A Christmas Carol

Merry Christmas! 

The sunshine we woke to. No snow in sight, but can't complain when the sun shines all day. 

Christmas Day walk through the British countryside. 

Making a gingerbread house. 

The final product. 

Christmas turkey roast. Keeping it traditional. 

Christmas feast. 

Not quite Christmas Day, but we went ice skating underneath fairy lights in Hyde Park. Magical. 

Very strange to not be at home with the family, but not a bad alternative. Missing you all xx

In Praise of Folly

Things that make me laugh or smile in London:

The man who bikes to work each morning dressed head to toe in the latest cycling gear (fluoro jacket included), but doesn't wear a helmet.  It's legal to not wear a helmet here - apparently it's odd that it is illegal in New Zealand - so most people don't. But this man makes me laugh; he's all up with the play, and obviously understands the risk involved given he wears the fluoro gear, but a helmet is clearly a step too far. 

Calling fish and chips your national dish and then cooking the chips before they are ordered. Maybe they are supposed to be soggy?

The tube. If I didn't laugh I'd cry. 

The price of fruit and veges. See above. It's not unusual to pay £2 for four apples. That works out to be $1 an apple. But then you can buy a fully prepared dinner for about the same price. All other food is much cheaper than home (2 litres of milk is £1), just not fresh fruit and veges. Go figure. 

The sheer number of kebab shops. 

The price, quality and range of books available in op shops. I could create a well-stocked library for next to nothing here. Amazing. Certainly the cheapest entertainment you can find here, by a long way. 

The cost of tickets to any football match you might actually want to go to. Think 200 pounds plus. Per person. 

When we figure out we don't have to pay crazy tourist prices to see something here. Instead of paying £30 (each) to go up the Shard - Europe's tallest building, with amazing views over the city - we went to the bar on level 35 and had a drink. It only cost us the £4 for the glass of wine. Instead if paying £18 (each) to check out Westminster Abby we went to the choir service for free; hearing the Westminster choir in the process. Instead of paying the £13 (each) to look around The Globe Theatre we paid £5 to watch a Shakespeare play there instead. And saw an amazing play in the process.  We have a blanket rule; never pay just to enter a building. It's working out brilliantly, usually there's a way to see it, or at least a bit of it for free. And if there's not, well there's usually an equally as cool, just slightly less touristy, building around the corner. 

The way people treat their cats. On more than one occasion I've seen someone panicking and shadowing their cat as their beloved decides to walk out of the safety of their two metre x two metre front patio and onto the footpath. It's a dangerous world out there. 

Christmas time. Fairy lights galore. Suddenly all those slightly odd and naff Christmas decorations back home feel perfectly acceptable, and not in the least bit tacky, here. Seriously. 

The person who dares to speak on the tube. And the looks they are given. 

Shop assistants. For a country which has mastered their pleases, thank you's, and queuing, their shop assistants are, quite simply, a joke. It's not uncommon for them to be having a conversation with the teller beside them while you pay. Or, if they're particularly daring, on their phone. Consider yourself lucky if you even get a glance. 

The Trial

London strikes. Again. 

Just when we were feeling like we might be able to sit back and start to take in London, the city we have chosen to call home for a while, it has decided to bite back; in the form of a nasty Australian (I see the irony). 

Just over a week ago (at 5pm on Friday, to be precise), David was told not to return to work on Monday (or any other day of the week). Two weeks out from Christmas. No notice; no real reason given. 

It's London. In a city of eight million, no single person is important. I've struggled with this since we got here - it's a feeling I've never experienced before; not in New Zealand, nor Australia, nor Thailand, nor even India. It's hard to put into words, you can just feel it. And on Friday, David certainly did. 

Who knows, it may not have been working out, David's boss might've had a mate who was struggling to find work, or maybe he was just having a bad week. Either way, because we are in London, at 5pm on Friday, with no warning, it's acceptable to boot someone out. TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 

But, David picked himself up again and has gone out and found casual work to keep him going until our two week Christmas holiday. London is the reason he lost his job, but it's also the reason he was able to pick himself up again so quickly. A world of extremes. And it is a world, not just a city. 

Bring on the holidays. We deserve it. 

- Hana

The Consolations of Philosophy

On Tuesday we celebrated our six month anniversary. With nervous excitement, this time six months ago, David and I embarked on a journey we couldn't quite explain, with no real plans. To travel: but was that enough of a plan? 

I've spent a fair bit of time mulling over why I want to travel; what's the point, I suppose. But six months have passed, interest on our student loans have kicked in, and I'm still unable to answer that question with any true philosophical answer. Other than it makes me happy. I'm not saying I wasn't happy not travelling (work out that triple negative), it's more that this feels like the right thing now. Deep. 

And so, with a smile on my face (most of the time), we've walked the streets of nine countries, smiled with the locals; frowned with some of them, and spent many an hour watching the world pass by from trains, planes, cars, bikes, scooters, tuk tuks, and boats. 

And so the journey continues. Still with no real plan; but with happiness as the driver. 

- Hana 

The Hours

The first of December. We have been counting down to this day for a month. The weeks, the days, the hours; they have passed like marbles through a highly viscous substance, but day has finally come and we are moving out.We awoke this morning, somewhat fittingly, to a kitchen spattered with spilt yoghurt, strewn beer cans and the usual overloaded vessels conscripted as ashtrays the night before (no explanation was given as to the yoghurt).

 When things like this actually happen, when that marble eventually breaks through, it can be easy to miss it, or worse, to be underwhelmed; but not this time.  After two intensive weeks of searching, viewing and hoping, we have chanced upon the perfect place. It ticks all the boxes we wanted ticked (there were quite a few), and is affordable too thanks to it being a subsidised rent. (Oh yeah, the only downside is it's a two month lease, but we'll take what we can get thank you London).

We now live, dare I say 'reside', alongside Finsbury Park in North London. The place actually seems almost grotesquely flash and modern after our previous flat but it's really just your typical white walls and grey carpet job.We have a larger, nicely furnished room with a window overlooking the street, with a blind (no old sheet and paper clips required here).  We also have a lounge and dining room again which is a bit of a novelty.

The location is great as Hana can walk to her work across the park and I will have to spend less time on the infernal tube.  We apparently share the place with an Aussie chef,  who we are yet to meet but who is very nice we hear. Some of our friends live in the area and it just has a nicer vibe than Leyton - fewer kebab shops, more parks and pubs.

Well that's all from me right now. A slightly more upbeat post (you'll be glad to see mum). Hana is off to a hen's night and I am off to hang out with the resulting other halves of said hen's night.

Dave

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Yes this one is based around
the Wonderland which Alice found
and while knowledge of the story will help
I must confess; I've never read it myself

Down the rabbit hole indeed
We've been burrowing in London for the last six weeks
and they have been surreal to say the least

I spend two hours of my day underground
with a crowd of white rabbits; who all seem to be late
for a very important date. There's certainly no time
To say hello, at any rate

London has the power to make us feel so small
gazing up to the top of The Shard
as though we have imbibed a shrinking potion
but also so tall, so large
hunching beneath the curving doors of a crowded train
as though we have consumed a magical cake
(hermetically sealed in layers of cellophane
and bought for 99p from Tesco-Bake)


It felt at times as though we swam against the tide
As we both searched for jobs, bank accounts
and most importantly; somewhere to hide
We have had our moments of despair; our pools of tears
Our days of "what the heck are we doing here?"
But, unlike Alice, we have each other and that makes a world of difference.

However, we are now well entrenched in the Caucus-race together
London's great cycle of capitalist endeavour.
Simply earn, yearn and burn - though not always
in that order (credit cards: will we ever learn?)

Our new flatmates are interesting characters
One is from Kazakhstan and smokes more than Fred Astaire
The other is as Italian as sex and cigarettes
with a penchant for lounging around (the kitchen) in his underwear

Just like Alice's Wonderland; spaces here defy logic
Is our kitchen a lounge or our lounge a kitchen?
Our flatmates certainly believe it is a lounge given the fact
that they never cook anything more elaborate than a Cup-a-Soup: chicken

Neighbouring Jamaicans argue through the wall on special occasions
Jamaican me crazy mun!
For breakfast it's Home Brand bran cereal; with added raisins
(saving money is so much fun)
In three weeks were moving to the other side of town
We have to do it all over again
Now that we are finally settled down
But this time it will probably be in the rain

A Tale of Two Cities

Update time. We've been in London just over a month, and we're surviving. Phew. (Confession time: there have been a few calls home for money. Setting up here doesn't come cheap).

London is a crazy city and I am quickly forming a real love-hate relationship with it. It doesn't stop, and I fear it doesn't know when, or how, to ever stop, or just take a moment to breath. Unfortunately, much of our daily interaction with all those busy Londoners comes on the tube. A particularly undelightful place, where every man and woman is out for themselves. Head down, move forward. Head down, ignore. Head down, no smiles. In fact frown, if you must.  It appals me how few people offer up their seat for an elderly person, a pregnant woman, a disabled person, or an adult with a young child. I usually come away from the tube angry. Unfortunately, this is where London seems to be at its worst. And unfortunately we rely heavily on the tube. 

However, there is a world outside of the tube (I have to remind myself that when I'm cramed under someone's armpit, with another person's elbow digging into my side). My work is going great - I'm loving every moment of it. Well most moments. The people are lovely, and supportive. The only negative is that I have to catch the tube there every morning. 

David has also just landed a job - stared today in fact - working with a builder doing loft conversions. It's only his first day today, so time will tell with that one. We will keep you posted. 

And in our spare time we're getting out and about, seeing history we've only read in books. A definite 'pinch me' moment came when we were sitting in Westminster Abbey for a choir service, with the Wesminster Abbey choir singing hymns and the organ's tunes filling the church.  So while Londoners don't seem to know how to stop, we definitely do. As far as I'm concerned, London can bustle past me at whatever speed it so desires, as long as I can sit in a church and listen to beautiful music. 

The Way We Live Now

We're getting there. Two weeks ago we made it to London, here to set up camp for a while. Only camping in London gets complicated, quickly. There's jobs to find, flats to hunt, banks to wrestle with and many a British bureaucratic nightmare to yell at. 

So far, a flat has been found; we're in a largish bedroom in Leyton, in London's east. It's a bit of a melting pot community, similar to Wellington's Newtown. The flat is nice enough and suits us well; cheap and close to the tube. 

A bank has been joined. Though not without some annoyances along the way. And we're only allowed the most basic of bank accounts - one where money can be put in, and taken out (but only at the right ATM machine). And don't get me started on their security check questions - seven minutes later, I am finally able to tell the man on the phone all I want to do is change my address. 

I've found a job (and David is well on the way). This is definitely the most exciting. I'm working as a teacher's assistant at a school in Islington (five stops away on the tube, pretty ideal). I will mainly be working one-on-one with a 10-year-old who has speech and language issues. Start Monday. And best of all? I only work from 8.45-3.15, Monday to Friday. I'm looking forward to it - obviously far removed from journalism, but I'm excited. 

And then there's getting to grips with all the other paperwork - national insurance numbers, umbrella companies (I'm still not even entirely sure what this is, and yet I have one), recruitment agencies, crb checks...

It's been stressful, but we have managed to do some fun stuff as well. On Monday we spent much of the day looking at dinosaur bones at the Natural History Museum, and on Tuesday we explored Soho and West End before heading to the British Museum where, among other things, the Rosetta Stone is on display as well as impressive marble scenes from Greece's Pantheon.  And last week we got see A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Globe. If I had a bucket list this would have been on there. Beyond belief cool. 

London is crazy. Every now and again either David or I will turn to the other one and say "we're living in London".  Reality hasn't quite set in yet. I don't know if it will, but in the meantime I'm going to make the most of being in one of the world's largest, craziest and most interesting cities. 

 

Turns out London Bridge isn't the bridge in the background, it's the boring bridge we're standing on. 

Awesome musicians at The Globe. 

And actors. 

A squirrel in Hyde Park. 

David and a t-Rex. Hardcore. 

Hieroglyphics at the British Museum. 

Marble work from the Pantheon. 

I can't remember who this is. I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's a Greek god. 

A couch in the kitchen of our flat. It wouldn't be a London flat if every spare space wasn't used. 

- Hana

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A few more snaps from our time in Portugal.  Unfortunately they've all got a bit muddled.

We spent three days in Lisbon at the end of our trip.  Lisbon was a great city where we seemed to wander from church to church (each one equally as grand as the last.  Unfortunately it's quite hard to capture that in photos - but I guess that's why we're here and not looking at photos of it).  

Lisbon.  I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect it to be as hilly as it was.  It made for a very pretty skyline.

Consalacao.  All those dots are the sunbathers on the rocks (I've mentioned this in a previous post).  All the more funny since there isn't actually any sun, and still they're fighting over a spot.

Berlenga Island.  David, Nell, Murray and I caught a boat to Berlenga Island for the day.  Easily the roughest boat trip I've been on - sick bags were used.  Not by me, though.  The island itself was very pretty, aqua blue water and then a very barren landscape.  It's a Unesco site, so it's well protected.

Admiring the view.  It was really great to spend two weeks with Nell and Murray.

Berlenga Island

And again

There were tiles everywhere; usually on the facade of houses.  This one was in a church though; the blue and white tiles seemed to mainly be reserved for the church.

Walking along a wall guarding a castle in Obidos.  

Portugal in a mouthful.  An espresso, a warm bun out of the oven and a paste de nata (custard tart).  

Consalacao.  David's makeshift sun shelter - we decided to join those on the beach, opting out of lying on jagged rocks.   Call us tourists.

Every time I see this I laugh.  On Lisbon's waterfront, a small blowhole to allow waves to pass under the walkway would give you quite a shock.

My turn.

Lisbon. David's pastel colours matching the pastel of the streets.

Lisbon.

Lisbon.  There was some great graffiti in this city.

Lisbon.

Lisbon.

Subtle graffiti in Lisbon.

Lisbon. Outside the Jeronimos Monastery, dating back to the early 1600s. 

Lisbon.


- Hana

Horton Hears a Who

A glimpse into our two weeks in Norway and Sweden.

Our first night camping.  We thought we'd struck gold with this camp site - in the end it ended up being one of the dumber ones, mainly due to the fact it was just in a layby off quite a major road.

I took this photo on our first day on the road, but I think it sums up quite nicely a lot that Norway was about.  I never got over how much water there was in that country, be it a lake, stream, waterfall or fjord.

Our second night camping; roughing it up a little more.  We went for a swim in the lake here - when I say swim, I mean I made it to my knees before chickening out.  David didn't even make it that far.

We bought a camp cooker our first day in Norway - it was the best investment of the entire trip (that and the coffee plunger we managed to get for free)

A beautiful walk up a mountain.  To the right of the picture you can see the zig zag lines of the ski slopes (obviously not operating).  There were houses dotted everywhere, but barely anyone around.  It must be seriously buzzing in winter.

Lunch with a view - after walking up said mountain.

Our third camping spot.  We did think about sleeping in the tent, but our nerves got the better of us.  This was probably my favourite campsite - dubbed fairy-land, for all the magic in the air.  

Fairyland.  It sounds really boring, but the moss on the ground was amazing.  It was like its own little world - I kept imaging Dr Suess' Horton Hears a Who.

Spot the houses.  Green roofs were a common site in Norway.  I want one.

Watching the world go by.

A very cool walk to a waterfall.  The walk itself was what impressed all of us.

Another camp site.  By this stage I'd lost count which night it was but it was our first site of a fjord.  We started at one on the east coast in Oslo, and then made our way over to the west coast, and here.

The North Sea (at a bit of a stretch).  The water was actually more fresh water than it was salt water.  And freezing.

Iain and David contemplating life - and what better a spot to do it?

We often had breakfast, lunch and dinner with amazing views.  This time it was beers - a serious luxury in this country.  At almost $3 a bottle for their cheapest, we would spend a good half-hour in the supermarket weighing up the pros and cons of getting beer.  Beer usually won, in fact I think it always won.

Another stunning view after a walk up a mountain.  Unfortunately it clouded over, and rained just as we hit the summit.

The rugged west coast (spot the David)

Lunch with a view.  This was a pitstop in the middle of a very long day of driving - and may or may not have entailed us driving a dirt track, quite possibly only meant for walkers.  I wish I could say this was the only time this happened.

Our first night in Sweden (actually this is the morning after our first night in Sweden).  We woke to the lake covered in mist.

It quickly cleared to be a gorgeous morning.  Had one of our best swims here.

We spent almost an hour driving out a peninsula on Sweden's largest lake and finally came to the tip of it where a large concrete jetty jutted out into the water.  Big enough to fit the van, we momentarily looked at each other and quickly decided that the jetty had to become our night's camping spot.
The lake was so large you couldn't see the other side, the left of this photo sort of shows that.

Many a sunset was witnessed.  Not so many sunrises were seen, however.

The reflection in the van goes some of the way to give away the view they're admiring.  

Man makes fire.  An almost nightly activity for the boys.  They seemed to take great pleasure in it, and we took great pleasure in eating the food cooked over it.  

Our two weeks in Norway and Sweden ended with a couple of nights in Stockholm - a seriously cool city.

- Hana