Days sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen.

2nd Jan: Went into town to spend the girl's Christmas money at Hamleys.  They stuffed some animals and accessorised them.  Met with Surinder, Pam, Arjun and Rohan and had a cracking time knocking about the South Bank and eating in Giraffe. Ended the night in Leicester Square for ice cream.  Great day.

The remains of 73 Cardinal Ave.

3rd Jan: Sujata's Mum's Brother and his daughter and her husband came to visit today.  I started early driving down to Kingston to visit the old place and have a look at what was in storage from the house.  I also drove past it and looked in the windows.  While it all looked very familiar, as though we'd only stepped away from it yesterday, I can't honestly say that I felt like I wanted to move back.  Driving through London was fine, and Kingston too, but the slow chug-chug through the turgid traffic was enough to remind me how "open skies" Perth feels.  Having the relatives visit was great, hearing old stories.   The food as always was outstanding.







4th Jan:  Slow day, tattied about not doing much, girls played with their cousins for the last time before our planned weekend trip to see them in their own stomping ground.  I ran a couple of errands and that was that.

5th Jan:  Having dodged the lurgy all winter in Aus, Suji has succumbed to the English strain and had a days R&R.  I met up with Hannah in the pottery cafe so that the girls could play and daub primary colours onto blanks.  Then Raya went back with Hannah to her house and Kira came to watch Gulliver's Travels with me at the local flea pit.

Days fourteen and fifteen

31st Dec: Blue blue day for me and Mum, picked up the hire car, packed our things and drove on up to Suji's Mum and Dad's house. Uneventful journey, but the Kanani's were extremely welcoming and we are all very happy to be here. I crashed out on the sofa about 10 with the kids but we all surfaced again in time to see in the new year with the sparkles on telly and the bubbles in our glasses.

1st Jan: So grey and overcast today. We did very little but planned to meet Dom and Hannah in the afternoon. They came over instead and we sat and drank tea while the four girls rolled about and Suji's Mum and Dad napped. Then in the evening we went to play games with Suji's sister Upama and husband Rupin. Kira and Raya had their cousins Nikita and Anaya to paly with and Luke and Zara, the children of Rupin's friends Gary and Mindy.

Day Thirteen

30th Dec:  A second trip to Canterbury to peruse the sales.  Ellie came up too but Amy was too poorly with a cold to make it.  Mum took the kids off to the Canterbury experience while we went around the shops.  Misty and moist, very picturesque.

Day Ten, Eleven and Twelve

27th Dec, lazy day relatively speaking, given that we've only expended about 5 calories collectively over the last week.  A few hours sale shopping for Suji in Folkestone while we took the kids to the playground on the lower Sandgate road.  Every time I go there, it surprises me what a good job they've done landscaping that road into something decent.  Secretly jealous that it wasn't like that when I was a kid.

28th Dec, A walk around Hythe in the mist and drizzle to meet up with Ellie and Amy.  Then back out to Hythe in the evening for a rather good  meal with Ange and Chris at a Nepalese restaurant called the Everest.




29th Dec, I've been walking Malty every morning (waking at a normal time for the last couple of days).  Today's been very misty, yesterday was too.  Ange and Chris came over and we watched ourselves dancing and eating on Chris' video of our leaving do in 1997.  Kira was suitably embarrassed. 

Day Eight and Nine

Christmas day ... at last!  Raya woke as we were going to bed, and was guided back to the duvet with reassurance that she was sleep walking.  The girls unpacked their stockings at around 7, and came up stairs and we all unwrapped the gifts under the tree.  We did precious little until Dom and Hannah, Emily and Erin arrived.  We slugged some champagne and walked up to the Grand for uz Christmas buffet.  Nice posh hotel.  Food was OK, the company excellent, and the booze flowed.  We wandered around the kids playground until we were all too pooped to do much else.

 Boxing Day ... blood sluggish today, all the food and drink makes me feel like treacle being poured out of the tin.  Walked the dog as the sun came up around Enbrook valley which has been nicely landscaped now. Took the whole family around there in the afternoon once Ellie and Amy arrived.

Boxing day, the sad day after christmas day, the happy day when most the people who didn't get to give in their presents all get a chance to give them in. I felt like that today. I started off by waking up in the 

morning and secretly playing with my new ipod touch and my sister "silently" playing her nintendo DSi. When my sister had got bored and had gone to wake up and torture mum and dad and my ipod had run out of 

battery we ran upstairs and watched telly for a while until my cousins Emily and Erin arrived. A few minutes later someone knocked at the door, cousin Amy! I have wanted to see her the entire holiday. She came in 

and the first thing she mentioned was, " oh, look how big you've grown!", which is what every one says. She presented me with a kit to fake wounds and i thought that was really cool. We gave her some money

and she told us all she had got that christmas was money and books. I felt sympathetic for her. the day went on and we chatted and compared our thoughts and similarities but eventually we had to part. I decided

to try one of my old tricks of simply sitting on her, but she tickled me off.  In the end I gave in and let her go. Then we finished watching what I had been watching and i played on my ipod until my Dad told me 

to come and write this diary I am writing "write" now!

Day Seven

Off to see the Swedish contingent as they swing by on their way to Dubai.  Suji's eldest sister, husband and youngest son have dropped into New Barnet to spend some time with Mum and Dad so we travelled up on the high speed link between Folkestone and St. Pancras (dumbfounded at how quick that was).  Spent a great day in the deep snow, snowballing the cousins and eating vast amounts of pani puri and getting jolly with most of that side of family, and toasting absent friends.  Raya fell fast asleep on big Cousin Samir, which may help her and Kira with the 5 am wake ups.

Day Six

We'd booked a day in France via EuroTunnel today, but the trains were delayed so we cancelled and went off to Ashford in the fog for a day at the Cinema instead.  Raya and Grannie went off to watch Megamind and Suj, Kira and I went to see the first half of the seventh instalment of Harry Potter.  Day six done and dusted.