London Week 5

This week started well. We packed up our bags again in readiness for our last journey carrying everything for a while. This time we were off to move into our flat. We were unsure how we would cope with carrying our plethora of bags through the tube again, and this time there would be quite a lot of walking involved. Luckily Tom came to the rescue and offered to carry Jess' pack which freed her up to carry some of the smaller bags. So what could have taken us several trips and several hours only ended up taking about 45 minutes and one trip. Thank you Tom!
So off we went to our flat in Vauxhall. Moving in with our new flatmate Jen. It was fantastic having such simple things as drawers and coathangers again. After all that Tree and Katie came around and then Jen and her boyfriend Liam cooked us up some tasty vegetarian pizzas. I think we made the right move.

This week was Marcus' first full week at work and Jess' first full week by herself. She filled in her days with a mixture of job hunting and plenty of walking. Wednesday she journeyed in to the West End to meet Marcus after work for a nice picnic in Hyde Park (altough we only skirted the edges of the huge park.) Then it was a good walk home. Not TOO far but not too close either. Thursday was also Marcus' first proper after dinner drinks with his workmates for St George's Day. We expected it to be like St Patrick's Day with people our celebrating and drinking ales all day. It wasn't...The pubs were maybe busier after work than usual and there were a few more English flags around, but otherwise the day passed relatively uneventful. Good chance to spend some social time with work people.

Saturday, being ANZAC Day we had planned to sleep in, but Tom suggested we should go to the ANZAC day dawn service, so up we climbed at 3:30am and onto the bus with the other antipodeans and off to Hyde Park Corner where the New Zealand and Australian war memorials were. Unfortunately Tom and Gini slept in and then missed their bus, but we were there along with hundreds (or thousands...we couldn't tell in the dark) of Kiwis and Aussies to pay respect to the soliders of our respective countries. This year it was an Australian service, but they shared between Australian and New Zealand speakers and prayers and then a quick trip across to the NZ memorial for a karakia and haka.

Tom and Gini arrived just as this was all ending, but they at least had plans to head off for
ANZAC breakfast at a local cafe owned by Tom's dad's friend. Unfortunately it wasn't open for several hours so we journeyed to the only cafe we could find for the butteriest croissant we had ever had along with extra butter...No worries though, we were then off to the Borough Market under London Bridge. This is officially Marcus' favourite Market. It is quite small and it is all food...no dresses or jewellery in sight. We had a brilliant morning sampling tea, sausage, cheeses and breads. All artisan and tasty. By the time midday came around we had had our fill and managed to buy a few things too and it was time to head home for a sleepy nap.

Refreshed from our nap we had to get dressed into our NZ gears and head down to Clapham for Tim and Emma's ANZAC day party. BBQ on the deck, beers in the chilly bin, jetplanes and pavlova. It was the quintessential NZ experience (there were some aussies there too). Was also good to catch up with the likes of Ben, Reuban, Katie and Chris. Alas we failed on the photo front for this party so we will have to steal some from Tim and Emma.

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London Week 4

Quieter times this week. Sunday night we spent with Robin and Mary at their new flat. Very nice neighbourhood and we got to indulge in some gourmet burgers, seeing as how all the supermarkets were shut. Not really sure how things work around here because they were all open on Good Friday but not going to worry too much about it.

Tuesday we got to welcome back Tom and Gini to their flat. Which meant we were relegated to the air mattress in the lounge. Try as they might Tom and Gini couldn't stay awake. That flight from NZ to UK in one go is a killer and the jetlag is mean. Hooray for stopovers. Was good to hear about their adventures in Japan though. Sounds like a very cool place.

Wednesday like good troopers that they are Tom and Gini were back to work again. We had one more day left before Marcus joined the workers club too. So what did we do to make the most of our last day together? We went to the biggest mall in Europe, Westfield in Shephards Bush. This place makes Queensgate look like the corner shops. It was HUGE. The choice was so overwhelming we didn't end up buying anything (much to Jess' distress) but it was certainly interesting to get an idea of what was out there. Good food court too. Very flash. No BK or McDonalds here. That night we visited Jen, because she had a room going in her flat in Vauxhall so we wanted to check it out. It was a nice converted maisonette with the 2nd and loft floors making up the flat. Again luck had struck us. We had managed to find a flat without really having to go hunting. And with that Marcus' period of holiday was over....

Thursday Marcus was off to work. Not going to bore you with the details other than to say nice workmates, good location and what looks to be plenty of work. AND first day there and Marcus got taken out to the pub to meet some lawyers and bankers who the firm worked with. That was certainly a good start.

Friday night it was off to the Big Chill Bar (flashbacks to Lower Hutt except this one was in Kings Cross and nothing like the one in Lower Hutt) for Monique's birthday drinks. This was good fun and a good chance to catch up with even more people. Fagan and Cameron, Marie-Anne and Rachel and Chris were there too. A few drinks and a bit of a boogie and it was a good fun night.

Saturday we spent some time with Tom and Gini. They seemed to be largely over their jetlag and decided it was a good chance to go for a walk along the canals to Victoria Park. London is crisscrossed with canals all over the place. Before tubes and buses these used to be a major mode of transport and there are still many people who live on them with their own canal boats. Unfortunately in general the canal that we went along seemed to be in a bit of a state of disrepair. There was a lot of rubbish and some parts that we couldn't walk along, but it was still a nice experience and the parts of the canal near Victoria park were a lot nicer. Victoria Park itself was our first proper chance to have a look through one of London's parks. Summertime is park time in London. Victoria park was very cool, with a big lake full of swans, a pen full of deer (which we couldn't see) and plenty of squirrels for Tom to entice with his Turkish delight. After a good pub meal located by the magic of Tom's iphone we were ready to head home for a chill out evening before our big flat move the following day...

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London Week 3

Week 3 and we were starting to like the feel of Tom and Gini's place. Would they be allowed to move in on their return to the UK? Sunday, Jess quite rightly pointed out that we should head down to Upper Street where there were loads of restaurants and get some Sunday lunch. Jess was very traditional ordering a nice lamb roast. Marcus ordered fish and chips but the fish was GIANT. Like eating a whole fillet of snapper. Mmmmm. After that we could barely move so decided we needed to do some working to ensure we try and avoid the Heathrow injection for at least a while.

Monday, Marcus had his first real job interview in the UK. It was doing insolvency work at an accounting firm. Interview went well so then the waiting game began...

Tuesday it was time for some more sightseeing. Had we known that it was school holidays we may have planned better but no point in worrying when you don't have to be anywhere at any given time. Today was a biggie. The Tower of London. After some serious queuing (UK compulsory) we were inside and looking around. We heard that the Yeoman tour was great. Unfortunately, we never quite managed to time being in the right place at the right time. Guess we will have to come back at some stage. Anyone feel like visiiting us who wants to see the Tower of London? There was a special exhubition on showing the armour of Henry VIII. It is Henry the VIII everywhere at the moment as it is celebrating 500 years since hince reign. There was a man who sure knew how to wear fancy and ridiculous armour. We weren't allowed to take photos but look up his armour on the internet if you are interested. Highlight for Jess was the Crown Jewels of course. Marcus had to keep a tight hold on his credit card...As a bonus the interview the day before had done the trick. First job offer for Marcus. Woo hoo! Something to sleep on...

That night we caught up with Monique for a tasty Turkish dinner at "Cafe Gallipoli...Again." Pretty weird name, but basically there are three restaurants all close to each other along the street. "Cafe Gallipoli", "Cafe Gallipoli Bazzare" and then "Cafe Gallipoli...Again." Marcus enjoys the joke. Dinner was tasty but the highlight was definitely our brush with a celebrity. Monique noticed that sitting behind us was none other than Neve Campbell from Party of Five and Scream fame/ We Neve...er thought we would actually see someone famous. We were very sly in our evidence collecting too....(You have to look at our album to see the evidence :p )

Wednesday Marcus accepted the job offer. Senior Insolvency Administrator at Vantis PLC. Then it was more sightseeing. Today the British Museum. Whew! So much to see. Egypt, Greece, Rome and another period in history you could think of, this place had real artefacts from everywhere. It was very interesting and amazine to see such historic artefacts as the Rosetta stone, but it couldn't help feeling a bit like the British Empire showing off the way it had pillaged the world, especially as a lot of stuff wasn't even behind glass. Also, the place was BUSY. People everywhere and with the advent of the digital camera some people seemed to be not so much interested in looking at the artefacts while they were though as much as getting a photo of everything so that they could look at it later...However, we will be back to the British Museum. We probably only saw 2/3rd max before we were exhausted so it will be good to head back and see the rest. This free Museum thing is a great idea.

That night we caught up with Scott, Kate, Jen and her boyfriend Dean down at Upper Street. Turns out they were in the neighbourhood. Was great to enjoy another beer out and then Jen and Dean took us for very nice, very cheap french cuisine at Le Mercury. I highly recommend it. It is possible to eat for less than 10 pounds and those of you in London will know that that is a rarity.

Good Friday, after munching on Hot Cross Buns we decided to combine sightseeing and shopping with a trip to Camden Market. It was quite a big contrast to Portobello Market. Portobello Market is the traditionally street with stalls and some shops on the side, a la, Hong Kong. Camden is quite different. Every space you see, be it street, couryard or stables is jam packed with stalls, some of which are well established and more like shops. Particular focus here on goth clothes. I have never seen so much PVC and metal studs in one place. Unfotunately the weather just got wetter and wetter. Good excuse for Jess to buy an umbrella and may have kept some of the crowds away, but will be good to go back when the weather is better.

Saturday we jumped on the train from Fenchurch Street Station (Big ups to Monopoly) out to Leigh on Sea to visit Jess' newly engaged and newly pregant cousin Karla and her fiance James. Her other cousin Greg, his wife Nicole and their daughter Emily was also there and James' daughter Ella joined us later on. Karla and James had a nice house with a front lawn! Not something you see much of in London. After a nice lunch and some Ritchie catching up time we went for a walk in the local woods. Very pleasant and a bit of a contrast to the thick bush at home. Then James talk us and Greg out for a tour around the waterfront pubs. Karla and Nicole, both being pregant had to stay home and babysit. Marcus sampled some more fine ales and then we jumped back on the train to London.

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London Week 2

Week 2 in London it was nice to be a bit more settled so we could focus on the job hunt as well as doing some sightseeing. Sunday we decided to explore the local neighbourhood of Islington. Very nice shops and plenty of Cafes and restaurants. Nice to just sit out in front of a restaurant drinking a beer and watching the world go by.

We decided we should get into some proper job hunting and sightseeing this week. Most mornings consisted of scouring the internet for jobs and calling up agents to see what they had for us. Afternoons were for sightseeing. Monday we went in to look at Buckingham Palace from the outside. Jess wasn't particularly impressed. What sort of palace doesn't even have turrets? We then went on to wander around the neighbourhood and see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Once we had the perspective from the ground we wanted to see if they looked any better from up high so we made our way across the Thames to the London Eye. It certainly was big and we found it amusing that a trip on the Eye was called a "flight". Overall it was a worthwhile experience but there probably wasn't quite enough to see as we would have liked. Also it was quite slow. Good chance to soak up the views in every direction. Worth doing but I don't know that we will be going back. More interesting were all the buskers lined up like statues along the riverfront. You put some money in their container and they perform away to you. Don't see too much of that at home. Must take a lot of perseverance to stay that still and with all the competition it is surprising they earn much more than it costs to apply all their makeup every day.

Tuesday was another day for getting on a high. This time we went to visit St Paul's Cathedral. Nice to just walk around and looking at all the architecture statues and tombs. Particularly interesting to see that a number of other cathedrals had stood on the site and it was only the Great Fire of London which gave us the current incarnation. We had a try at the whispering gallery. Marcus could hear Jess but not vice-versa (for a change...). We were able to get up to the Stone Gallery and have a look outside around London, but the Golden Gallery at the very top was closed so we will have to make another journey back one day to have a look at that.

The next few days was all about interviews with recruitment agents during the day so no sightseeing. Also with the G20 protests on in town (vandalism of a bank included) we decided it might be best to stay around Islington. However we did manage to get into the city in the evening to have dinner with Robin and Mary near Leicester Square. Was good to learn some tricks for new arrivals in London and hear what they had been up to.

Saturday we met up with Emma and Tim and had lunch at Covent Garden. It was the sunniest day we had seen and there were plenty of people around there. We then joined them (along with Tim's rugby mates) at The Southerner. That is the Speights Bar in London. Was nice that we had seen it when it was a container in Mosgiel and now it is a fully operating bar in London. Complete with Speights, Super 12 and Burger Rings. We thought we would last a little bit longer before visiting an ex-pat bar but we had fun nonetheless.

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