Almost there...We've made it to Thursday

The movers have taken everything off in a giant orange 40ft container. Too late now to worry if we've packed anything we might need for the next 6 weeks.
Onto the cleaning, and finger crossing to get the bond back.
Not much time today to post as I got to work late due to the large amount of things that had to be done this morning...you know you''ve got too much in your suitcase when you have to sit on it to close it.
The nice Kiwi bloke I spoke to on the phone today (just remembered to cancel the car insurance!) asked for my favorite travel tips, so I thought I would post them today for you all:

1. http://www.priceline.com/ is the site to bid for hotel room, try being as cheeky as you can (we stayed in a 4 star in Zurich for £40 for 2 per night)
2. http://www.smoothhound.co.uk is the best site I've found for B&B's in the UK and sometimes overseas...huge variety and price
3. http://www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo/ if you're planning on traveling anywhere in the UK and don't know what the traffic is like...useful for bank holidays and trying to get to the airport or ferry on time!. Check if your mobile phone provider offers a road news service or tune into 1152am (traffic updates every 10 minutes in the morning that will help you on that hell trip around the M25)...so NOT going to miss the words 'experiencing severe delays on the Heathrow stretch...'
4. http://www.regentpalacehotel.co.uk/ for a cheapo hotel (for London) if you want to have the night out and don't want to train home (or have lots of whanau wanting to visit) - it's not flash (I think they hide their two stars under a pile of laundry) but it's handy
5. Go to Germany/France/Switzerland etc in winter as they have cool Christmas markets, and the Gluwien helps keep the cold away
6. If you're flying sleazy jet or lyin air (easy or ryan), booking cars through the site usually works out the best price but plan for one person picking up the bags and the other nipping through to get to the front of the queue, particularly in teeny-tiny airports to some obscure place, where the whole flight needs a hire car. ALWAYS ask where the nearest fill up petrol station is on the map, AND if they are open on Sunday (can you tell we've been caught out and had to pay exorbitant petrol fees!)
7. Look for a European hotel through easyjet(they're not bad) then look for the hotel itself online and see if you can book direct, it's sometimes cheaper, so is ringing them (but get a fax confirmation)
8. Any food product with a reindeer picture in Scandanavia is not showing their national symbol (like a kiwi or bulldog)...you really are eating Rudolf made into salami...but it's quite tasty!