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I thought it was about time for an update, and having just uploaded photos onto our computer (finally) I figured what better a way to shape this blog.

I think we are finally starting to settle into a groove over here.  David has now got full time work as a teaching assistant, so we both toddle off on the tube in the morning and part on our (sometimes) merry way.  London manages to keep us pretty busy. There's always something to do; we now almost have to plan in an empty day just to ensure we're not too knackered.

So here's some pics of our life over the past couple of months here in the big smoke (they're a bit out of order, sorry, but I'm about to throw this computer out the window and can't deal with changing the order).

This weekend David and I went to a really neat architecture exhibition.  It's probably the first exhibition/attraction we've paid for in a long time.  After that we managed to get into St Paul's Cathedral for free - just to balance things out.  They have a free organ recital on a Sunday afternoon, so off we toddled.  Saved us 32 pounds.

The first West End show I've been to.  David didn't come along, I instead went with a friend.  It was stunning - the 'horse' was a puppet, moved by three people.  It was easy to forget you weren't looking at a real animal.

We've discovered a Vietnamese restaurant in one of our favourite parts of town.  Fittingly, it's our favourite meal out here.  Takes me right back to Vietnam.  Hands down my all-time favourite food.

A flower market in Hoxton we discovered a few weeks ago.  We'd seen people with flowers wrapped in brown paper walking the streets for a few weeks and couldn't figure it out.  This particular Sunday, we figured it out.  It was heaving; with both people and plants.

It sounds a bit strange but we've walked a few cemeteries since hitting this side of the world, either because you have to walk through them to get to where you need to go, or just because they look interesting.  Being such an old country, cemeteries have an incredible history to them.  This cemetery was by far the coolest one I've seen, it was overrun by plants, with grave stones falling at every angle.

David with all our gear at Swansea beach.  A photo further down has more info about our time in Swansea.

David from a really tall building in Swansea.

Houseboats line the river close to where we live.

One weekend we took the train down to Portsmouth for the day.  The wind howled and battered us well and truly, so we sheltered in a cosy pub for lunch.   

Our local river walk.  It's about one minute from our flat, and meanders along for miles and miles. 

The local wildlife

More of the local wildlife.  This is also along the river, just looking out to the marshes on the other side.

Out for a picnic at Hampstead Heath.  We went for a walk and got lost - in an inner city park! London knows how to do parks, I give it that.

Our flatmates (they're not a couple, just good friends)

This was from Glasgow.  We went to Wales for a few nights before the drama in France.  Normally the Wales trip would've got a blog post to itself, but I think I've only just recovered from the France drama and remembered we did something else in our mid-term holiday break.

We spent too long trying to capture a Robin on camera, only to end up with this reasonably crappy one while it stands on pavement.  They were flittering all around us, in the bushes, and are one of the coolest little birds.

Also in Wales, this time in Swansea.  Up a giant building (the only one in the city - it had an amazing view).  While in Swansea we did couchsurfing (where you stay at someone's house for free and then eventually we would hopefully return the favour to other travellers).  In this case, it wasn't a house; it was a caravan with mud on the walls, in a commune, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  It was actually really cool; the couple was lovely, and it turned a reasonably boring city into a pretty neat experience.

The Mediterranean.  After the drama of the van blowing up, we frantically tried to figure out how we could get back to London in time for work on Monday; bearing in mind we didn't get the van back to its original location until 6.30am on the Sunday.  Fatigue set in and we gave up trying to figure it out so had a sleep, only to wake to a gorgeous day.  Giving up all hope we could get back to London in time, we chucked in the Monday and spent the afternoon strolling the Mediterranean.  Gorgeous.  

Our weekends recently have been filled with sunshine (in stark comparison to last year, apparently, when London was crippled by a blizzard).   So we've headed out to explore.  This particular weekend involved us walking along the river, then heading to an area which could almost compete with Wellington for the amount of cafes per head. 

(I can't seem to change the order of the photos).  The Mediterranean again.  I think David's hair says it all.  Though we are still smiling, just.


- Hana

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Time to take a breath and reflect, and laugh. Or cry. I'm not sure which point we're at just yet.

Picture this. Midnight (or close to); David, our friend Sarah and myself sitting up front of a van driving down the French motorway. A click and a tick or two. An acceleration of the motor. And then smoke.

"Run. Now!" I exclaim (there may have been an expletive thrown in there). David and I bowl out of the passenger door, right into the lane of a French motorway and we run. Somewhere in there Sarah manages to swerve the van into a lay by and get the hand break on. 

So we run. And then we stand back and watch. While nothing happens. The smoke fizzles out. The engine sits silent. And so do we. 

"What now?" One of us mutters, hoping another has an answer. 

The plan was to fly into the south of France (this much we successfully achieved), pick up Sarah's van which had been sitting in a family friend's back garden waiting for her eventual arrival and drive it back to London. Only here we are, sitting on the side of the motorway in the freezing cold unable to figure out what's next. It's a Saturday night and we need to be back in London for work on Monday (already a few people have called us foolish since the drive up France alone was a 12-hour trek at best.  Last laugh's on them). We do the only thing we know how to do; inspect the engine for all of two minutes, realise we are as useless as each other and with our tail between our legs, ask for help. The family friend who we'd left an hour and a half ago gets a pleading call. 

He comes and rescues us. Bringing a tow bar we are able (to mine and Sarah's astonishment) hook the three tonne van up to his tiny car and he tows us off the motorway. And onwards back to his place. 

Only the adventure doesn't stop there. A third of the way in we are pulled over by the police. On a back road, at 4 in the morning (by this stage). Instead of one lone cop having a chat to us and letting us on our way - as you'd expect in New Zealand - four police officers armed with machine guns roll out of their car. It turns out they are nice enough and, understandably, just want to know what's going on so let us off on our merry way, once our hearts have stopped pounding. Not the first time tonight that our nerves have been shattered. 

We continue. Another third done and the tow bar snaps off. On a blind corner, up a hill. We can but laugh. And again, ask for help. Only this plea costs us. With no other option, we call a tow truck and he takes the van back to the start, just as the sun is rising on a new day. 

David lies back and catches up on some well needed sleep, as we train through France. Not the plan, but not a bad alternative. 

- Hana