First overseas trip

After having breakfast and checking out of the hotel we then set off to central London. We walked to the train station and were surprised to find there weren't any lifts or escalators going down to the platform so we had to take our bags down the stairs.
Once we got the train we had a about a 1 hour trip in to Londons Waterloo Station however we had to change at Green Park. I was once again surprised at the distance between the platforms and the difference in levels.
Once we got to Waterloo station and found out way out of the tube station we arrived at up to the National Rail station above it we had to collect the tickets for the train trips I'd booked over the following days and then leave our cases at the Left Luggage office there until later night when we'd be returning for the next portion of our trip.

We then walked from Waterloo Station to the south bank of the Thames, past the London Eye along to Westminster Bridge, over that and on to the square near the Houses of Parliament & Westminster Abbey where wwe had some lunch.
From there we continued walking down Victoria Street to Buckingham Palace Road where we turned and haeded towards the Palace. Along the way we stopped at the Royal Mews to see some of the carriages used by the Royal family. Then it was on to the palace where we had a 3pm booking to view the staterooms which were magnificent.
After the palace tour we bought some souvenirs and exited through the palace gardens. We then wondered around to the front of the palace, down the Mall to Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall. We stopped to have dinner at a little restaurant in Whitehall and then continued down Whitehall back to Westminster Bridge and Waterloo station.

We had reservations for the 9pm train to Portsmouth which I'd been able to get for 1GBP through Megatrain. After about a 90 minute train trip we arrived in Portsmouth and caught a taxi to our accommodation at the Premier Inn Southsea.

It's now nearly 2 1/2 weeks since this trips started but we've been very busy until now.
My friend Barry & i left Perth on a Singapore Airlines A330 at 3:55pm and had a good flight to Singapore.
We had a room booked at the Ambassador Transit Hotel and had a good night sleep.

After checking out of the Ambassador Transit Hotel Barry & I found somewhere for breakfast. Our flight to London wasn't leaving until 12:45pm so we had a wonder around the terminals.
Our flight to London was on an A380. The food was good, the flight was fairly smooth ( a bit of turbulence in a couple of places). I spent most of the trip either playing games or watching movies (Night at the Museum 2, Star Trek (for the 4th time although I did skip through some bits) and the first two episodes of Firelfly.
We're delayed on arrival at Heathrow abd then it took nearly 1 1/2 hours to clear Customs. Once we got through that our next challenge was to find out way to the Jurys Inn hotel at Hatton Cross. It's within the free bus zone around Heathrow but it was quite a walk to get to the bus station. After about a 15 minute bus ride and a 5 minute walk we arrived at the hotel and another good nights sleep.