Planes, Trains and Metros

My journey from Vancouver to the UK involved all modes of transportation. It started at 5:00pm Sunday with a 9 hour flight direct into London. After a bit of panicking prior, the flight turned out to be a complete non-event. I occupied my time by watching 3 movies, drinking gin and tonics (first time drinking on a plane!), and chatting with the nice girl next to me. Once I arrived in Heathrow I followed my seatmate to customs and the customs officer had a bit of trouble figuring out how to enter my 3 month volunteering stint into the system, but he eventually got it sorted. After grabbing my bag I had to go on and figure out the next leg of my journey, which was heading up to Newcastle to visit my friend Helen. Two tube rides later I was at Kingscross train station where I hoped on a train 3 and a half hour long train ride to Newcastle. It was really lovely way to see the countryside. It looked exactly like you expect England to look like with endless green pastures, leafy trees, yellow fields of canola, and lambs every where you look! I wish I had taken some pictures but I wasn't in a window seat and didn't want to lean across the eccentric Scottish woman next to me (who was drinking beer on the train, which is apparently legal!). From central station in Newcastle I got on the metro to Tynemouth where Helen works at an aquarium. I didn't know where said aquarium was so I got in a cab and it turned out to be only a few minutes away. The woman at the aquarium front desk was kind enough to relieve me of my luggage when I mentioned I was Helen's friend and sent me through to find her. I wandered through until I heard a familiar voice narrating the 5 o'clock harbour seal show and I popped up just in time to get soaked by Marvolo bellyflop(he is the chunkiest of the 4 seals there). I got a proper look at the rest of the aquarium while Helen did closing duties and then her co-worker was nice enough to give us a ride back to Helens house in Whitley Bay. My day ended at 12:00am when I was finally able to get a good sleep after all that travelling. Though at times the journey was a bit tricky, in the end it is very satisfying to say I was able to make my way ~5,300 miles to a place I have never been, all by myself!