Was what I was warned when coming into my next destination. Front pages advised people to stay indoors, look after the elderly and highlighted again that this was due to climate change.

There could even be climate riots!

The heatwave: London was staying about 26′ for a week and may even get to 29′. This is a cool summer’s day in Australia…who knew London papers would go after such attention grabbing headlines?  In the end Londoners were dancing in the streets as seen in my feature image (Shot on iPhone 4).

I arrived into Gatwick London, thereby avoiding the Heathrow Injection, a very average airport that has you feel like you have almost walked from Australia to London and that is only to get your bags. It turns out the injection was not avoided after all as my brother, who moved to London on the same day as I landed, decided burgers were the best jet lag cure, it did help but now I have a serious case of burger lag.

To get my theatre fix I went to two plays – both with three actors each – both had four stars, for very different reasons I discovered.

The first, American Buffalo, had three amazing stars of the stage and screen…which is where three of the four stars came from – the fourth being the actual star it deserved.  In the first half the line that resonated with me was ‘it’s important to know what you are talking about’ for I had no idea what they were talking about and so promptly left at interval. Seeing Ralph Fiennes outside at the break was the only find of the night, he seemed at odds about returning for the second act too, but he is well known for his english patience (see who gets that one).

The second, The Red Line, deserved all four stars it was awarded.  It is a play about corruption in soccer, timely and well written with acting to match. Here the crucial line about their new player was ‘the boy can play’ and I could only think ‘and they can act.’ Not even a large Brick Lane feast could get in the way of me enjoying every moment.

My London stop-off included a fantastic meal and drinks at Dean Street Townhouse in Soho with my cousin – Simon McCluskey and his partner Lil. The cocktails a welcome relief from the 27′ heat and the atmosphere worth coming from Sydney for.  Even I had to envy them – living on Europe’s doorstep every week…what a dream.

Off to the Amalfi Coast via my friends in the South of France for a few days of sun, beach and French wine…hell, someone has to do it.

* No other photos for this blog, too busy escaping the heat 🙂