Off today on my third trip to London in just a little over a year. I am looking forward to it as usual. As many people know it is my favourite city. When chatting with Helen McK last Thursday, we reminisced about the good times we had there in our youth. It was just such an exciting place to be in the 70s. 

It got me thinking about the first time I arrived in London towards the end of May in 1975 – over 44 years ago!  I laughed when I read my first letter home to my parents (my wonderful mother kept every letter I wrote for the almost two years I was away spending her and Dad’s money as mine ran out in the first six months).  I complained that I wasn’t really impressed with London as it was full of Australians!

How times have changed – now I love hearing the accent when out and about overseas and thoroughly enjoy chatting to fellow Aussie travellers. It looks like RootsTech will have plenty of Australians wandering the corridors.  I will, of course, also enjoy meeting up with people from elsewhere in the world – especially those I know through genealogy but have never met in person.

That first letter home in 1975 also had me asking Mum to make sure that she sent me the particulars from the certificates I had left at home, especially the Irish ones so I could start researching – both in London and in Ireland.  I had received my first certificate from Ireland the previous year and it was the beginning of my addiction with family history.

My second letter home the following week was to let the family know that I was off to Scotland and would do some research on Grandfather Wood while I was in Edinburgh – his birth in India is the focus of my RootsTech presentation. That same week I also saw Michael Crawford (you know – from Some Mothers Do Ave Them) on stage in Billy at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. It also starred the wonderful Elaine Paige (she of Cats fame). Later that same week I went to another play – A Touch of Spring with Hayley Mills, Peter Donat and Leigh Lawson.  Perhaps I should try and do that on this trip – head out to some stage plays that is!

I am taking the same route that Kirby and I took in May – Brisbane to Perth and then on to London. Hopefully the jet lag won’t be too bad.  I have been reading the news stories about the 20 hour QANTAS non-stop flight from New York to Sydney –it is only 3 hours longer than the Perth-London run and I found that to be OK.

I did my practice run through of my presentation on Saturday to a terrific audience – some great feedback on improvements I could make and positive comments too.  The changes have been made and the family has been subjected to yet another practice – they will be glad to see the car take me away I think, though I know the dogs will not be impressed.