On Tuesday and Wednesday the couple and their children, 15-year-old Bryant, and Emma, aged 11, had buzzed around London checking out many of its famous attractions and landmarks.

They had even been part of the huge crowd in Trafalgar Square that clapped and cheered when London was named the host of the 2012 Olympics.

But come Thursday morning the family was feeling in need of a little sleep-in at their holiday apartment in Earls Court.

By the time they rose to begin preparations for another busy day of sight-seeing, the city was filled with the sound of sirens.

Yesterday morning the well-known couple told the Daily Liberal how they felt "lucky" to have escaped the horror.

"Earls Court is about five or six stations away (from the scene of the bombings)," said Mrs Morris, the deputy principal of Dubbo's St John's College.

"We were on the line the day before. We were one station away from Aldgate."

Mrs Morris said on the Thursday morning, with initial reports indicating that a power surge had been the cause of the chaos, the family had set off to walk to the department store, Harrods.

But by the time they got there, she said, more dire news was emerging of bombs, death and injury.

"At first we thought it was the typical English media-everything is so hyped up here," Mrs Morris said.

Throughout Thursday the foursome was comforted by a huge police presence in London and text messages from loved ones and friends.

A deliberate interruption to mobile phone networks to expedite the work of emergency services gave rise to some "nerves" for those waiting for word back home.

Early yesterday morning the couple and their children had booked a taxi to get to Victoria Station and join a tour of the British Isles.

"The trains are still not going and the traffic is heavy," Mrs Morris said.

"We come back to London on our way home."

She recalled how the city was "so happy" after the Olympic announcement.

Mrs Morris said the day after the indiscriminate attacks, residents and visitors to London were "watchful".