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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