In the unlikely event anyone reading this thinks that exploring is easy, and it's just a case of waltzing up to a location and getting in. Well, this is most certainly not the case. In fact, normally the more impressive the location, the more difficult it is to get in. It usually involves lots of trips, trying out different methods and techniques until you get your Eureka moment.

Kev and I were in the vicinity of Holborn to try something I thought might lead into something very cool. But alas, all we discovered was a large valve! So that project would have to wait for another think through. While we were in the area, we noticed a hotel that was in the middle of conversion, and, well, it seemed like we should salvage something from the evening. Unlike what we were trying to get into, this place was very easy to do straight off the bat. A few cursory glances, a lull in the traffic (pedestrian and motorized). And we popped in, or under as the case may be.

At first we were lacking options for gaining access to the building, as it was shut up tight around the front. Luckily deeper into the courtyard a mass of scaffold heralded our way up and in, as it turned out. I was keenest to see the roof, as it's not often one gets to see views in this area of town. Reaching the roof was a very simple affair, and we were able to get some interesting vistas.

Looking East to the City.

Looking over Bloomsbury, the New London Theatre dominating on the right. foreground.

South over Covent Garden and the London Eye in the distance.

Photo opportunity looking all 'ooh, I’m a crazy guerrilla' etc, On the main roof, camera looking North.

The abandoned Royal Mail building on the right, and the green roof of the British Museum. I'd like to get a better shot of that roof, I wonder if anything in the previous sentence could facilitate that?!

Looking down Drury Lane to the Strand, the New London Theatre on the left.

Myself looking over Covent Garden, there's just something about seeing this great city from above and different perspectives.

Fisheye action over Bloomsbury

Having taken in the views long enough, it was back into the warm inside. The lights were all heat activated, luckily the only PIR we encountered. I think this may have been the first outing of my ''Pipe Ninja' persona. I'm not sure why it started, however it's likely because I always seem to like going against the grain, and most explorers post pictures of themselves being 'uber cool', so I wanted to be the antithesis of that.

A look at what lucky Joe Punter can expect to get for their cash, and where they'll be laying their head.

Down the stairs after, nothing special, which makes me wonder if this was a hotel, or more student/staff accommodation.

Nope, the stairs really weren't that spectacular at all. No thrills stairs just fulfilling their role with no glitz, no glamour.

On exiting into the path of a street sweeping machine that almost sucked us up, it was over the road for a final last look around our original target for options. Different ways to approach the problem, or things we might have missed.

What started as a search for the impressive, became a mere tour of the mediocre at best. However some people's mediocre is another person's impressive. These people are very much in the minority.