Bank holiday weekend

In true British style we decided to escape London for the long weekend. Flat mate Monique’s parents were living on a maize farm out in Oxford so we were lucky enough to organize a crash pad for the night. First we traveled via the oxford tube (its actually a bus) to oxford, the trip took about an hour and a half and we arrived at 2 pm. The trip was very scenic from the top story of the double decker as we passed through some quaint English villages. We were starving when we arrived so picked up supplies from the local sainsbury’s and headed down to a lawn near Christ Church college. Oxford is essentially a students city, with approximately 37 colleges dotted around the city. First impressions of Oxford are its majestic old buildings, namely colleges and churches, surrounded by narrow cobble stone lanes. Our first destination was Christ Church college and cathedral one of the jewels in oxfords’ crown. It was like stepping onto the scene of the Harry Potter movie with magnificent edifices, manicured lawns and an air of intelligence wofting around every corner. Christ church college was also the setting for the inspiration of the famous novel Alice and Wonderland. Next we caught a bus to the countryside, Moniques parent’s picked us up from the bus stop and we went to the farm they were looking after. They were very welcoming and we enjoyed a lamb and sausages on a coal fired BBQ whilst watching the Aussies beating S.A. Everything was great apart the fact my allergies really played up big time. :-/ Next day we had another half day wandering around oxford, we checked out the Camera Radcliff and climbed a church steeple with great views of the whole city. Back to London, we headed to shepherds bush to Ves Bar to listen to live acoustic guitar over a few quiet beers. Back home Sarah whipped up a classic vegetarian meal - falafels and pita bread for myself, Nats, Kath and Mace.
Day 3 of the long weekend. Tom and I went on our big 19k weekend run out to Richmond and everyone else got their fitness fix as well. Once fully recovered we headed to the Nottinghill Carnival. This is the recipe for the carnival; In a large suburb combine 10,000 police officers, 1 million people, 1000 floats, a large mix of colour, 5000 simultaneous parties, music that makes your insides rattle, 80,000 litres of rum, a lot of dry humping and a dash of island flavour. Mix well and bake for 12 hours. It was madness and quite overwhelming. We managed to get out (what a mission!) by about 3. Shattered we went home and crashed after filling ourselves with Lasagne, what a weekend!

AB's, Greenwhich, Jazz and Richmond

Playing a bit of catchup with the blog but things have been really busy for the past few weeks... sorry!! How is everyone? Happy and well I trust... I hear NZ is having some sweeeet snow!
We have been making the most of all the time we have, and last weekend was jam-packed, yet was totally perfect! we are finding there is so much to London and friends tell us all the time of things to checkout and we are never at a loss of stuff to do.
Last Saturday we got up early went for bigs runs, then took off too the Speights pub to watch the AB's game with every other kiwi in London... bumped into a few familiar faces, had a few pints and a pie's and watched the AB's dominate the South Africans. I could of easily stayed in the cosy pub, but we had made plans to checkout Greenwhich, so off we went for the afternoon and we werent disappointed!! Greenwhich was incredible. Had a really laid back feel, and was super cute! we went to the markets, and they had the delicious food for sale, cupcakes, chocolates, and all things scrumptious... we then took off to the Meridian Line, and took a few corny photos... and spent the afternoon laughing. After dinner at a cheap and nasty noodle house, we sussed out an underground Jazz bar that were having an emerging talent night, and watched some amazing live acts. Caught one of the last tubes back home, Huge day, slept well.
Sunday we got up and early again and had borrowed bikes from a friend Tom, and took the cycle path to Richmond. Took about an hour and a half on the bikes from Hammersmith, but was a beautiful sunny Sunday in London and was great to get out and about... Richmond has the same sort of feel as Greenwhich, very laid back, and they had a world music festival on the river so to chill and listen to the music was lovely. We had a picnic in the Richmond park, then headed home. A friend from NZ was coming over for dinner so got home, and too our absolute surprise the girls (Nats, Kath, Mon and Anna) were back from their European holiday. So it was a late night catching up with everyone and great to have them home... what an awesome weekend. xxx

london life

well heelloo lovelies!

How is everyone back home? sounds like there has been some mad awful weather in NZ. hope it's all cleared up now... keep the emails coming, and skpye calls as its so nice to hear about 'normal' life, and stuff from home.

Cant believe we have been here for two and a half weeks now, the time has really just zooooomed by, and each day has been cocca with job searching and sightseeing.

there is so dam much to do in this city, and we haven't even begun to scratch the surface hardly!
We are Loving it over here, it's fast paced and this crazy exhilarating ride that intoxicates and delights... people say they get addicted to London and I can see why, a different thing to see and do at every moment. its mad!

Last weekend we took off too the coast and did a 15km walk over the seven sisters white chalk cliffs from Seaford to EastBourne. The wind was the strongest ever, and you could actually lean into it and it would keep you standing. The walk itself was quite an easy one, and was nice to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. After the walk, we then caught the train to Brighton and checked it out. Very different to the seaside in NZ, but so delightful all the same, they even have a theme park on the end of the pier!! Very English!

During the week we have done some amazing things - we checked out the Tate Modern, and bestill my beating heart, I saw artworks by Piccaso, Matisse, Monet, and many more of the greats that I'd only ever seen in books and studied at Uni... there was a moment where I was like an excited child, pinching myself to make sure all this was reality!
We also went to Westminster Abby again, but this time went to a choir service inside the church itself, and it was unbelievable, the most massively ornate beautiful church I've ever been in, and the choir sounded like angels, and I got goosebumps... Hamish and I just smirked at each other in disbelief...
We went to the Science Museum and the exhibitions were all interactive and so well thought out, even for a novice science person I still loved it and learnt loads! Hamish was in his ELEMENT! We also went to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and wandered around the Soho area, and down along the South Bank of the river at night. It's just as impressive by night time as the day! Yesterday we went to a beer festival in Earls Court and sampled a fair few beers and Ciders from all over the world, it was a good laugh. They had a pub quiz which was ridiculously hard and think we only got one right out of twenty questions. From the Beer Fest we then mossied on to a party on a houseboat on the Thames, zipped around in little black cabbies, and double decker buses, then onto Brick Lane for Indian Curries... top night!
Today is very mellow, just a home day.. scones, washing, walk through the parks and a few calls home. Feeling much more settled here. We have got into a routine and its nice to back into running and cooking meals again.
I somehow fluked my way into a job and I start on Wednesday. Its a creative role, in a groovy design agency in London. I'm really excited about, it sounds like I'll be mainly coming up with concepts and working closely with an artworker to do the technical stuff. Sounds extreamly varied too. So we will see how it goes... Starting as a freelancer, and the money is amazing!
Hamish is still on the job hunt, its a bit tedious, the recruitment agents over here seem as though they do NO work whatsoever!! So will keep you updated on what happens there.

Anyways better go, looking at heading away next weekend... missing everyone.
lots of love. sarah and hamish. xxx

the london love affair begins...

Flight to London was sweet, didn’t get much sleep though. The weather was fine over Europe so we could see city’s like Copenhagen from 30,000 feet. Touchdown, Sarah’s friend Libby was waiting at the airport for us, so it wasn’t too daunting. Had our first experience on the famous London tubes from the airport and surprise, surprise we were delayed for an hour with signal failure. Got out at the Hammersmith stop, it was very awkward lugging all our gear. First thing we noticed when we walked out of the tube station was not the number of people, but the ethnic diversity. We also noticed the famous London black cabs, the monopoly board place names, and the police cars with sirens blearing speeding around every corner. With rough directions in hand we eventually made it to Claxton grove. First thing Sarah wanted to do was go to the Pub with her mate, but I was really jet lagged (close to 22 hour without sleep) so unpacked and crashed after saying a bleary hello to the flat mates. We are staying in a flat in Hammersmith with about 6 others (I think!) who are mainly Aussies. Nice digs and the kitchen overlooks a graveyard.
Since being in London we have either been checking out the sights, catching up with mates or applying for jobs (in no particular order). The sights are definitely like walking around a postcard; West Minster Abbey, London Bridge, Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, Tower of London, the London eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the list of iconic sights seems endless. The weather has been outstanding in our first week, but I have heard that it does rain in London sometimes! ;-). The days are really long at the moment and the temperature has been as high as 28 deg. Negotiating the tube system has been fun and it doesn’t take long to pick up, as long as you have your Oyster card your home and hose!
Sarah has already scoped out some of the markets. From the endless food stalls at Burough market to the weird and wackey at Cambdon, to the trendy and quaint at Portabello. London’s got it all.
Hammersmith is a really nice area and we are lucky to have mates and family (Jen) close by who can give us a few handy tips. We have already had a few traditional Kiwi BBQ’s and English style ciders on the lawn in Hyde Park. London is surprisingly a really pretty place and there are Parks everywhere and lots of running tracks up and down the Thames. The inner city is modern yet still retains its historical charms. It would be hard to get bored in London, because there isn’t a shortage of things to do, places to see, or people to catch up with. I am still waiting for my invitation to have tea with the Queen!