PANTO

Got woken up early at 7.30am ( well it was early for me ) by a parcel delivery but I went back to bed until 10am. Pottered about until 1pm and then I got the bus to Newcastle.

Panto time at The Theatre Royal. It was Jack and The Beanstalk. The place was full of very excited children. Its a tradition that the Panto at this theatre has no big names, no ex soap stars or has been actors - they have the same 4 local actors every year. I saw them last year and they were great and this year they didn't disappoint. It was great fun. The only part I wasn't keen on was when they had a big screen at the back of the stage and there were 3D monsters etc - the audience wore 3D glasses for this part. It just seemed too modern - I like my pantos to be old fashioned and traditional. A lot of the very small children were terrified of the 3D images - the little girl sitting next to me was crying and screaming that she wanted to go home. Some children had to be taken out. Luckily this part didn't last long and we were soon back to good old fashioned slapstick comedy - lots of foam and water being sprayed about. My blip shot shows the stage before the panto started.

Came out of the theatre at 5pm and went Christmas shopping. The shops were really busy - especially Boots. Made a few purchases and got the bus home around 7pm.

Neil came in from work around 10pm and he was straight on to the computer to book tickets for him and his friend to climb up the Sydney Harbour Bridge while they are in Australia at the end of this month. Tickets cost $228 Aus dollars each which is about £127 each. And an extra $30 each for a photograph as a souvenir. For someone who is afraid of heights Neil does tend to push himself to the limit. He has already done a skydive in Australia, a bungee jump over a river in New Zealand and a zip wire from the Tyne Bridge. Climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge will be great - they are doing it at 8.30pm so the whole harbour will be lit up.

I'm really behind with comments - will try to catch up tomorrow.