pm. It was then I realised I probably needed to use the bathroom and it was SO easy going up to the attendants walking around and telling them this since we were back in an english speaking country and the women said she would let me back in when I returned. Walking up and down the station I was disappointed to find that you have to pay 30 pence for the toilet and your ticket doesn’t just get you in. I only had euro on me so I went back to Lew and the attendant women said there will be one on the train if I could wait that long. If I had known I would have just waited but I didn’t know what sort of train it would be. Just before 4pm the platform number came up and a steady stream of people moved towards the train. There wasn’t anywhere to put your luggage so we strapped it to a pole and sat near the entrance where we left it. This train was pretty quick and after having some snacks, editing a blog and using the bathroom we were at the Hadenham and Thame parkway which was the first stop. We couldn’t believe the distance we had covered in under an hour and we keep saying how much we need these sorts of transport systems connecting parts of the North Island as Auckland continues to expand. The small train station we stopped at was in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and I couldn’t believe it was 4.40pm since it was literally pitch black! Now I know what Lews parents meant when they said in the middle of the winter the sun goes down at about 3pm! Golly that sounds depressing. I guess il have to shut myself in a seemingly underground building of St Thomas’s ED to keep me sane. Ollie picked us up 10 minutes later after a quick phone call to tell us he was late and that if it was raining we should wait inside or else we would catch a cold haha! He turned up in his prius with an Australian friend called Blake and got out of the car to give us a hug. He had the funniest outfit on since they had been out shooting pheasants all day and it was certainly nothing I have seen before with the knee high colourful socks. We just managed to get all our stuff in the car and I made sure to check there wasn’t any dead animals hiding somewhere on the back that we were about to throw our stuff one- there wasn’t and they didn’t bring any back with them so we weren't going to have to eat them for dinner! We dropped Blake home on the way and the went via Ollie’s parents house to collect some more pillows. It was the cutest house with that adorable old English cottage look with a small dog called Floosy. We were heading there tomorrow night for dinner with Ollie’s parents which will be lovely! We drove back to Ollie’s flat and met his flat mates one from Naples and the Other from Thame. Ollie showed us to our room upstairs apologising for how small it was. We didn’t mind though but we were pleased we had ditched a lot of stuff earlier today as it wouldn't have all fitted in the room! We sat around watching some football and also the All Blacks vs Scotland game being played in Twickenham. Ollie spent this time cleaning his gun since they had been out hunting today and he spread newspaper out on the kitchen table and dismantled the thing covering it in very strong smelling oil. It is incredibly old and Lew and I were fascinated by it since neither of us come from hunting families. At about 7pm we walked into the small town of Thame about 20 minutes from Ollie place. It was a cute small town and I thought we were hanging around here but we were actually catching the bus into Oxford. We met up with Blake again at the bus stop and Ollie went into the nearby supermarket to buy some alcohol for the bus ride. The bus arrived and he insisted on paying for our tickets which was kind of just as well as we had small coins on us and I had made lewis run across to the back to get some pounds out as I was only carrying euro. Once on the bus we were all handed a gin & tonic in a can to make the 40 minute bus ride go a bit faster. We picked up another couple Jamie and Rachel up off another bus stop on the side of the road also. Arriving into Oxford we realised how much we needed to see London but also make sure we get to these awesome smaller towns. There were lots of young people out since it was a Saturday night and the town itself was super hip with lots of inviting looking restaurants. We walked about 20 minutes through town and it was that typical freezing cold damp temperature we had got used to in Lyon.

The place we were headed to was a bar called The Victoria that makes incredibly good home made pies. Initially it was really busy and we thought we were going to have to sit outside but thankfully a big bunch of people left and we stole their spot. Lew and I were rather pleased since we were in need of a lot of heat to defrost despite having our merinos on! The beer started flowing at this point and multiple large pints came to the table. I wasn’t feeling the best with a headache so stuck with some water. We had met up with another guy at this point called George so there was certainly a large group of us now! The pie menu was insane and Lews eyes were almost popping out of his head with joy. There wasn’t too much else on the menu so I thought I was probably going to have to eat a pie despite it being highly likely the pastry will have butter in it. The waitress and I worked out that the steak and pale al pie probably would have the least about of dairy so I ordered one of those with a side salad form£6.95 ($13.50 NZD) and another one for Lewis with chips also for £8.95 ($17.36 NZD). The English are certainly very generous people and the beer continued to be placed in front of everyone before they had even finished their current pint. When the food came out it was probably the best looking food we have had in awhile...although the food in France looked good it wasn't familiar like this was. The pies were delicious and even more so since I haven't has one in a very long time and they even did a good job of the salad and chips too. The others got pies like steak and blue cheese, and also a xmas pie with ham, turkey and cranberry. There were also some amazing sounding ones like ham hock and pea and a couple of vegetarian ones with mushrooms and lentils. I made sure to mark this place on the map for next time we are here incase we need another pie fix. I certainly hope we can find this sort of place closer to London, preferably with dairy free pastry. We stayed a couple of hours and Lew had drunk 3 pints which was the most beer I have ever seen him drink. He was sitting next to Blake and typically being an Aussie and a Kiwi they got on like a house on fire. It was incredibly fascinating just to watch them especially since Lew was rather well lubricated at this point. At about 10pm we left the bar and Lew and I thought we were heading home but it wasn’t the case. Lew was at the point where he needed a bit of direction as his limbs were beginning to get tangled up in  his beer induced state and I was pleased to be stone cold sober. Turns out the group was looking for another place to stop and drink and they chose an old church that had been turned into a bar. It was built in 1836 and was called the Church of St Paul’s and was the first Anglican Church built in England after the reformation. In 1969 the church closed and was deconsecrated and the current owners brought it in 1988 to prevent it being demolished and turned it into the bar it is today. The boys brought more beer and despite Lew having far too much already he couldn’t say no to their generosity. He had brought a round himself back in The Victoria since he felt so terrible he was drinking a lot of free beer, but I had to remind him we were unemployed and these guys could probably drink until we are broke (in the nicest way possible, iv just never seen people handle that much beer before). We stayed for about half an hour hanging around next to one of the very large heaters pumping out some warmth before leaving. There was some sort of Oxford function going on so Ollie said it wasn’t the best night to come as the nerds were really dampening the mood. We left and walked closer to where the bus dropped us off which was next to a roof top bar that we were taken too but after a vote we decided not to go in. Unfortunately everyone said they didn’t mind what we did - go in or not but I had to be the person that said I was ready to head back home. By this stage it was almost midnight and for us still in France time it was almost 1am. After searching the bus schedule we still had another 40 minutes until it arrived which mean the boys looked for another bar to take us into. Most of them were closing for midnight but Ollie found one place open down an alleyway that he took Lew into for a pee but it was full of skinheads and white supremacists and the rest of us weren't going in to. Everyone decided that they were hungry so the next stop was McDonalds. I was trying so hard not to be that annoying person that doesn’t want to be there but it wasn’t really my scene especially since I'm usually at the other end of it dealing with those idiots who had drunk to much and come visit us at ED. I was however interested the system the ambulances had set up to deal with drunk people with an ambulance base with supporters out roaming the streets checking on people and calling in assistance as required. It was exactly like a scene I had watched on tv with the UK emergency services on a typical Saturday night. It wasn’t pretty really. McDonalds was full of drunk people with bare feet and strange costumes and seemed to be the popular choice for every intoxicated person in the area. Chicken nuggets was the favourite of the night but I was still much too full from dinner but somehow Lew managed to fit a burger on top of his pies and beer. It was 10 minutes until the bus came and post McDonalds feed we were ready for home. Another 40 minutes we were back in Thame and walked 20 minutes back to Ollie’s place. Lew and I were so so thankful to have a nice hot shower after such a long day since it has been over 24 hours since our last one. When we got into bed it was 2am UK time and 3am French time. One good thing being up this late was the fact that I had been catching up with everyone back home as it was a much better time for them and this made the bus ride pass fast. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Bath, il have to do some googling tomorrow to work out where on earth that is! Goodnight xo