I still remember watching the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation huddled in a huddled in a basement with a half dozen or so friends and the sad feelings I had when the title screen rolled.

‘All good things…’

It was the only thing I could think of when my best friend and nerd-in-arms Robert told me he was packing up and moving back to Australia with his wife and impending child.  After recovering from the heartbreak, we (our mutual friends) decided we’d best through a farewell party for our favourite couple.

Alex managed to hire the campest ‘Australian Life Guard’ to come and sing/entertain the group for about half an hour, which lent to the perfect combination of a giggling and embarrassed couple.

We had decked out the place with all manner of Aussie decorations, flags and the pinnacle of Austrailiadom: Fosters.  We also had a bottle of two of Robert’s personal favourite tipple that were quickly consumed.

It was a lovely evening that ended too soon, but fortunately with the marvels of modern technology this isn’t the end of our friendship at all.

Quite unlike like my childhood favourite: TNG.

There are a few more party photos in the gallery.

It wasn’t intentional, but we happened to be in and around the Westminster area on Remembrance Day weekend this year.  The plan was just to do some standard sight seeing and get a few photos of Baba at the parliament buildings (which we did), but it’s always interesting and humbling to see the displays set out to mark the occasion.

The lawns of Westminster Abby are completely transformed for the weekend.  All along the walkways are thousands and thousands of tiny memorial crosses, divided up into the military units they represent, covered in notes, photos, mementos and words of thanks.  I’m not certain if the crosses are supposed to represent a one-to-one relationship with the soldiers who’ve died in one of the many wars starting with WWI, but I do know there are an awful lot of crosses and it certainly makes you stop and think.

Moving on from the Abbey we crossed the road and took a few photos of the lovely fall colours in Victoria Tower Gardens next to parliament before crossing the river at Lambeth Bridge.

It’s a nice day out and a good walk, especially this end of Westminster as it avoids most of the major touristy areas once you’re away from parliament and the abbey.  We stopped for a bit of lunch at a cute riverside restaurant on the south bank of the Thames before gathering our things and heading back home.

There are a few more images in the gallery as always!