Friday 26th March

Today we would be leaving London to go to Bruges as the first stop on our trip to Belgium and France. We organised to have breakfast at the B and B at 8am. After that, Suzy caught the bus to visit Nicky and Amelia. She got back earlier than expected because John hadn't gone to work today because he was sick and so Nicky was able to cope OK without Suzy's help as well.

Originally we had planned to catch an underground train to St Pancras railway station for the EuroStar train to Brussels. However, John booked a hire car to pick us up instead to make it easier with all our luggage. The car arrived on time at 11am and we reached St Pancras before 11:30am.

St Pancras is an international railway station because the trains go to Europe. It looks like there was probably an original brick building. The building we entered was a huge modern steel structure adjacent to the brick building with dozens of shops and cafes. We had an early lunch before going through security and customs. The train left on time at about 1pm.

The EuroStar train was modern and long - we were in coach 1 of 18 coaches. It seems popular because almost every seat was taken in our carriage. I'm not sure how fast we were going but it was much faster than the cars on the motorway next to the railway line and it probably only took about half an hour to reach the channel tunnel.

When we come out of the tunnel on the French side, we were startled by bright sunshine. They had been forecasting rain but we mainly had blue sky. After adjusting our watches forward by an hour for the different time zone, we arrived in Brussels at about 4pm. This was yet another modern, clean, efficient terminal.

On the lower level, we asked at the information desk which train we should catch to get to Bruges. It was somewhat confusing because most of the signs were in every language apart from English and they often only showed the final destination for the train rather than listing intermediate stations such as Bruges.

When we boarded the train for Bruges soon after 4:30pm, we found it was a double decker train like a Sydney suburban train - but more modern and comfortable. Our bags were too heavy to cart up and down the stairs and so we left them near the doors and kept an eye on them from our seats.

The train reached Bruges at about 5:30pm. The taxi got us to our hotel by 6pm. The lady we spoke to at the reception desk was exceptionally helpful. She gave us a map of the town and explained about the tourist walks and the various sites to see. She told us the official language in Belgium is Flemish. She spoke fluent English and I later heard her talking to people in German, French and probably other languages. When I complemented her on her range of languages, she said she was embarrassed that she doesn't also speak Spanish.

As always Suzy has found a great place to stay. The hotel is on a street that runs along one of the canals. It consists of three converted three-storey houses. Our room is in an attic area at the top of the centre building. There are heavy timber beams above the bed and in the bathroom and so you need to be careful not to hit your head.

After settling in, we set off to explore the town. We looked at one of the restaurants that the hotel had recommended but decided that it was much too expensive for us. There were plenty of other restaurants. We found another one a little further on that turned out to be great - good food, good service, good atmosphere. In the end we rushed our decision about which restaurant to choose because it had started to rain.

By the time we had finished dinner, it had stopped raining and so we strolled through some more streets before returning to our hotel.

The hotel has WiFi internet access. Most of the time the WiFi reception is poor or non-existent in the rooms and so we needed to go down to the hotel foyer to get a good connection for our phones and laptop.

Thursday 25th March

After breakfast, we waited to make contact with Philip and Sarah via Skype. After a few coordinating SMS messages, we got through at about 9:20am. Just as we hoped, we could see and hear them. They could hear us via Jane's telephone call.

The baby was still asleep and we asked them to pick him up and hold him in front of the webcam for us. It was a great moment for all four grandparents to see the new arrival. It would have been even better to have been there in person but that will happen at a future date.

He is a very cute baby. What's more he seems to be remarkably placid because he slept through the entire one hour conversation as he was passed from Philip to Sarah and back. We used the snapshot button in Skype to get some still photos during the conversation.

They told us that they still haven't decided on a name but they have got it down to two final options and hope to decide within 24 hours.

After the Skype conversation, we loaded our luggage into Jane and Alan's car and set off for more sightseeing. They drove us along the seashore at Bognor Regis and then on to Bosham. By the time we stopped there, the showers had become quite heavy. We saw the road that is covered at high tide - but it was low tide when we were there. Alan and I walked along the water's edge while the girls went to a craft shop. Then we strolled through the town and visited the beautiful old stone church.

The next stop was Chichester. Jane found a good car park close to the town and we braved the rain to find our way through the shopping area to Chichester Cathedral - out of the rain.

After admiring the cathedral, we had lunch in the cathedral's cafe. Naturally the girls wanted to visit a few shops afterwards. Alan had the right idea - he relaxed for a little longer in the cafe and then went to Marks and Spencer where he found a comfortable chair to read the paper to fill in the time. I followed the girls and waited outside each shop and took in the atmosphere of this charming (though damp) village.

Jane and Alan dropped us at Chichester railway station for our return trip to London. We were very grateful to Jane and Alan for their hospitality. They had gone out of their way to show us the highlights of the area and to make us feel welcome. We look forward to seeing them again when they come to Sydney.

The train left soon after 3pm and we reached London Victoria station by 4:45pm. Along the way, our four-carriage train was linked up with another four carriages at Horsham. We caught the underground trains back to Golders Green.

We left the B and B soon afterwards to catch the bus from Golders Green to visit Nicky and John. Apparently Amelia had been very contented all day. Nicky cooked a lamb roast for our dinner. I was feeling so tired that I was nodding off on their lounge and so we didn't stay long. John drove us back to the B and B. I was asleep within seconds of getting into bed.

Wednesday 24th March

Today we would be catching the train to Sussex to stay the night with Sarah's parents, Jane and Alan. The plan was to catch a train from Golders Green at 10am and for Suzy to go to Nicky's place for about hour before we left. Suzy would look after Amelia for the hour so that Nicky could do other things such as take a shower in peace.

We had breakfast again at Costas in Golders Green. Then Suzy caught the bus to Nicky's place and I went back to the B and B. I took our luggage down to the Golders Green railway station at 10am where Suzy was waiting for me. Our plan was to catch the train from London Victoria station just after 11am. This involved catching the underground from Golders Green on the Northern Line and changing at Euston for the Victoria Line. It is just as well that we allowed extra time because the first train that arrived at Euston was so full that we couldn't get on.

Suzy bought open return tickets at London Victoria which meant that we could do the return trip tomorrow without having to buy another ticket. The train was very impressive - modern, clean and comfortable. It wasn't crowded and so we able to get a good seat and spread out with our bags and heavy coats, etc. The train left on time and arrived on time.

The most fascinating part of the trip was when they split the train in two. The line divided at Horsham and the front four carriages went to Portsmouth and the rear four carriages went to Bognor Regis. You need to make sure that you get on the correct carriage depending on which line you want.

Jane and Alan had arranged to meet us at Arundel railway station which is a few stops before Bognor Regis (the closest station to their place). We loaded our bags into the boot of their car and set off to see the sights of Arundel, a quaint little town between the Duke of Norfolk's castle at the top of the hill and the Arun River at the bottom.

We parked near the ancient Catholic Cathedral and walked up to the cricket ground which is just outside the castle walls. The sign welcoming us to the cricket ground advised that the ground is open every day of the year except one day - 24th March - today. Good grief! What luck! We ignored the sign and walked in and looked at the ground and the club house (from the outside).

A lady in the office came out and asked if she could help. I explained that we were just having a look around. I then went on to explain that we were two sets of grandparents and our respective son and daughter had just delivered us with a grandson back in Sydney. I then explained that our daughter had produced a grand-daughter in London. By this time she was happy to make her escape back to her computer and she left me alone to take a few photos.

Next we went back to look inside the Catholic Cathedral. We had lunch at a nice little tea house in the village before continuing to explore the town. One of the first shops we came to was called "The Walking Stick Shop". It sold every conceivable kind of walking stick - hundreds of them. We might need to keep it in mind for the future.

Jane drove us to a pub called the Black Rabbit on the river just outside town and then drove us to their house which was about 20 minutes away.

Their house is in a housing estate close to the sea near a town called Felpham. The house is only two or three years old and still looks modern and new. It has four bedrooms upstairs - plenty of space for when their grandchildren visit them - although Jane and Alan miss the large rooms they had in their previous house in Surry. Downstairs there is a kitchen, dining room, lounge room, study, laundry and single garage - which they use for storage rather than for their car.

They then took us for a walk along a path on the water's edge to the town of Felpham. We say the house that the poet William Blake lived in, pubs, shops and their church. Next we saw their holiday house. Jane had brought her bicycle with her and she rode it back to their house so she could get dinner ready for our return. Just as were getting close to their house, light rain started to fall. This didn't worry us because we had brought umbrellas with us and we were well rugged up in our coats, gloves, beanies, etc.

Jane served us a very nice dinner followed by dessert. One of the dessert choices was profiteroles - one of my favourites.

The girls had organised with Philip and Sarah that we'd talk to them tomorrow morning via Skype. I hadn't been able to get an internet connection on my laptop and so we showed Jane how to install Skype on her PC. She had speakers on her PC but no microphone or webcam. We didn't think this would be a problem because Philip and Sarah didn't need to see us - we wanted to see the new baby using Philip's webcam. Also Jane's telephone account allowed for free international calls up to one hour and so this would overcome the problem of not having a microphone.

Tuesday 23rd March

Our B and B host wasn't able to do breakfast this morning and so we went down to Costas in Golders Green instead.

We reached Nicky's place at about 10am - with two backpacks full of dirty clothes to be washed in her washer/dryer. Amelia had had a good night and was quietly enjoying a feed when we arrived.

At lunch time, we took Amelia for a walk in her pram down to Hampstead shopping centre. The girls went to baby shops while I went to find somewhere to change Turkish Lira into UK pounds. We then had lunch at Nicky's favourite coffee shop.

While we were there, Amelia woke up and started to cry and so I took her for a walk in her pram to try to get her to sleep and failed completely. Nicky then gave her another feed.

After leaving the coffee shop, Nicky took Amelia home while Suzy and I went to the Tesco supermarket to get something for dinner. Amelia was unsettled most of the afternoon and didn't sleep well until late afternoon. She woke after we had finished dinner and before John got home.

Monday 22nd March

At breakfast, we got chatting to some of the hotel staff including the owner. I'm not certain but it looks like a family business. Judging by their excellent service, it does seem that way. They seem to take a great deal of pride in their establishment and there is every reason why they should be proud. As usual, Suzy found them on Trip Advisor. They had very good reviews and we would be very happy to give them a good review too.

The owner said that the building used to be his home before they decided to turn it into a hotel about three and a half years ago. It took about twelve months to do the refurbishment and the fit-out before the hotel opened.

Suzy had decided to go back to the Grand Bazaar this morning to buy a leather jacket for Steph just like the one she'd bought for herself on Friday. We had to get the timing right because we had to leave the hotel at 10:30am to get to the airport for our flight back to London. Furthermore, breakfast didn't start until 8am and the bazaar didn't open until 9am.

We got to breakfast at 8am and got to the bazaar at about 9:10am - only to find that the shop where she bought her coat wasn't open yet. Someone told us that the owner lives a long way away and doesn't usually get in until between 9:30 and 10. We were worried that we would have to leave the bazaar before he opened and so we went to several other leather shops but we couldn't find anything quite as nice as the one she bought on Friday.

Fortunately, I spotted our man opening up at about 9:40am. He had just what we wanted and he agreed to sell it to us at the same low price.

We made it back to the hotel just in time to meet the mini-van taking us to the airport. Our flight was booked with EasyJet that leaves from a different airport from the one at which we had arrived using British Air. It is a most impressive new terminal building. After going through security and check-in, we had a leisurely lunch at a spacious Gloria Jeans cafe near the departure gates.

EasyJet doesn't allocate seating and so it was a shambles getting on board and finding a seat. After that was sorted out, it turned out to be a good flight with great service.

They land at Luton which doesn't compare well with many airports - especially the one near Istanbul that we left from. The hire car driver was there waiting for us in the arrivals area and we reached our B and B in only about 30 minutes. We had expected the journey to take well over an hour.

Unfortunately there was nobody home and we had to wait outside the front door for about 40 minutes before they got home to let us in. They were very apologetic.

Unlike sunny Istanbul, London was colder and wet.

On the way to Nicky and John's place, we bought some Chinese takeaway. By the time we reached their place at about 7pm, I was starving because it would have been 9pm in Istanbul - a long time since lunch.

We had almost finished dinner by the time John got home. He said that he'd had a hard day. Previously he had told us that he has a high-pressure job and this was proven today because his boss had a nervous breakdown today and was taken to hospital.

Nicky told us that Amelia had been quite contented all day. She thinks that Amelia is settling into a routine.

Sunday 21st March

After the long day yesterday, we slept in until about 8am. Once again it was a bright sunny day. Although it was cool (about 9C), we decided to have breakfast in the open air area of the rooftop eating area at the hotel.

This morning we visited the Topkapi Palace where the sultans used to live until a few hundred years ago before they moved to newer palaces on the other side of the river. It consists of several buildings on a headland near the entrance to the Bosporus - a beautiful location especially on such a bright sunny day.

We had planned to go on a cruise of the Bosporous this afternoon. Our guide had told us to meet him at 1pm near the entrance to the Hagia Sophia and so we had lunch in an open-air cafe at about 12 noon nearby. By the time we left on the tour, he had assembled enough people to fill the medium sized bus that drove us down to the wharf.

Their business model is fascinating. They operate without an office and just approach people who are lining up to go into the Hagia Sophia to tell them about the tour. There are three guides each of whom speak several languages. On the boat, they divided us into four groups - English speaking on the main deck, Spanish speaking on the front deck, Russian speaking also on the main deck and another nationality downstairs.

It was a very informative journey and gave us an excellent view of the city on both sides. It is easy to see why people strongly recommend such a cruise. Istanbul is such a delightful city and the cruise shows it off nicely.

We passed under the First Bosporus Bridge which is a cable-stayed bridge that has a span of about 1km and then turned around just before the Second Bosporus Bridge.

We stopped for about an hour on the eastern side. The western side is part of Europe and the eastern side is classified as part of Asia. We went for a walk and found a delightful cafe on the water's edge for a cup of coffee.

The cruise returned us to the Istanbul wharf at about 4:30pm. Then we walked to the spice markets where Suzy bought a selection of sweets including Turkish Delight. The Turkish Delight here was much more varied and tasty that we get back home.

When we walked back to the hotel, we found they had successfully moved us to the new room we would use on our last night there.

For the evening we had booked to go to a performance known at the Swirling Dervish. Some people say this is a must-see event to show you Turkish culture. The performance lasts for about an hour. During the first half you listen to a small band singing a monotonous chant with no variety. For the second half, a group of men perform twirling in circles in white flowing skirts over and over again.

To say that it was boring would be a giant understatement. It might have been bearable if there was some variation but it was only two items repeated over and over again. Just when you thought that it must be over, they did the same thing again and then they did it again and again and again. Five minutes might have been bearable but an hour was torture. Most people clapped politely at the end but a lot of people didn't bother. It is supposed to be a spiritual experience but this would put most people off religion forever. And to think we payed money to watch it!

After the concert, we caught the tram back up the hill and found the restaurant that was described in Trip Advisor as the best restaurant in Istanbul. It was easy to see why because it was an excellent meal with great service.

Saturday 20th March

Today was going to be a big day for a couple of reasons. Firstly because we were going to the Gallipoli Peninsula and secondly because it was going to be a long day - starting with a 6am pickup and returning close to midnight.

We set the alarm early but it wasn't early enough because the shuttle bus arrived at 5:45am. He just had to wait until we were dressed and ready to go at 6am. It was only a mini-van. The driver asked us if we were going to the bus depot to which we replied that we didn't know because all we knew was that were on a tour of Gallipoli. He picked up a New Zealand couple from another hotel and then drove us to a huge bus depot near the new commercial centre of Istanbul on the other side of the river.

At the depot, we were given tickets and told that the bus would leave at 7:10am. Almost nobody spoke any English and so we were very grateful that the New Zealand couple were with us because they had been to the travel agency yesterday to find out about the tour. Apparently we would take a public bus to a town called Eceabat where we would have lunch and join up with some other people who would be doing the tour with us.

Although there were hundreds of buses at the depot, there was no indication of which bus to board and when. Soon after 7am, a bus pulled up near where we were waiting and the New Zealand couple said we should get on board. I tried asking the driver if we were going to the right place. He didn't understand me and just waved me away suggesting that I should just get on the bus and sit down. So there we were - we hoped we were going to Eceabat but for all we knew we could have been going to Ankara or Moscow.

Luckily there was a Turkish passenger in a nearby seat who spoke some English. He was able to reassure us that we were going in the right direction. If it hadn't been for him and the New Zealand couple, we might have just got off the bus and headed back to our hotel.

I'd heard that the roads in Turkey were poor. This didn't prove to be the case because most of the trip was on freeways or divided highways with at least two lanes in both directions. It wasn't until the last 100km that we got on an undivided country road.

The bus was very impressive. Not only was it was a large, modern, new, comfortable tourist bus but it also had three staff on board - a driver, a changeover driver and a waiter. Yes, a waiter! The waiter walked up and down the bus supplying us with free water, juice, snacks and coffee. I've never seen a waiter on a bus before.

When he served us coffee, he filled a cardboard cup with hot water and gave it to us with a small packet of "3-in-1" Nescafe coffee that contained coffee, sugar and powdered milk. I don't normally have milk in my coffee but I thought I'd give it a go. I'd just finished pouring the contents into the hot water when - have you guessed what is going to happen next? - we hit a very bumpy stretch of road and half the coffee spilled all over my trouser leg. When I drank the remainder, it tasted awful and I made a mental note not to have the coffee on the return trip.

After a couple of hours we stopped at a large petrol station for a half hour break. When we set off again, the second driver took the wheel.

We reached Eceabat at about 12:45pm and met three women who would be doing the tour with us. They gave us a nice lunch it a restaurant next to the sea.

Our guide was a Turkish man wearing a pink jumper. The pink jumper made it easy to find him in the crowds during the afternoon. He was driving a mini-van that was big enough to take about 8 people.

The first stop was at Kabatepe Museum on the western side of the peninsula. This contained an interesting selection of memorabilia such as weapons and uniforms.

Next he drove us to Brighton Beach where the Anzac troops were supposed to have landed. Apparently the landing craft were blown further north in the pre-dawn darkness by the winds and tides and landed at Anzac Cove. There they faced steep cliffs instead of the flat terrain at Brighton Beach. He took us to a beach cemetery and then to Anzac Cove.

On the next beach to the north of Anzac Cove, we saw the area that they now use for the memorial services on Anzac Day. Because Anzac Day is only about a month away, they were busy setting up seating and platforms for the event.

It was an incredible feeling to be there. I sent Philip an SMS message to tell him where I was standing and he sent back a reply SMS telling me news that was even more special - namely, that Sarah had gone into labour.

Next we drove up the hill to the Lone Pine Australian Memorial. Here there are hundreds of graves, a large monument and a lone pine. Apparently, one of the soldiers sent his mother a pine cone as a memento of her other son who had been killed. She planted the cone in her yard and years later she sent back a cone from the resultant tree to Gallipoli where it was planted and grew into this tree at the Lone Pine memorial. It is now surrounded by a garden of poppies.

In the distance, we could see the Turkish memorial and dozens of large tourist buses. Although we were the only people at the Lone Pine Memorial (except for workers erecting platforms and seating for Anzac Day), there were many hundreds of people at the Turkish memorial. Our guide told us that the Turks have a national celebration each year on the 18th March to commemorate the day they repelled the British and French from the Dandanelles in 1915.

He said that a million Turks visit the Gallipoli site every year. It is compulsory for every primary school student to come here at some stage.

On the way to the Turkish memorial we stopped to see the Anzac and Turkish trenches. They were only about 8m apart from each other at this point. Apparently they used to throw food and other articles to each other in between battles.

Close to the Turkish memorial, there is a huge statue of a Turkish soldier carrying an injured English officer back to the Anzac trenches to receive medical assistance.

From the top of the hill near the Turkish memorial, you can see the Mediterranean Sea on one side and the Dardanelles on the other side. This is the spot that Churchill wanted to capture but we didn't succeed.

The tour finished by 5:30pm and we started our long journey back to Istanbul. This time we went in the mini-van rather than in the public bus and so the journey was faster. They gave us a fresh driver for this trip. We were back at our hotel at about 11pm.

This was a day that I will never forget.

Friday 19th March

We managed to sleep in until 8am. In fact, we might have slept longer if Suzy hadn't set her alarm. Breakfast at the hotel is served between 8am and 10am.

The hotel is in an ideal location in the ancient part of Istanbul. It is close to most of the tourist attractions such as the Blue Mosque and the old palace. The streets in this area are all quaint narrow cobblestone streets lined with terraces that are generally on two or three stories. Our hotel has four stories with a small restaurant on top where they serve breakfast.

The eating area has a nice view out to sea over the top of the nearby houses. You have a choice of sitting inside behind the glass doors or outside on the balcony. We decided to sit inside because it was only about 7C with a cool breeze blowing. Once again it was a nice sunny day. Apart from fruit, meats, salad, etc, they served an interesting selection of breads and jams including a cherry jam and a rose jam (made from yellow rose). It was delicious.

After breakfast we packed our bags and left them in the room because we were going to move to a different room for tonight. Although we are staying here for four nights, they were only able to fit us in if we had three different rooms over the four nights.

We decided to go first to the Blue Mosque which is only about 200m from our hotel. The mosque is in the Sultanahmet area at the top of the hill just north of the hotel. We made our way along several cobblestone streets and past street markets to the entrance to the mosque's courtyard.

As you would expect, there are tall minarets at the corners of the building. We joined the crowds lining up to enter the building. As we got near to the entrance, there was an announcement that the entrance was closing at 11am - just a few minutes away. It was a rush to get our shoes off and get inside before they closed the doors. Most people in the long queue behind us missed out.

The interior is very impressive - partly because of the ornate decorations and partly because of its size. There were so many people inside that it was sometimes hard to get a view of the key areas.

The next destination was the Hagia Sophia which is another mosque about 150m away. Suzy had been keen to do a sightseeing cruise on the Bosporus on Sunday - we had booked to go to Gallipoli tomorrow - and as we lined up to enter Hagia Sophia we were approached by a man promoting such a cruise. He said all we had to do was meet him at the same place at 1pm on Sunday.

Hagia Sophia was a Christian church for over 900 years until about 500 years ago when it became a Muslim mosque. Nowadays it is a museum. You can see signs of its Christian architecture as well as the Muslim architecture and so it looks somewhat disjointed and inconsistent. It is still a very impressive building.

Naturally there was no heating in these old buildings and the stone floors made it even colder. When we got outside, it was still cold and so we decided to go back to our hotel to get some warmer clothes.

We had lunch in an open-air cafe near our hotel before heading off to find the Grand Bazaar. Instead of going via Sultanahmet Square, we went along side streets to the south-west. This route took us past residential areas, cafes, educational institutions and it gave us a view of the sea from certain vantage points.

The Grand Bazaar is a busy market inside a large building with numerous walkways lined with shops. You could spend days there and still not see it all.

Everywhere you go, there are pushy salesmen. Their most common greeting is "Hello, hello, please" as they try to encourage you to come into their shops. Often they will be standing in the middle of the walkway and try to strike up a conversation with you. They get very friendly and it is hard to shake them off.

It seems that almost everyone in Istanbul has a cousin in Australia. Sometimes they offer to sell you something and then ship it to their cousin in Sydney who will deliver it to you. They recognised me as an Australian partly because of the tag on my backpack and partly because of my accent. Eventually Suzy told me to stop talking so that they would have less chance of picking us as Australians.

Suzy was keen to buy herself a leather jacket and so we were primarily looking for leather shops. After visiting several shops, she eventually found just what she was after. At this shop, she tried a few different jackets and was intitally unsure whether to buy. The more she hesitated, the more he cut the price. In the end, he agreed to sell it to us for only 200 New Lira. He said he was being so generous because we were his first customer of the day - even though it was now mid-afternoon.

On the way back from the Grand Bazaar, Suzy bought some scarves at a shop in Sultanahmet Square. While chatting to the owner, he told us that Turkey had celebrated their version of Anzac Day only a matter of days ago. For them it is an important national day signifying the birth of modern Turkey and celebrating their hero, Ataturk.

For dinner, we had decided to go to one of the top restaurants recommended by Trip Advisor. We eventually found it after getting lost. They had tables outside but we decided to have a table inside out of the cold.

One of the surprising things about restaurants and cafes in Istanbul is the stray cats. They are allowed to roam freely through the restaurant waiting for food from the customers. They even jump up on your lap. I'm sure they would jump on the table and take food off your plate if you let them. We asked our waiter to chase a particularly persistent cat away but we was too scared. He had to call another waiter to rid us of the cat.

Back at the hotel, we packed our backpacks ready for an early start tomorrow for our trip to Gallipoli.

Thursday 18th March

We are due to fly out of London this afternoon for a long weekend in Istanbul (Turkey) and John was due to go back to work. We were going to spend a few hours with Nicky before we left for the airport. This would be the big test for Nicky - just her and the baby with nobody else home to help. It was going to be an even bigger challenge because John had a dinner function after work that he had to attend. Apparently he had been invited to an Australian-British friendship event with Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

We had our bags packed before breakfast at the B and B - another great breakfast to start the day. This morning I met Jackie's husband, Jalal - our co-host at the B and B.

They told us that the borough they live in is called Barnet whereas Hampstead (where Nicky and John live) is in the borough of Camden. She said the real estate values here are much lower than in Hampstead. However, Barnet is a Conservative electorate whereas Camden is Labour electorate (she used the term "socialist").

When Jalal saw us leaving with all our bags to catch the bus to Nicky and John's place, he kindly offered to drive us there instead. He has a nice old Mercedes with left-hand drive.

Nicky was feeding Amelia when we arrived. Apparently she had quite a good night last night.

We had booked a hire car yesterday again to pick us up from Nicky's place to take us to Heathrow terminal 5. The car arrived on time and we arrived at the airport at about 1:45pm - plenty of time for our 4:20pm flight. Terminal 5 is new and it shows because it is well laid out, clean, bright and efficient. For example, the security area is more spacious and systematic than most other airports where the security checks of carry-on bags are usually crammed into existing areas.

The plane had to wait on the tarmac and ending up taking off about half an hour late. Although the plane was a 767, it looked old - it must be close to a refurbishment or retirement. I think I've been spoiled by the business class flight to London on Swiss Air. Nonetheless we were grateful that we had booked for today because it meant that we avoided the BA strike.

I'd seen the film they were showing (Blind Side) on one of other flights on the way to London. On that trip I didn't get to see the end of the film because that turned it off when were coming into land. The same thing happened today. Maybe I'll never find out how it ended.

They managed to make up time on route. When we landed, the driver that the hotel had organised was waiting for us. Luckily the hotel reception is manned 24 hours per day because it was close to midnight Istanbul time before we got there.

Wednesday 17th March

I didn't have a good night's sleep because I woke before 3am and couldn't get back to sleep again. Suzy said she'd had the same problem for the first few nights after she had arrived in London but she was now into a good routine of getting a good sleep each night.

We'd arranged for Jackie, our host at the B and B, to get breakfast for us this morning. There is a spacious sitting room and kitchen on the same level as our room. It is a nice sunny spot on a sunny day like today overlooking their back yard. Jackie did a great job - plunger coffee, boiled eggs, croissants, rolls, home-made jam, etc. After breakfast, we caught the bus from Golders Green to Nicky and John's place.

Sarah's mother, Jane, was in London overnight and Suzy had made a tentative arrangement with her to meet up with us today so she could meet Nicky, John and Amelia. Unfortunately the timing didn't work out in the end.

Amelia had a much better night last night and she continued to be quite contented for the remainder of the day.

For lunch, we decided to go back to the Bull and Bush. This time, it worked well because Amelia slept quietly throughout our meal. This was the first time that Nicky and John had been able to get out for a meal since Amelia was born.

John had bought so much takeaway last night that there was enough left over for us to have for dinner tonight.

Tuesday 16th March

When I landed at Heathrow, I was relieved to see my bag on the baggage carousel.  It had successful moved from plane to plane on the three legs of the trip.

Nicky had organised for a hire car to pick me up from the airport. This worked well. The peak hour traffic was quite light and it only took about an hour to reach the B and B. Suzy was waiting for me there. After I had a shower, shave and changed into clean clothes, I felt much better.

The B and B seems very nice. It is a three storey brick house on a typical narrow suburban block. The owners live on the ground floor and we are on the second floor. It looks as though they have recently refurbished the guest areas because everything looks clean and new. They seem to do a good job of looking after their guests - right down to the new fluffy white towels they provide in the bathroom.

However the fluffy white towels gave me a surprise because when I was drying myself after my shower, I ended up with lots of white fluff caught in my stubbly beard. When I saw myself in the mirror (without my glasses), I was quite startled. I wondered what on earth had happened to my face. It took me a few minutes to get rid of the fluff from my face.

Next, we headed off for Nicky and John's place which is only about 2km away. We walked down to the centre of Golders Green where I bought an Oyster card at the railway station and then we caught a bus to Hampstead. The bus stop is almost right outside their place. They live in a unit in a refurbished English pub called Jack Straws Castle next to Hampstead Heath (a huge park). Apparently it is the highest point in the London area.

Suzy had told me that Amelia had a bad day yesterday and that she was still screaming when Suzy left that evening. This morning, Nicky and John looked tired and hassled because of lack of sleep overnight. Amelia was just stirring from a sleep when we arrived and so I was able to walk into the bedroom and pick her up for the first time.

Although she had been a strain for her parents, to me she looked like an absolute angel. She is very cute with delicate fine features. It is easy to forget just how tiny a newborn baby is. She has quite a good coverage of fine dark hair and a very fair complexion.

She seemed quite contented especially after Nicky gave her a feed. We all took turns to nurse her before she went down for another sleep. This routine continued all day. Everyone was commenting on how much better she was today. I was quite happy to claim all the credit but there was also a theory that Nicky was producing more milk today resulting in Amelia getting a better feed.

At 1pm, a nurse arrived to visit Nicky. She spent more than hour with Nicky and John giving them advice about caring for Amelia and informing them about the services offered by the various authorities. They seem to have a good support system here. Apparently a mid-wife had made several visits to see Nicky and the baby after the birth and now today's nurse had taken over the support role.

After lunch Nicky, Suzy and I took Amelia for a walk in her pram to the centre of Hampstead which is less than 1km away. John didn't come with us because he had appointment to go to the registry office to officially register Amelia's birth.

Our first stop was at the local O2 shop. O2 is telecommunications carrier - just like Optus or Vodafone. I wanted to get a UK SIM for my iPhone so that I could minimise my mobile phone costs while here on holidays. Suzy had come to this shop last week for the same reason but they couldn't get the UK SIM to work in her phone. We got the salesman to test it with my phone and there were no problems at all.

My UK mobile phone number is 07 547 792 483 and so I someone wants to ring me from Australia, the phone number is +44 7 547 792 483.

Nicky took us to a quaint cafe in a lane that serves excellent coffee. After looking at some of the shops, we tried my HandyCard at the Barclays ATM and it worked! I'd remembered the correct PIN number and the card had been successfully reset over night.

For dinner, we decided to all go to the Bull and Bush pub which is about 500m down the road. This is the genuine famous original Bull and Bush. However, Amelia wasn't as impressed as me and started to cry and so we decided to give up on the Bull and Bush. Instead we went back to Nicky and John's place and got take-away.

Suzy and I didn't stay long after dinner. We caught the bus back to our B and B for an early night. For me it had been a momentous day - seeing my first grandchild for the first time.

Monday 15th March

My plane was due to leave at 4:30pm. I caught a taxi to the airport after lunch and got to the airport at about 1:45pm.

On the first leg, I was flying economy class which had a 20kg limit for the checked baggage. My bag weighed 22kg and the person behind the check-in counter didn't seem to mind but she asked about my carry-on bag and wanted to weigh it. Because it weighed about 11.5kg, she said I would need to remove the laptop on board the plane and stow it separately. It was the first time anyone had wanted to weigh my carry-on bag.

After checking in, I went to Travelex to put some Euros on the Travelex Cash Passport card but I couldn't remember the correct PIN number on my HandyCard. So after three attempts, it locked me out. I used my credit card instead. After suffering at the hands of a pickpocket in Greece last year, I was being very careful about protecting my credit cards on this trip. I couldn't believe that I'd managed to make a mess of my HandyCard before I had even left Sydney. I was afraid that I might not be able to use the card during the holiday.

After going through customs, I rang Westpac who told me not to worry because the card is automatically reset after 24 hours and so if I was able to remember the PIN number when I get to London, I would able to use it then.

The first leg of my trip was from Sydney to Bangkok with Thai Airways in economy class. The plane left on time and arrived in Bangkok a little early. Fortunately, the plane was less than half full and so it was easy to spread out. The service was very good. I was amazed when they offered each of us a glass of cognac after dinner. I've had this before in business class but I never dreamt that I'd see it in economy class.

At Bangkok, I had to swap to a different plane because I was flying business class for the next leg from Bangkok to Zurich. Although there was only about 90 minutes between the Thai flight landing and the Swiss Air flight leaving, I got to the flight in plenty of time. For some reason, they don't seem to have any signs in the transit area telling you which departure gate to go to. So you need to enquire at the enquiry desk and then make the long walk to the correct gate through the vast modern terminal.

The Swiss business class flight was very good. The service was excellent - as you might expect in business class. I managed to get a good sleep of about 8 hours. I had the aisle seat and so the man in the window seat woke me several times when he had to climb out over me. The seat folded out into a flat bed but it was on a slight slope and so I slid down to the bottom of the bed. I was pleased that I'd got a good night's sleep. This was the main reason that I'd paid extra to travel in business class on this overnight leg.

Before landing, I got chatting to the man in the seat next to me. It turned out that he had done an Engineering degree (electrical) at Sydney Uni a few years before returning to Bangkok where he now works as an investment banker. He gave me some interesting insights into the current political situation in Thailand and the demonstrations in Bangkok.

At Zurich, I needed to change to a third plane. Once again there was only about 90 minutes between the flight but it worked fine. This flight was in a smaller Swiss Air plane and the seating looked more like economy class than business class. This didn't matter because it was only a short flight.

In that time they did manage to serve us breakfast. It was the second breakfast that I'd had because they had served us breakfast on the previous plane before we landed. I was feeling quite full because I had also had three evening meals altogether on the various flights.

Our plans and schedule

The trigger for our trip to London was the impending birth of Nicky and John's first child and our first grandchild.

The official expected date for the birth was Wednesday 10th March and we made our flight bookings based on this date. The plan was that Suzy would get to London a few days before the birth to help Nicky as the big day approached and to be with her after the birth. I would arrive about a week after Suzy by which time the new baby would probably have arrived.

Nature had a slightly different plan from the doctors. The baby arrived one week early on Wednesday 3rd March and so Nicky and the baby were already home by the time Suzy got to London.

We had planned to do some travel while were away but we had decided not to book anything until the baby arrived. It was important to make sure that someone was around most of the time to help Nicky with her new baby and so one of the factors in planning our trips was what John was able to organise for paternity leave from work after the birth.

John has arranged to go back to work on Thursday this week. At one stage Suzy had thought we should go to Prague for the weekend but on advice from Nicky and John, she ended up booking for us to go to Istanbul instead. Originally it was only going to be a couple of days but then (after checking with Nicky) it was extended to three days and then four. So it meant that we would leave on Thursday and get back on Monday.

Over Easter, we had planned to go to Bruges (Belgium) and then to Northern France. Suzy had been busy using John's computer investigating the options and making bookings. During the week, she had been sending me emails detailing the bookings. We also planned to go to Sussex between the two European trips to visit Sarah's parents, Jane and Alan.

I would return to Sydney after Easter and Suzy will stay an extra week to help Nicky.