A while ago we went zorbing on our way up to London to see the musical Wicked. Zorbing was invented in NZ and involves getting harnessed inside a large transparent ball (both of us in the same one) and being rolled down a hill. Quite an adrenaline rush!! The ride only lasted about 15 seconds but Ben laughed and I screamed the whole way. :) We forgot the camera that day but below are some (extremely dodgy) phone photos so you can see the size of the ball!
Afterwards, we had tea at Leadenhall Market in London. This is a somewhat posh shopping area consisting of a few alleys of shops and restaurants housed in an awesome, high-roofed old building. As we went on a weekday, the place seemed to be filled mainly with businessmen in dark suits having a drink after work and discussing very large sums of money! But we had a nice dinner in a second-floor restaurant that looked down over the central area of Leadenhall Market. Below are some fuzzy phone photos so you can get the general idea.
Possibly something about the above photos looked vaguely familiar to you? If so, there's a very good reason for that... Because, believe it or not, you are looking at... Diagon Alley!!! Yes, it's the filming location from the first Harry Potter movie!!
That night we saw Wicked - the backstory of The Wizard of Oz - and it was absolutely brilliant!!! So far we'd only seen plays in London, so it was certainly a very fine introduction to London musicals - especially with bargain £15 tickets! I believe it's coming to Brisbane later this year so here's your chance to see the real story! :)
A few weeks ago we went to a picnic at a lovely park not far from where we live - Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens. This was a welcome for Sharon's parents, who had just arrived from Melbourne for a 3-month visit, and a birthday celebration for her mum too. We enjoyed delicious food and welcome sunshine before setting off on a walk around the park - there was a beautiful rock garden with colourful and exotic flowers, the tranquil lake, and even wallabies!
However, best of all was the exhibition "Beyond the Dolls House". This is an entire Victorian "town" of dolls houses, believed to be the "largest and finest collection in the world". The cabinets around the edge of the room housed estates and farms etc as you would see them from the outside, while the cabinets in the centre of the room showed the houses and shops in the town as though their front walls were removed so you could see inside. There was a chemist, laundry, butcher, music room, toy room, saddle maker etc... all with little people going about their business!
Some things were even electric and would suddenly start moving - eg. the minature railway in the childrens' toyroom, the kids dangling a fake spider to scare a lady eating scones in the room below, the butcher cutting up meat, the maid dusting a chandelier... It's impossible to do it justice in words, but it was fantastic!! Such amazing detail and little touches of humour everywhere! I'm not usually into such things but this was exceptional. I spent so long looking at it that I lost the rest of the group for the rest of the afternoon! And we even met and talked to the lady who had spent 10 years making it.
After the picnic, we went to London for a farewell for Murray, who is heading off on some travels before returning to Australia. About a dozen of us went bowling - dressed in 60s clothes - and then out for dinner at a French restaurant overlooking the Thames. A thoroughly enjoyable night!
...And I even ran into Elvis!...
