Wednesday morning was time for a haircut. We’d noticed a barber shop just down the road and headed there to find that the chair was empty and ready for business. ‘Just a number three and a bit of a tidy up please’

As we got chatting, (as one does when in the chair), it turns out that the barber describes himself as an ‘old school turkish barber.’  He offered us Turkish coffee while he got on with the business of clipping my head.

We talked of Gallipoli and stories from both sides of that conflict from nearly a hundred years ago.  He made the comment that while modern Australia may have started as a gaol it is now seen as one of the safest countries on earth.

It seems that when asking for a ‘bit of a tidy up’ this can mean all sorts of things.  Soon I was having ears waxed, face ‘threaded’ and singed with a flaming taper before a facial and scalp massage. A lot more treatment that the usual ‘number 3 please’ at one of the local barbers in Newcastle.

So, a really interesting and unique experience.  Tidied up and ready for another London day.