London Baby Yeah!

Well, it has been awhile since we set foot on English soil and it has been an interesting and frustrating month!

Lets start with the good stuff though, one of the many reasons we came to London - Tina and Ollys wedding. What a perfect day it was, not only was the weather stunning, so was the venue and the bride and groom. Both of them glowed and it was a fun action packed wedding, complete with a dance off between the groom and best man - very VERY funny.

Since the excitement of the big event of the year we have been putting our heads down trying to find work and a place to live, desperate to get some pounds under our belts (well pounds in our bank accounts and not on our waistlines to be exact).

After a long SLOW process both Chris and I finally found work after 3 weeks of solid hunting, Chris as a Horticultural Manager at Enfield Council and me as a Project Officer for the London Cycleways Project based in Camden. We actually haven't started working yet, but this Monday is the day...it will be hard after 3 months of sleep ins and doing what we want.

We thought that finding a job was the hard bit all over and done with, who would have guessed that finding a flat would be even more time consuming and loaded with annoyances. I guess we were always going to be hard to please as we needed to ensure that we could both commute relatively easy to our jobs (and we work in completely different areas), wanted a friendly flat that came with a lounge - yes most places rent out the lounge room here to make more money! 2 weeks rolled by and we were becoming a tad desperate. Fortunately yesterday we found a place right in the heart of Tower Gate (for those of you who know were the Tower Bridge, Tower of London and London Bridge are we are right in the midst of it). No lounge, but a fabulous kitchen, dining and private outdoor area made up for that...plus the luxury of having a MASSIVE room with couch, TV, DVD, Internet all to ourselves made it all perfect for our current needs.

Thrown into the mix of job hunting, flat hunting, wedding bits and bobs and trying not to spend NZ dollars we have manged to get out and about just a little to see some of the sights. We had a day walking around Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and other assorted touristy spots. London does have some wonderful attractions, all of which I am sure could me more enjoyable if we could afford to go inside! We have plenty of time though so the top ones can get added to the "to do" list.

We were lucky enough to be in London at the same time as the Notting Hill Carnival and London put on a stunning weekend weather wise so it would have been rude not to go for a look. It was HEAVING with people, like I am talking 2 million...not a place to go if you hate crowds and strangers sweaty backs nudging into you. All that aside it was a great spectacle and a lot of fun.

I guess reality is now upon us as we are about to enter the workforce again...it will be heads down for a bit while we replenish our bank accounts and get on our feet again. Luckily the rugby world cup is about to start so if we are at home saving we will have some quality sports to watch - go the All Blacks!!! We are very fortunate people as we have had super friends here in London that put us up, fed us, bought us drinks and made us feel loved...thank you Carissa and Steve and Tina and Olly, you are fab friends and we will pay you back somehow soon!

Until the next exciting instalment (well it will probably be boring and about work and sport to be honest...) Love to you all!