Oh Dear... it's New Year

On the bottom, the two minute long walkway between the entrance of the O2 and the North Greenwich Tube station.

New Year arrived too soon for so many reasons.

First, we'd scarcely had time to recover from D'ell and Emma's wedding just two days prior, and it required some effort to get into the party mode again. I know, it's a hard life, right?

Second, of course, the passing of such a significant milestone could only highlight the impending conclusion of our journey. We're excited, undoubtedly, to return home and get back to work, but it's been such an adventure that there's inevitably some nostalgia as we wrap things up.

Champagne helped on both counts, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal at Tapa Tapa in the new O2 arena in London's Docklands. After a feast that we couldn't possibly finish, we headed into a New Year concert headlined by British pop group Take That. If you know anything about Take That it's probably that it's the band Robbie Williams used to belong to. While the other four members have reunited for this tour, Robbie has so far declined to participate, so we spent much of the evening hoping that he would decide to make a surprise appearance for what was a much hyped - and televised - New Year performance.

Even if Robbie failed to materialize, we had a super night. D'ell and I bopped away to all the sugery pop-songs we remembered while an exhausted Emma and intrigued Lloyd (who didn't know any of the songs at all!) could do little more than look on, stupified at our antics.

At midnight, Lloyd and I counted down from ten and then spontaneously screamed at each other, the full realization that our adventure is approaching its end. What can we say? We have been exceptionally fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel for six months, and even more lucky to have enjoyed the wholehearted support of friends and family. So, a special Happy New Year to our parents, to Roger and D'ell, and to Dave, Martin and Sarah. We wish you all the best for 2008.

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