What happened in the UK?

Tribeworld "Tour Diary 3"  -  Report 24th March - 10th April 2003

Monday 24th March 2003 - London

We all woke up well refreshed and headed for the Cloud 9 office in London for a briefing meeting of the next couple of weeks.

Then it was back to the hotel to have lunch and get ready for the signing at the Virgin Megastore. The girls got ready and headed off for a "girls only" photoshoot with Sunday People Newspaper. It went really well and the photographer was great. There were some great shots and everyone really enjoyed themselves.
We all met at the Virgin Megastore where we hurried in the back entrance. We were all really excited and a little nervous at doing our first UK signing but the atmosphere was fantastic. We were all seated on a big stage and The Tribe music was playing in the background. We met heaps of fans, some of whom we recognised from previous meetings.

Then it was off for a birthday dinner for James. We went to a lovely Indian Restaurant which served the most wide variety of curries we'd ever seen. Back to the hotel and to bed ready for a full day with Five tomorrow.

 

Tuesday 25th March 2003 - London

An earlyish start for some of us – Meryl, Tom, Michael and Beth started the day at 9.00am when they headed off to an interview day with Five. A location shoot was set up and each cast member was interviewed for around half an hour with questions that had been sent in by fans. Danny, James and Antonia arrived a little later for their interviews and then each cast member did a character profile on screen.

The location was in Covent Garden so while the cast weren’t being filmed they were shopping! The girls went makeup shopping.

Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and to pack because tomorrow we have a 5.00am start tomorrow! After dinner Toni and Beth were watching a bit of tv and spotted a program called TV Specials which had some Tribe bloopers on it – a great laugh before bed.

 

Wednesday 26th March 2003 - Edinburgh

Who ever said that showbiz is glamorous?! We woke up at 04:30 this morning and hopped into two mini-vans that whisked us through the foggy streets of London and off to Stanstead Airport where we got on to a plane headed for Scotland.

Bleary eyed we jottled with businessmen for a good seat on the plane and soon we were in beautiful Edinburgh where our tour buses were waiting for us. We loved cruising through Edinburgh on our way to the hotel and thought that it was a beautiful city.

Into the hotel and our rooms were lovely, really spacious and the beds - comfy to the max! We had a bit of time to spare so most of us had a wee nap and then we had to get into our cossies before it was time to make our way to the Big W store. We had an interview with ETC radio.

Then it was time to set ourselves up and sign autographs and chat to the many fans who came along to see us. It was great to meet so many fans up in this part of the country as we have never been this far on a tour before and some fans had travelled for hours so it was much appreciated to meet them all.
Time to head off for dinner and we found a fantastic place called Giullinos where we all pigged out and enjoyed some Scottish cuisine - none of us tried haggis though!

Back to the hotel as we have another early start tomorrow when we check out and head down to Manchester for a live appearance at the Manchester branch of the Big W. So, off to bed and sweet dreams, ready for another day.

 

Thursday 27th March 2003 - Manchester

Up early to have breakie and then we all piled into our two mini busses and headed for Manchester. The drive took about 4 hrs and we stopped at a service station to stock up for drinkies and munchies for the trip. Everyone on the tour found a munchy - Toni and Beth loved anything chocolate and michael loved all crisps. There are a great variety of different things here lots of which we don't get in NZ.

We got to Manchester and checked into our lovely hotel and got our costumes and makeup on. We headed for Big W and had a quick lunch before going downstairs to setup.

There were a few Journalists and lots of fans waiting for us. We signed for an hour and a half. Its always lovely to meet such a wide variety of fans of all ages and it was great to see more male fans today as well as some mothers and grandmothers who watched the show with their kids. There are a couple of fans who are following us around the country. They first met up at Heathrow and have been to every signing so far! The staff at the store were fantastic and a lot of them were fans of the show as well.

We have been travelling for over 3 weeks now and its funny that every time we arrive at a hotel, we can't remember which room we are in! At the end of the long day, we headed to a restaurant called 'Simply Heathcotes' and sat down to a lovely meal before heading back to the hotel for a another night. Off to Bradford tomorrow!!

 

Friday 28th March 2003 - Bradford

Up early and out of our most comfortable beds and we all met for breakfast.

After packing up our things we headed for Bradford which was about a 2 hour drive from Manchester. On the way we stopped at a local pub for lunch where the girls chatted over a cup of coffee.

We arrived in Bradford and went straight to Big W. Everyone changed into their costumes and makeup and then a journalist arrived from B-Line magazine. Some great photos were taken and then an interview with Meryl and Danny.

Four o'clock was approaching and we all headed downstairs and were excited to see a huge cue of people outside the store. We met some fantastic people some of whom were dressed in tribal gears. We signed for around 2 hours and had such a great time!

Then it was time to go and get changed and get back into our mini-buses for the trip to Birmingham. On the way we watched a couple of videos - Flashdance and Blade. About a two and a half hour drive and we arrived in Birmingham and checked into our hotel. The city is bright and looks like a great town.

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to Cadbury World! All of the cast are mad about chocolate and we are really excited.

 

Saturday 29th March 2003 - Birmingham

A bit of a lie in this morning for most of us and we made the most of ordering breakfast to our rooms which was lovely. The breakfast came in a nifty solid plastic box that had little compartments where the food was hidden away.

Meryl, Toni, Beth, Michael, Saranne, Emily and Dave the driver went to Cadbury World! As we got close to the factory we opened the windows and could smell the delicious aroma of chocolate in the air and by the time we parked and made our way to the entrance we were all jumping around with excitement as cholcolate is most definitely our thing!

We were shown around by a wonderful man, Colin who made sure that we were well looked after and learnt a lot of fascinating chocolate facts. We discussed the differences between chocolate in New Zealand and in England and found out that there are varieties that are popular overseas but do not take off in the UK and vice versa.

We had a great time looking at all the displays and going on the wee ride through chocolate bean land but by far our favourite part of the tour was when we got to taste actual chocolate liquid. It was still warm and it tasted - man, it tasted so good!

After Beth bought up the whole store we jumped back into the bus (feeling a bit sickly if truth be told) and drove to the Big W where we were welcomed by the most fantastic team of staff.

Then it was time to head downstairs to the front of the store where we set ourselves up at some tables and started to sign autographs. There was a huge crowd, around 1,000 people lining up around the side of the store and we were there for three and a half hours. We met up with some fans that we get to see on each tour and who always make the effort to come out and say hi.

After the signing we all got changed and headed off for a lovely Birmingham curry before making our way back to London. We arrived just before midnight and were all pretty exhausted but glad to be back 'home' where we can unpack for the week ahead.

 

Sunday 30th March 2003 - London

Wow! We got a bit of a sleep in today, so it was a leisurely morning eating breakfast and getting ready. Everyone wanted to go to Camden Markets today to get in a bit of shopping so we piled into a taxi and headed off. The markets are fantastic and we bought a few things for ourselves and lots of pressies for our families.

Then it was time to meet the winners from the Five competition for lunch. We all met at Pizza Express and got chatting away. We had such a great time with lots of laughs and lots of food.
After stuffing ourselves full of pizza and desserts and chatting – four hours had flown by! It was time to go. We said our goodbyes and everyone took lots of photos to keep the day in their memories.

We got back to the hotel and decided that tonight would be a good night for us all to relax and have a video night. We all love Austin Powers and so we watched Goldmember which was a great way to wind down the day. We munched on chocolate that we got yesterday at Cadbury World and quietly some of us dropped off to sleep.

 

Monday 31st March 2003 - London

We all jumped into the bus and headed into central London for lunch with the Tribeworld.com competition fans at the Sports Café in Haymarket. There were 3 lovely winners who had come from London and Southampton and were pretty excited to meet the cast.

We played pool and table football before we ordered our food and man was it a big meal! All the girls went for salad but Michael ate the biggest steak in the world! He just about managed to finish it but had no room for dessert. The rest of us managed to eat some ice cream and then it was time for autograph signing. Each fan was given a goodie bag from the Tribe Store and they were really pleased with that.

Time for farewells and the girls (and Michael) went shopping. They walked along Regent Street and headed to Oxford Circus where some went to Boots and some to Top Shop.

Everybody bought something and then they had to try to flag down a taxi or two in the rush hour traffic. That was a bit hard but they eventually managed to get hold of a couple and soon arrived back at the hotel.

A quick fifteen minute dash to get changed and freshened up for the evening ahead. Then we all jumped back in the tour buses to head to Belgos in Covent Garden for dinner with Five.

 

Tuesday 1st April 2003 - London

We all got up early this morning and got into our costumes for some photos with the PR company. We were going to go on a sightseeing/picture taking trip around London but it was pouring with rain so we took some photos at the hotel. Just after the photo shoot we saw an Atomic Kitten walking out of the hotel so she was pursued by Beth and Tom and the Herndog managed to get his picture taken with the very friendly kitten who recognised the gang.

Time for a break. We cruised into town and headed for Madam Tussauds. Emily got close to David Beckham, Toni and Beth liked the look of Tom Cruise and Matt was smitten with Penelope Cruz.

After the wax museum we all proceeded towards a special exhibit about serial killers. This involved walking through a darkened area where live actors dressed as inmates jumped out from the shadows and scared the living daylights out of our wee group.We got out of there safely and after having a cup of tea and a calm down we went to the Planetarium where we watched a great show based on the animated movie Treasure Planet.

Lunchtime and we ran across the road to grab a bite before heading over to the Natural History Museum where we all checked out the enormous blue whale replica and skeleton as well as many other fascinating exhibits.

Back to the hotel for a quick freshen up and then the whole group hopped back into the bus and headed to the Vaudeville Theatre to watch Stomp.

Back to the hotel and everyone went off to bed. We have an early start tomorrow for our trip to the BigW in Bristol which will be our very last public appearance of the tour. It is also Meryl's 19th birthday so we want to make sure that she has an awesome day and we will try to spoil her a bit. We have all chipped in to get her a massage (she loves them) and will try to pick her up something special tomorrow too.

 

Wednesday 2nd April 2003 - London / Bristol

Up early this morning and we all wished Meryl a Happy Birthday then it was in to costume and makeup for a whistle stop tour around the sights of London. We visited the Tower Bridge, The London Eye, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.
We were chuffed to be able to see the sights of London because our schedule has been so busy that we thought we might not be able to. It was a freezing cold day but we enjoyed the walk around Westminster.

Then it was lunch on the go and a two and a half hour drive to Bristol. The long drive was great and the scenery was beautiful.
Many fans have said south England is the place to be. Some of us got a bit of shut eye on the road and some of us chatted. Drives in our mini buses are great because we all get going and have some great laughs. We got to Big W with a bit of time to spare and then we had an interview with SFX magazine. They were great and asked us some really great questions. Then we each had a photoshoot and in no time it was time to meet the fans!

Some fans had come from Wales and some fans we'd met previously at the Birmingham signing were also there. Lots of great people and lots of fun. We love it!!
It was time to go so we all hopped back in the buses and said goodbye to Bristol.

Once back in London we headed back to our hotel and had a celebratory meal and a drink for Meryl's birthday. We'd organised a huge cake and we all pitched in to get Meryl and massage which she'll have tomorrow. Another great day coming up tomorrow with interviews galore and then we're all off to a play for the evening - Yah!

 

Thursday 3rd April 2003

A late start this morning so everyone got to sleep in! The girls like to lie in and the boys like to be up at the crack of dawn and head down for a spa or sauna.
Today was an interview day and there were lots of them!

First up were Danny, Meryl, Beth and Tom. They had an interview with the Cult Times which they all said was really fantastic. Then they were up for another interview with TNT magazine and Teletext. Tom then had a telephone interview with What's on TV.
The others turn and Michael, Matt and Toni were taken to Mykindaplace where they spent a couple of hours doing music reviews, Agony Aunt letter replies and other bits and pieces. Heaps of fun!! While this was going on Tom, Danny and Beth were interviewed by Capital Radio about the series and the latest release of the DVD and videos.

By late afternoon everyone was happy to get to relax for a while before we all headed out to see a play "Dance of Death" which stars Sir Ian McKellen. The cast all love theatre and have been eager to see a play since they arrived in London.
Tomorrow we are visiting a school in Sommerset and discussing various aspects of the show with some of the kids from the school. We're all really looking forward to it.

 

 Friday 4th April 2003

Up with the birds today and we all piled into the mini bus and headed for George Green's School in the Isle of Dogs. It's a multi cultural school that welcomes all students. The cast were there to talk to one of the drama classes about the show, acting and issues that are dealt with in The Tribe. As well as discussion there were some great role plays and theatre sports games which the cast joined in with. The morning was full of laughs and the cast really enjoyed themselves.

After we left the school we headed to Greenwich and stood on the dateline which was really cool. Then we had lunch in Greenwich and had a wee browse of the local shops.

Back to the hotel and we all got into costume and makeup and headed for the Sky studios. We were to make an appearance on their Sky 1 show called Showcase. The six of us sat in a very intimate studio as poor Meryl was at the hotel with a bad tummy bug and we were asked some really interesting questions and had a great time.

Back to the hotel again and we all split up to do our own thing. The girls went to their room to watch some good old British tele while the guys watched a DVD together and then went for a steam and sauna.

 

Saturday 5th April 2003

Wow! We all got a real sleep in this morning and most of us didn't get up until 10.00am. Everyone piled into Emily and Saranne's room and watched The Tribe on Five. The cast love watching the show and laughing at each other in particular scenes. They know each other so well they find a smirk or a funny look in the show very amusing!

After that everyone was keen to head into the city so we all decided to hang out in Leicester Square for the day. There were some great street performers in the square and we sat and ate lunch while watching them. At one stage Tom even joined them! He's a great performer and loves a crowd. We all did a bit of shopping for ourselves and for our friends and family back home. Later on the guys and Toni decided to head back to the hotel. Toni had a friend from France that she wanted to catch up with and the guys needed their daily steam and sauna fix. While they headed back Beth, Saranne and Emily decided to go and see a movie. They chose Chicago. A great film that they all enjoyed - as well as the popcorn!!

Back to the hotel and we got some fantastic news - Tom had run into the Sugababes PR Manager and he had offered two tickets to the Sugababes concert tonight! So Toni and Tom headed off while the rest of us sulked that we couldnt' go too!
Bedtime for the rest of us and we're thinking of heading to the South Bank tomorrow to watch the boat race on the Thames which we've heard so much about.

 

Sunday 6th April 2003

An early start for some and a long sleep in for others! Some of us had decided that today was our day to catch up with family and friends. Michael left early to catch up with his cousins, Danny went off to meet an old friend from Cloud 9 and Toni met up again with her friend from France.

Early in the afternoon Tom, Matt and Meryl decided to catch a movie while Toni and her friend Raphael, Beth, Emily and Saranne decided to head over to the South Bank and visit the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre. They had a great time. Each of us had a different view of the various artistic pieces at the Tate but everyone loved it.

At the Globe everyone was fascinated! A lot of the cast are really into Shakespeare and the tour was great with lots of information and a good feeling for what life and theatre must have been like back then. It was bigger than we had imagined and couldn't help reminding us of Shakespeare in Love. After buying a few pieces of memorabilia we had lunch in the Globe Cafe and then we all headed back to the hotel to meet up for tea.

We headed to a little Thai place - Beth loves Thai food - and spent the evening chatting, and talking about what we're going to do once we get back to New Zealand. Only two days left and we're thinking about how much more we can cram in! There's so much to do in London and we're loving it!

 

Monday 7th April 2003

Well the cast had whirlwind last few days!
On Monday 7th April we all headed down to the Cloud 9 office in London and signed lots of merchandise for further publicity use. This took most of the morning and we decided that since it was our last day in London we had better cram in some more shopping!

While some of us headed back to the hotel the rest of us headed for Kensington High Street where we managed to spend a few more pounds on pressies and stuff for ourselves of course! After lugging all our shopping bags back to the hotel in the late afternoon we relaxed for an hour or so and some of us started packing.

In the evening we headed out for dinner with all the Cloud 9 team from London. We went to a lovely Mexican restaurant called Mexican! We had real laugh as each of the group choked on some of the hot food and downed glasses of water to stop the burning!

We all headed back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. Packing could wait until tomorrow!

 

Tuesday 8th - Thursday 10th April 2003 - London / New Zealand

Our last day! It was quite weird having to pack up all our stuff. Some of us needed extra bags because our suitcases were full - too much shopping ah!
After saying goodbye to our driver (Dave) and to all the lovely people at the Cloud 9 office we jumped into our bus and headed for Heathrow.

We got there really early so we could fit in some more shopping and check in our huge amount of bags. We could't quite believe we were leaving! We were all so tired that the 12 hour flight passed very quickly. Most of us slept through it!

At Singapore (by this time the 9th April) we managed a little more duty free shopping and relaxed in the business class lounge for an hour or so before getting on our flight to Auckland. We were a little more refreshed for this flight so we managed to watch the in flight movies as well as get a bit of shut eye.

We arrived in Auckland on 10th April where we sadly said goodbye to Danny and Beth whose families met them with much rejoice. It was sad having to say goodbye after sharing so much time together.

The rest of us were off to Wellington and Tom was off to Christchurch so another sad farewell to him as we departed to our gates. In Wellington another mad reunion with our families and partners that had come to meet us. More sad goodbyes but lots of smiles when thinking back on a fantastic five weeks away.

So many great memories and so many laughs....