Ooolyyympics!

There have been plenty of chances to see Olympic events out and about in London and I've been to as many as I can. You really don't get to see the actual participants that well and nothing beats the TV for that, but the atmosphere is fantastic. The triathlons and 10km swims have been held in the Serpentine/Hyde Park area and hundreds of thousands of people turned up.

There are people swimming in this shot.

It was great to have a picnic while an Olympic event passed by. The men's marathon was probably my favourite though. I got a good spot opposite Big Ben and saw the last two circuits. I liked the moving media circus that preceded the frontrunners. It was a sort of tip truck with tiered seating, packed with photographers. (The no stopping or viewing sign seemed superfluous.)

The front three runners pass, just running out on the right

One of the nice things about the Games has been how friendly everyone has been. I got talking to a German women, a kiwi who had been working for London 2012, and two Londoners. We took photos for each other and watched the rest of the race on an iPad, which was good as it was about 40 minutes between viewings.

There have been lots of big screens set up and I've been along the road to Hammersmith to see a couple of events which was fun.

 New Zealand has done brilliantly and I managed to see most of the medals being won. GB has done really well too and that makes everyone happy. I loved the closing ceremony and today the excitement continues even though the Games have finished with Valerie Adams just getting an upgrade to gold.
I'm pleased to be setting off for Switzerland, Dubai and NZ on Saturday. Normal life in London will be an anticlimax.