Christmas Holiday Report

Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2006 has gotten off to a great start.

This latest update is simply to add a few words to the photos I have posted below which by themselves clearly demonstrate what a great holiday Tory and I enjoyed together. I could write volumes but I am back at the business school again and time won't allow me.

After a flight that was delayed for almost 24 hours in Cairns I was extremely excited when I finally got to see Tory at Heathrow at around 6am on Monday 19th of December. This delay meant that our plans changed slightly and we spent our first day and night in London rather than Oxford. It was Tory's first trip back to London in three years and having lived there for two years she was pretty keen to check out some of her old stomping grounds.

We stayed near Victoria Station and caught the express to Gatwick to get a flight to Geneva. There my old kindy and school mate Geoff met us and drove us to his home town of Chamonix. We stayed in the Mercure which was very well located and we enjoyed 3 perfectly sunny days of skiing on plenty of firm snow. I was really impressed by Chamonix and we were both very grateful for Geoff's local knowledge both on the slopes and around the town. On the 24th Tory's sister Becca and her boyfriend Nathan (a former UQ Rugby Club mate of mine) picked us up and drove us to Annecy. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas day in the fine company of Nathan's family in their comfortable house on a hill overlooking Annecy. It was really nice to be in a home rather than a hotel and in the company of Aussies.

On Boxing Day we caught the TGV to Paris where we stayed in a swanky part of town near the Eiffel Tower. The apartment was offered to us by friends of Tory's family who were holidaying in their country house. Given that the weather was miserable we found ourselves enjoying the confines of the apartment and consuming too much cheese and wine. That did not stop us from taking to the streets or braving the queue for the Musee D'Orsay but we had to stop for regular doses of hot chocolates along the way. On the last night in Paris we met David Kelly for dinner at one of the many nice restaurants near the apartment.

On the 31st we flew to London and stayed with Tory's friend Kate and her brother Will in their Gloucester Road apartment. We saw the New year in at a random party hosted by some Australians and rose on the 1st of January 2006 for a walk around the High Street Kensington shops. More sale shopping followed on the 2nd and we met some Brisbane boys and girls for dinner at Soho dumpling restaurant called Ping Pong.

On the 3rd, after paying a visit to Tory's friend and former London flatmate who had recently given birth to twins, we headed up to Oxford and spent a few days walking around and taking in some of the scenery. We visited Worcester, St Peters, Exeter, Christchurch and Magdalen colleges and the Ashmolean museum. I also showed her around the Said Business School form where I am typing this very post.

It was very sad to finally have to say goodbye at Heathrow on Friday knowing that at the very least it will be another 3 months before we see each other again. However, I was very pleased for the time we spent together as it showed me how deep our feelings are. That is pretty new and exciting for me and I know Tory feels the same way. The only upside to her journey home was that Cathay Pacific upgraded her to business class as compensation for her lengthy delay on the way here.

I have now begun to focus on the work at hand for this term, 6 subjects (ranging from topics as diverse as Marketing to Management Accounting), 1 group project on geothermal heating and cooling systems and the possibility of examination resits from last term. It is going to be an EXTREMELY busy 10 weeks.

I must get going now. Work beckons.

All the best,
Dougie Waller.