I'm back!!

Back again! And, after a quick review of my last blog – written end of October 2011 – I have to ask you to ignore that false promise at the end of it [“I won’t make any promises on the next blogs timing – but it will be before Christmas…”], well at least it’s before this Christmas, Sorry! I don’t know how I’m in Sales & Marketing over-promising and under-delivering like that.

A quick re-cap of my last two months in the UK then – went to Paris for a weekend and ran a half marathon. Emma & I went to Bath to visit Lucy and Tom (another visit coming your way before the end of this year if you are reading this). A weekend in Huntingdon with Seth to watch some top-notch rugby, drink some whisky and celebrate his birthday. Christmas was spent in London with Claire at the Aylward residence. A trip to Amsterdam to bide some time between Christmas and NY with Miss Cave and Hilary before heading up to Edinburgh for Hogmanay to see the new year in; included was a quick dip in the Firth of Forth for Loonydook as part of the traditional Scottish New Year festivities. FREEZING.

I then (temporarily) wrapped things up in London with a night of Burlesque in Camden before jet-setting back to NZ via the UAE to visit Aunty Cathy and Uncle Ron where I got to do things like ride a camel and experience waking up in the middle of the night by prayer call. It was a very busy time (so sorry if I missed out anything I partook in during those two months) and has been for the past six months at home too babies – Congratulations to all those who got hitched, I expect babies to come home to next please!

For now it’s back to globe trotting – in Eastern Europe, more specifically. It’s been a few months of planning and I’m still no closer to a final plan than the first idea I started with; that being just to travel around Eastern Europe… watch this space to see how it pans out.

The first week has begun on the Gold Coast spending time with Dad & Julie and my first London crew all based here now. Fair to say weather has been less than appealing and I even managed to get caught out in the middle of a storm as I walked along the beach at Surfers Paradise the other night – talk about false advertising – washing is currently getting saturated on the line too.

Next stop is Singapore for a few days then onwards to England.

Itinerary below for anybody interested and especially for anyone who wants to come and join!! The more the merrier… Sorry no photos this time, time to pack xxx

13-Jul	Australia	Gold Coast
14-Jul	Singapore	Singapore
15-Jul	Singapore	Singapore
16-Jul	Singapore	Singapore
17-Jul	England	London
18-Jul	England	London
19-Jul	England	London
20-Jul	England	Brighton
21-Jul	England	Brighton
22-Jul	England	Brighton
23-Jul	England	London
24-Jul	Croatia	Dubrovnik
25-Jul	Montenegro	Kotor
26-Jul	Montenegro	Kotor
27-Jul	Albania	Tirane
28-Jul	Albania	Berat
29-Jul	Albania	Sarande
30-Jul	Albania	Sarande
31-Jul	Greece	Meteora
1-Aug	Greece	Meteora
2-Aug	Greece	Ios
3-Aug	Greece	Ios
4-Aug	Greece	Ios
5-Aug	Greece	Santorini
6-Aug	Greece	Santorini
7-Aug	Greece	Santorini
8-Aug	Greece	Athens
9-Aug	Greece	Athens
10-Aug	Hungary	Budapest
11-Aug	Hungary	Budapest
12-Aug	Hungary	Budapest
13-Aug	Slovenia	Bled
14-Aug	Slovenia	Bled
15-Aug	Slovenia	Ljubljana
16-Aug	Croatia	Zagreb
17-Aug	Bosnia Hercegovina	Sarajevo
18-Aug	Bosnia Hercegovina	Sarajevo
19-Aug	Bosnia Hercegovina	Mostar
20-Aug	Serbia	Belgrade
21-Aug	Serbia	Belgrade
22-Aug	Kosovo	Prishtina
23-Aug	Kosovo	Prishtina
24-Aug	Macedonia	Skopje
25-Aug	Macedonia	Skopje
26-Aug	Macedonia	Skopje
27-Aug	Bulgaria	Sofia
28-Aug	Bulgaria	Sofia
29-Aug	Bulgaria	Veliko Tarnovo
30-Aug	Bulgaria	Varna
31-Aug	Bulgaria	Varna
1-Sep	Romania	Bucharest
2-Sep	Romania	Bucharest
3-Sep	Romania	Transylvania
4-Sep	Romania	Transylvania
5-Sep	Romania	Transylvania
6-Sep	Finland	Helsinki
7-Sep	Finland	Helsinki
8-Sep	Finland	Helsinki
9-Sep	Estonia	Tallinn
10-Sep	Estonia	Tallinn
11-Sep	Estonia	Parnu
12-Sep	Latvia	Riga
13-Sep	Latvia	Riga
14-Sep	Latvia	Riga
15-Sep	Lithuania	Vilnius
16-Sep	Lithuania	Vilnius
17-Sep	Lithuania	Vilnius
18-Sep	Poland	Warsaw
19-Sep	Poland	Warsaw
20-Sep	Poland	Krakow
21-Sep	Poland	Krakow
22-Sep	Poland	Krakow
23-Sep	Slovakia	Bratislava
24-Sep	Slovakia	Bratislava
25-Sep	Slovakia	Bratislava
26-Sep	Austria	Vienna
27-Sep	Austria	Vienna
28-Sep	Austria	Linz
29-Sep	Austria	Linz
30-Sep	Austria	Salzburg
1-Oct	Austria	Salzburg
2-Oct	Croatia	Cesky Krumlov
3-Oct	Croatia	Cesky Krumlov
4-Oct	Germany	Munich
5-Oct	Germany	Munich
6-Oct	Germany	Munich
7-Oct	Germany	Munich

Londres

 So last time I wrote one of these blogs I vowed to you that it wouldn't take me that long to write another one and that I would also, somehow, keep a track of all the stuff I did over here so that I could report it all back in some kind of exciting fashion – I failed. At both. And now I don’t even know where to start…

I decided to get super touristy immediately and headed to the Tower of London with Aimee and Scotty (just like old times!) to ooh and ahh over the crown jewels and I only slightly daydreamt about the day that I will get to wear them when Harry finally realizes that yes I am the love of his life and he can’t bear to be without me a moment longer. Watch this space – no sightings yet.

I escaped the riots in the city for a day and went to visit a friend out in the countryside where we wined and dined in quaint little pubs along the Thames for the day. We went for a jog along the canals and plans were hatched to head to Paris in November for a half marathon and a girls weekend away. Back then it seemed so far away – now it's in a few weeks.

We managed to score some last minute tickets to a Jimmy Carr show. A comic genius, that guy can shoot anybody down in a humiliating instant but for some reason it doesn’t seem to stop people from trying – embarrassment and hilarity always ensue. I’m sure the next morning I would have hauled myself out of bed stupidly early to head to the Walkie (crass expat pub) to watch the AB’s in their mighty quest for the World Cup – it’s strange how moving to the other side of the world has made me patriotic enough that I will get up at strange hours and go to overcrowded dirty pubs just to watch a game – the old Katie wouldn’t have.

Other adventures include, but I’m sure am not limited to: Oktoberfest! headed to Munich for the opening weekend and sampled ample amounts of amazing food, incredible beer and great company. Carnival rides after a day of celebrating a medieval timed wedding weren’t the best idea but it all made for a super weekend even if it did rain the entire time...

Had an evening aboard a boat for the Ministry of Sound boat cruise that took us back and forth the Thames and showed off all the sights in a new light. Have frequented the Camden markets on several occasions and bargained our way to a few cheaper buys. Emma and I have been to visit Lizzie and Phil at their humble abode nestled discreetly next to St James Park. I’ve even ventured beyond the confines of Acton Town and managed to start making a teeny tiny dent in visiting all those English pubs – sometimes in costume, sometimes not.

A couple of weeks ago a few of us thought it was a good idea to attempt another half marathon (I think good preparation for Paris) and we hired a car (after heated discussions with the car company) and headed west to Cornwall. We set up camp at a cute little B&B and did a bit of a tiki tour around a few western towns, Penzance – famous for its Pirates, Land’s End – Britain’s western most point, St Ive’s – cute as can be, and Newquay – apparently the best surf Britain has to offer ???.

The weekend just been: I took advantage of Ryanair and its cheap cheap flights and headed to North Germany – Bremen, more precisely – to stay with a friend I met in America. The annual Freimarkt (think Oktoberfest on a smaller scale) was taking place and the city was buzzing. I spent the day sightseeing on Friday, took part in a parade on Saturday and partied as well as I could with only speaking a grand total of five german words on Saturday night. Sunday morning I was lucky enough to have the AB’s streamed live for me and watched with baited breath as they claimed the cup – slightly crazy kiwi girl yelling at the TV while everyone else ate breakfast. And ended the weekend with a cycle into the countryside along the dykes and a wander around the Freimarkt where I sampled horse, so I’m told.

This weekend is Halloween! Costume is ready, as is another weekend of pub sampling. Maybe I will have gotten around them all by the time I reach NZ shores again.

I won’t make any promises on the next blogs timing – but it will be before Christmas! xxx

London Town

Okay, you asked for it! Here’s a London update. “Finally!” I can hear some of you saying J

So we arrived just over a month ago now, and it has gone fast! Myself and Aimee set up camp with my sister Emma in Richmond for a couple of weeks which took us straight back to our days of flatting in Dunedin. Emma lives above a bar in Richmond for a bargain. She doesn’t have a lounge, the only cooking appliance we had was a George Foreman grill and once cooking was complete there were two forks to share between three of us – one night I ate my steak with a spoon. Naturally after arriving from an OE we had a bit of washing to do, we managed to flood the kitchen a couple of times before we discovered we could put the outlet pipe of the washing machine out onto the roof, however this only proved to flood the bar and restaurant below. In spite of all of this we were having the time of our lives! Roughing it is fun J and a huge thank you to my darling sister for giving us her room and her new bed to take over for a couple of weeks. We miss living with you!

First night here I went into the Hollywood Arms, the bar I’d been working at last time I was here and they referred me onto the Guinea Grill (a little bar in Mayfair) for work so I have been working there for the past month. However, I am unfortunately leaving there on Monday as I start a new position with The Children’s Society (a charity for helping runaway children) on their financial team. I’m not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to Monday to Friday 9-5 again!

Next day we caught up with Hilary and Jo and a few others from the mighty Dannevirke and it was here we decided that when the time was right Aimee and I would move into their room “temporarily” to keep costs down for a while. It seems temporarily is looking more like semi-permanent now that my bed is moved in and the wardrobe has been set up. 4 girls in one room, it’s not as bad as it sounds and there are 7 other’s living here as well if we ever get on each other’s nerves! So Acton Town is where I now call home. And Acton Town is also home to the ever delightful Redback Tavern or “Reddy” as it is affectionately known as and the Chatsworth or “Chatty”. Trying to steer clear as much as possible but their grasp sometimes proves too strong!

It really is just life as normal, ooh apart from those pesky riots. I’m sure you all know a lot more about it than I do to be honest. Unless you are going to where they are you barely know they are happening. Except for that helicopter that appears to have been above me everywhere I go for about a week now…

Have done a touch of sightseeing, Greenwich Village, Borough Markets, Camden Town, Addlestone, a few huge walks around the city centre to stare at all the favourites. Have returned to places like Charring Cross Hospital Emergency a couple of times with nasty bite like infection on my leg – tasty! Wallet = lost/stolen on the tube one night. I’m sure this city hates me.

Cousin Josh arrived the week after we did and so I took him for a sight see around the city for a nosey at Waterloo, London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, St James’ Park and Green Park and a walk through to Piccadilly. On the Sunday we all trotted off to The Church to see what was going on there, carnage apparently, before moving on to The Walkie in SheBu, Vesbar and finally back to the Redback. A pretty typical Sunday for any ex pat.

So that’s about me, see not overly interesting. No travel plans really. Have locked in a half marathon somewhere in France for later in the year – now I need to get training. Possibly a weekend in the pipeline for a trip around Wales as well which I am looking forward to! As it gets hotter over there at home it’s getting colder over here and my American tan will disappear! Eeeeek.

Random fact: there are around 60,000 pubs in the UK and I’ve calculated that if I go to a different one each day that it will take me 165 years to get around all of them. I better get to it! Lots of love xx