Caro really deserved a relaxing day which she could take for just herself – and I of course was very happy to accompany her to The Sanctuary. We found an offer which gave us the day at The Sanctuary, afternoon tea and a 50 minute massage treatment.

I really was looking forward to getting around to use all the facilities with Caro like the pools, the saunas, the jacuzzi/spas but I was more exhausted than I thought and ended up mainly sleeping the day away. Ha ha! At least one of us, namely Caro, got around to use most things!

Part of our day at The Sanctuary included use of the new Infrared Experience – a 30 minute session in a sauna environment surrounded by infrared units. It supposedly helps with burning calories depending on how much you sweat at the same time as helping you relax etc. Honestly it’s a bit awkward to sit on the benches, just because you can’t really relax, but the heat was very soothing and I sweated a lot!

Afternoon tea were these tiny snacks. Cute but not exactly substantial!

I hope that Caro was able to relax and enjoy herself today. It is such a decadent experience.

I’ve been wanting to go zorbing for ages now and when work kindly got me a voucher to go do so I was very excited. However I’ve been having difficulty getting a booking for a venue close to London on a day that works so in the mean time when this offer on Groupon came up with Zorb-It London I jumped at it. To be called “London” was a bit deceptive – the venue was at Guy Lodge Farm, closest rail being Crews Hill Rail (half an hour out of King’s Cross) and another half an hour walk or short taxi ride. It was a nice enough day for a walk so Laney and I did so.

When we got to the venue, perfectly on time (early even), we were told they were running late! We couldn’t understand how they could be since each run ended up taking not very long at all! I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from a zorbing run but it certainly wasn’t this:

It seemed so basic and flat. How were we going to pick up any speed in our ball? And how long exactly was this roll going to last?? After watching a few runs it was our turn.

I’ve never really thought about the logistics of getting into the zorbing ball but I certainly wasn’t expecting that we would be required to run and dive into it! I had the benefit of watching Laney go first. She didn’t have enough commitment and ended up getting stuck with her legs still sticking out – so the dude had to push her in!

Having seen her get stuck I had no choice but to really commit. I was very worried I would miss the hole!

Inside I saw that Laney had been strapped in. She had the hard task of being on top so she had to hold herself up. I could see she was exhausted from doing that as she was struggling to stay in place. Still happy though! You would think that as you are in this bubble that you could relax and just let gravity take its course but the dude kept telling us to try and stay upright. Finally we were ready and pushed to the top of the “hill”.

A push and we were off. I could see where some of the momentum came from now – the dude actually pushes you for a long time down the hill before leaving you to go. He must be really fit from all that running and pushing!

In just under a minute our zorbing experience was over! Hard to describe how it felt in the ball – of course you have the sensation of spinning around and around. I had my back going down the hill so it felt unnatural the way I was rolling. I felt like I kept bumping my head too. Honestly – not the most pleasant of experiences! Getting out was another interesting event – you had to crawl out and it was not easy in the dizzy state we were in. As I emerged the guy shouted out “and she was born again”. And yes, it did feel like I was being born again … it certainly wasn’t the most graceful of dismounts!

So, was zorbing everything I’d hoped it would be? Hmmm … not really. It seemed like a lot of effort just for less than a minute’s enjoyment! If only the hill was bigger and the run longer. I’m glad I can now tick it off my list though.

What birds spend all their time on their knees?
Birds of prey!

The £18 for a £78 a hands-on Falconry Experience with Hawks, Owls, Buzzards and Falcons at the Birds of Prey Centre was too good for Su Yin and I to refuse. However, I hadn’t counted on it being so hard to organise – we must have changed weekends at least three times and with this weekend being basically our last chance to take advantage of the offer the weather was horrible – which meant the whole thing might have been called off! It wouldn’t have been so bad except that the Birds of Prey Centre was a £17 return train journey from London (40 mins on a direct train) plus a cab fare on the other end … but anyway. It did go ahead and it was a lot of fun. (The cab ride from the station was quite amusing – we’d pre-booked at a taxi in advance but four other people hadn’t so they all hitched a ride with us!)

There were clearly quite a few people who’d purchased the groupon voucher and who turned up today, even with the poor weather. We were split into smaller groups of max 20? which was a good thing as it meant that everyone got a chance to handle the birds – and I was impressed that even with time pressing and some birds misbehaving the bird handlers were all very patient and conscious of making sure everyone got their chance in the limelight.

It was p!ssing it down when we got the Birds of Prey Centre but luckily it held off for the most part during the actual experience even if it was still gray. Before the session started we were free to wander around and check out the birds. One particular bird took exception to Su Yin. Sooooo funny!

Our group started off with the owls – we got to “handle” two owls, and by handle I mean we got to hold out our arms, have the bird fly to us and land and then take-off again. Its all very safe as you have gloves you use so that both you and the bird are protected.

After the owls it was on to the “arena” where we got to see the Harris Hawks fly. Gee they are very fast! We also all got a chance to have them fly to us.

During all these demonstrations we were also given a few facts about the birds – for example, at the centre 900 baby chicks a day are consumed! (And no, they are not alive … I asked! The chicks come frozen to the Centre. To entice the birds a “fluffy” chick is used to entice.) The bird handlers were all very good and very knowledgeable. I guess taking us tourists around were more a second function that they have with the primary function being about raising the birds.

The photos with us and the flying birds are on Su Yin’s camera! If I ever get them from her I’ll post them up here at a later date …

After the fly and return session we got introduced to a couple of more birds. These ones we were able to hold for a longer time on our arms. The bigger one (I think his name is Levi and was a type of buzzard – he was really cute) was very heavy after a while!

After coffee and cake we headed back out to the Arena for a flying / hunting display by owls, hawks and then a stork! Very exhilarating to see the birds in action – they have awesome vision and the timing to grab prey out of the air was pretty amazing.

Finally, we got to hang around with these guys! Huge birds – fairly harmless to the extent you could put your hand into their mouth and come out none worse for wear!

A wonderful and unique experience. Allow three hours (not including travel to and from.)

Jenny and I were on the way to dinner and walked through Victoria Tower Gardens and I was surprised to find that the sculptures I’d seen in Rome a few months ago had followed me back to London! Ha ha!

The sculptures are by Mexican artist Rivelino and entitled Nuestros Silencios (Our Silences)

This detail on this particular sculpture threw me for a bit of a loop – make of it what you will!

Boo my family’s last day in London. It has been so nice to have them here and to show them my part of the world. Very sad to say goodbye to them at the airport that’s for sure!

St Paul’s Cathedral is the highest point in the City of London. I so enjoyed the tour I took of St Paul’s Cathedral that I thought that the family would enjoy it too. They certainly did that – mainly because it insulated us to some extent from the crowds that were in the Cathedral. It was really super busy for some reason.

After the tour it was time to climb the Cathedral! This certainly proved to be quite entertaining but after climbing the Eiffel Tower this was a walk in the park for the family. Heh heh.

No visit to London is complete without hopping on to the London Eye to get a bird’s eye view of the city. On the negative the day was gray, but on a positive it wasn’t raining and our pod wasn’t too crowded.

Today was a fairly relaxed day for the family compared with the hectic schedule of the last couple of weeks. After the London Eye it was off to meet Nate, Caro and Gaspar for lunch at Princess Garden. It was good for my family to finally meet the Nate, Caro and Gaspar since I talk about them all the time! and I appreciated Nate coming all the way over from the other side of the town in his lunch hour to visit with us. As usual we ate way too much … but hey – its really good dim sum …

After shopping it was off to Covent Garden for a wander and to work off some dinner with some … shoe shopping! With the Aussie dollar being pretty good against the pound in recent times shoes were a bargain and my family walked away with a pair or two …