sunday stroll in shoreditch getting arty...

So who would have thought that the sun does come out in London... ? Well it actually has over the past few days. We managed to catch a spectacular sunset over the river Thames in Hammersmith whilst sampling a fine red wine from Chile. Sunday day we decided to get arty and explore some of the world class graffiti that London has to offer around the nooks and crannys of shoreditch. Very very funky.

last few weeks in london town - 2

hey there everyone. how are things back home? Isn’t it strange to think we are mid September already. where has the time gone? Wasn’t it a mighty fine win to the AB's on the weekend??

Hamish and I are well and good, we can now say we have been living in London the past two months... god it really has FLOWN by! The last few weeks we have spent the weekends in London, soaking up all the different facets this city has on offer. We have a few trips lined up in the next month, so its been nice to have some time pottering about.

We have taken a room in the flat with the mount/ohope crew in Hammersmith. Its massive, with heaps of sunlight and big large windows, and lots of space... nice to feel properly settled now... The flatmates are great (Katho, Nats, Anna, Liam and Mon) and we it feels like a family away from home! Lots of baking and laughs!

Hamish is still looking for work, but has a part time job each afternoon to pay the bills, and gives him the mornings to look for engineering work. This week is certainly looking much more promising for him, and I’m certain by the next post he will have something.

We are both back into our fitness in a big way, joined the gym, which is really close to home, so we are trying to get there as much as possible... the gym also has a big pool, and squash courts so nice to try something different, not just running!
Although Hamish is training for a marathon so he's been focusing on that, and is regularly running HUGE distances! Don't know how he does it!

Quite used to Londonlife now, its rush rush rush, and busy wherever you go, can get a bit exhausting but feeling slowly and surely a little more adapted now. Been talking to the family and friends from home quite a bit, and certainly helps with the homesickness! Love to hear from everyone, can sometimes feel a million miles away! Missing home is a funny old thing.. sometimes I just crave the beach, and some sunshine! As a friend put it, a true blue waihibeachian.

Work is going really really well, Its quite different to back home, I've been doing a lot of digital work here and getting exposed to some major projects so I'm loving learning some new things!

We have seen some great things in the last month, and I have attached a few piccies for you to all have a look at.

* the battersea powerstation (they are building a fully eco town right in london at the old powerstation site, totally fascinating to see the plans and wander around the iconic site. look what they are doing online, its MIND blowing!
* thames festival ( bit of a dud festival however highlights were heaps of tasty food samples and bumped into the harry potter characters)
* Colombian Flower markers - went with the flatties, most beautiful markets I've ever been too! brought two big bunches of Gerbras, an orchid plant, herbs and pots for the window sill in the new room..
*Bristol - Hamish had an interview down there, had the biggest nightmare getting there EVER. Don't think we want to move there!!

We are off to Wales this weekend, then go to Germany on Wednesday for a few nights, then Austria for another couple, will be nice to get out of London and see some new places. Head to Dublin the start of October for a long weekend and stay with some rellies I've never met. Should be goodtimes!

Anyways, I hope everyone is good, keep the emails rolling... would love to hear how everyone is doing. Skype or call whenever.

Can’t wait to see everyone soon.
xxxx

last few weeks in london town

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