Taking the plunge and flipping to my fixed

I hated riding fixed with clips+straps, but enjoy it with clipless.
couldn't get into the action of flipping the pedal over while it was moving.

All the way up to the Palace?

That hill still fucks me up on gears.

Five mile ride home and it wasn't too bad (although ashamed to say I did receive my first beep from a driver a I was looking down trying to work out how to get my left foot into the cleat).

Do not look down while clipping in, try and clip in while looking ahead, this way you'll find yourself quickly learning to clip in faster than looking down and finding your feet.