First time in England for me - very exciting. Stayed with James' aunt, uncle and cousins. It was so wonderful having hot showers, clean rooms, free internet and healthy food!!!! Not to mention good company. His aunt Lou was fantastic at telling us places to see and giving us the lowdown on where to shop (since we need clothes for warmth in this part of the world, not just for sweat absorbtion). His 14 year old cousin was good at explaining the subtle differences between chavs, indies, normals - apparently everyone fits into a category.
We were completely blasted coming out of the tube in Oxford St at lunch hour - it was like the whole of NZ crammed on one footpath. And if we thought Paris was expensive, London takes the cake (not that we can afford to eat any cake). Lou was very kind letting us make sandwiches at her place for free, so we managed to see some sights without going bankrupt.
And we spent hours on the internet job hunting. After rejecting all the crappy £5.50 per hour tree pruning and summer camp teaching, we scored big time. On the Isle of Wight, couple required for cooking and gardening. I rang the lady, who suggested that we come to the island and meet the family (all expenses paid). So we had a train ride and a ferry ride to the most wonderful little English country garden - type island.
When we arrived at the 17th century farmhouse, I knew we had scored. By the time we had seen the 3 pianos, tennis court, heated swimming pool, organic vege garden, 3 dogs, the enormous painting by Van Dyk in the hallway and the 11 sailing boats, we knew we had scored the jackpot! The family are lovely and have 3 teenage children. Really looking forward to a city-free summer.
We've spent the last week with our good friends Emma and Paul and their gorgeous 9 month old baby. James is completely besotted and has been spotted gurgling, swaying and even singing with babe in arms!! Emma showed us round the Thames and we had a day exploring Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern with a pushchair in tow.
We looked at the completely nutty entry prices: it costs NZ $100 to get in to Madame Tussaud's these days!!! Bonkers. So we went to a cafe instead :)
Today was at the Tower of London. The crown jewels were totally amazing and the highlight of the day. I went round the travelator many times to get a good view of that 500 carat diamond. But after the castles in India, the actual buildings weren't so impressive. More interesting from a history point of view.
Another week until we start earning money. Wohoo!
