I just got back from my Rugby World Cup trip to the UK. It was one of the most awesome trips I have had <8-)

 

My brother Rob, good friend Tim and I have been planning this for a very long time.

 

Tim flew in from Dusseldorf and he and I arrived at Heathrow just before lunch on Thu 13th Sep. We got a car out to Guildford where my borther Rob and his family are in temporay accommodation. They are in the process of moving to Johannesburg. Tim and I spent the afternoon exploring the Guildford High Street. Guildford is a very old town and was the mid point stop between Portsmouth and London. There is a bunch of rich history here.

 

Rob had the day off work on Friday so the three of us took the train into London. This was my first time in the UK, so Rob and Tim did a great job showing me around. We arrived at Waterloo station and walked down to the Eye. This was a great way to get introduced to London. We then walked around to the Houses of Parliament, past Westminster Abbey, down St James to Buckingham Palace. We then walked back to Westminster and walked down Whitehall, passing Downing Street, and the Horse Guards. We stopped at the Clarence Pub for lunch and then walked on to Trafalgar Square.

 

We then caught a cab and down to the Tower of London and did a quick tour there. We met the first female Beefeater and saw the Crown Jewels. Awesome!!!!! We then took a cab to Covent Garden. We needed to get Tim a Wallabies jersey for the game the next day and there was an Australian shop there. We were successful in getting the jersey and then caught the Tube back to Waterloo. We partied at Rob and Shell's place that night with another Aussie couple - Hi Mark and Sue <8-), after watching England get spanked by South Africa.

 

We got up on Saturday and got started a bit later than we had planned. We needed to drive up to Cardiff for the game which started at 2:00. There was way more traffic than we expected and we really thought at one point we weren't going to get there for kickoff. We arrived at the Backpacker's across from Millenium Stadium where we were staying. We were expecting parking, but there wasn't any. Rob had parked the car outside the hostel, we had 20 mins to get to the stadium. We asked worst case for leaving the car where it was. Worst case was, the car would not be towed and we would get a 25 quid fine. We left the car there and headed to the stadium. We didn't get fined <8-)

 

We walked into the game just as the teams were running onto the pitch. The buzz in the stadium was electric. The singing f the national anthems was a real highlight. There were many more Aussies there than we expected and we got a great rendition of "Advance Australia Fair" going. The Welsh, famous for their singing, especially at the Rugby, did not disappoint with the singing of their anthem, "land of my Fathers". It was awesome. Thanks to Tim we had amazing seats, right on half way, 17 rows back.

 

The first half of the game was a cracker. Australia were well in control at half-time. We thought we had it won at half-time and Wales came out with a different attitude in the second half. It wasn't until a bit of magic from Latho that the game was put away and we came away victors. Attendance 71, 022.

 

Cardiff itself was alive after the game. We went to the Prince of Wales pub for many drinks afterwards. Then it was on to a great estaurant, La Fossa? for dinner after that. Gareth was a Welsh friend of Rob's who joined us for the game and afterwards and he was a great host for the evening.

 

Sunday was the Fiji Vs Canada game at 1:00. I had got up reasonably early and went for a walk to take some photos. Then the three of us went down to Cardiff Harbor for breakfast. I was expecially keen to go down there as this is where some scenes from Doctor Who and Torchwood had been shot. Great shows if you aren't already watcing them. We then went back to Cardiff itself (not far away at all) and did some shopping in a Rugby shop. We also went to Cardiff Castle. In the end we didn't have time to go in but it was great to see from the outside.

 

The Fiji vs Canada game was a great match and Canada were extremely unlucky not to win. We had great tickets to this game too. The crowd was much smaller so we were able to move right down to the front. It was a great experience. That afternoon we drove back to Guildford - the end of an amazing Rugby weekend.

 

Rob was back at work Monday, and Tim was heading back to Dusseldorf. Tim and I headed into London again. We caught the train and went to the Churchill Museum. This was great. After this Tim headed off to the airport and I wasleft to my own devices.

 

I walked back up to Trafalgar Square, from there to Picadilly and from there to Liecester Square. I continued walking down Picadilly, through Mayfair to Wellington's Arch. I then walked around Knightsbridge and stopped off at Harrod's to get a present for Di from Tiffany's <8-) I then caught the tube back to Westminster and toured the Abbey. So much history. I loved it. IT did nothing but wet my appetite for another trip back. I then caught the tube back to Waterloo station and back to Guildford.

 

One of my Rob's friends, Mike Davis, I also went to Uni with him was also now staying with Rob and Shell too. We had a good time catching up and had a great dinner that night.

 

On Tuesday I headed down to Portsmouth for the day. I was interested in seeing the Historic Docks there and I was not disappointed. The HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and Henry VIII's favourite ship the Mary Rose were all there. A harbour cruise was included too which was great. Saw a lot of Royal Navy kit and Falkland Island campaign ships. I then went up Spinnaker Tower for a brief tour before haeding back to Guildford. Rob and Mike picked me up from the station and we went to Woking to have a session in the cricket nets there with some friends of Rob's from work. We had a great time, and then went to a pub in Guildford for a while afterwards.

 

Wed was time to leave. Rob and Shell took me to Heathrow and it was back off home.

 

It really was one of the best trips I have ever had.