A Summer's Dip in Zurich

Well we'd spent too long in London cramped in a humid little flat while "summer" was going on in Europe all around us, so when an invitation came to go to a party in the forest in Zurich we jumped at the chance. 10 days later we were on the plane to the city of bankers and chocolate ...

We arrived late on Friday night and tested my rusty German to navigate our way from the airport to our hotel - and the next morning woke up to the hottest day for quite a while .. perfect for a swim in the lake with the locals (once I had been evicted from the mens-only section of the swimming area). Shaun had left his board shorts at the hotel so bravely decided to try the local Speedo rentals. We swam out to the platform in the lake and lazed around in the sun, making sure we were on the mixed-gender platform this time...

After some cheesy shots around town with Shaun's old friend Mathieu, one of the other forest party guests, it was time to head out to the Wurenlingen forest, for photo opportunities with lumberjacks, Bavarian maidens and an evening of imbibing under the forest canopy (and the canopy of the very substantial community 'forest cabin' which can be hired out for such functions).

The next morning those hardy guests who'd spent the night sleeping on the floor of the cabin decided it was time for a hearty breakfast featuring Swiss sausages, to ease the pain before heading back to the airport (not before a second swim in the lake though).

M

Paris with parentals

My parents visited us for three weeks at the start of June and high on the list was to get Dad back to his old continental stamping grounds. Unfortunately we couldn't join he and Mum in Austria and Switzerland but we could escort them across the Channel to Paris for a weekend of absorbing the Parisian lifestyle.

The Louvre proved an eye-opener, if only for the crowds surrounding the roped off Mona Lisa.

A fantastic weekend and a taster for Michaela and I of hopefully many more European adventures.

S

Adventures in the North

Blackpool .. Las Vegas of the North. Faded amusement arcades, a pier, a promenade, a sweeping beach, some good fish and chips - and off the scale on the tack factor. Shaun decided to test his strong-man status on our way to ride the mighty Blackpool Pier Ferris wheel - on a day where the effect of the wind gusts at the top was no extra charge.
From the excitement of Blackpool we moved on, intent on uncovering more excitement in the mighty cities of the North. In Liverpool we made time to sing 'Ferry .. cross the Mersey' .. on the ferry cross the Mersey .. before going on a self-guided Beatles tribute tour ...

As a lasting touch we thought the locals deserved their own debut of the famous umbrella hat (you saw it first at Arundel), so it made its second appearance on UK soil at Day 2 of the second test between the Black Caps and England at Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester. It did itself proud, as did our cricketers (on that day at least). We are now the proud owners of some dedicated cricket commentary earpieces.. watch this space for the next piece of embarrassing cricket spectator kit .. M

Battle of Pasty v Clotted Cream

The First May Bank Holiday and it was time to undertake field research into that great British conundrum - the Cornish Pasty vs the Devonshire Afternoon Tea. Heading down to Cornwall from London via Stonehenge and Bath we got straight to work sampling the best local fare on offer ... There was time to branch out and sample some of the fantastic seafood hauled in at the little fishing villages around the Cornwall coast ...

On our return journey to London it was time to try some authentic Devon clotted cream and scones (coffee replacing one essential ingredient of afternoon tea for Michaela).

The winner ... well that depends on who you ask ... but there's nothing like a 5lb pasty to keep you going all day on a walk out to King Arthur's Castle ...

S

Anzac weekend in the springtime ..

Spring has finally (sort of) arrived.

However with it comes some very early dawns for those Kiwis used to having an Anzac dawn service in NZ at 6.30am (or later ..) In London our alarm clock went off at a very keen 3.50am (thanks Shaun) and we bundled on down to the New Zealand memorial in Hyde Park corner for a kick-off of 5am. On a Friday no less. Still, the service was moving and the memorial is stunning in the early morning .. slightly wobbly photo below.
On Sunday we became Black Caps groupies and headed down to their first appearance on UK soil .. at Arundel Castle cricket ground in West Sussex, playing a Marylebone Cricket Club 11 featuring Chris Cairns (he is walking towards the camera on the right of the bowler below).
The rain kept making unwelcome appeareances throughout the match but Shaun was happy to keep pushing the boundaries of spectator fashion demonstrating an inspired synergy of function and form... However the weather was the winner on the day.
M

Easter Lamb

Happy Easter! - for anyone in better weather conditions ..

than this. Caught in an Easter snowstorm it was time to batten down the hatches and find sustenance the only way we knew how -

The results were pleasing and the residents survived the storm intact. It is fair to say that in the battle of 2 hungry New Zealanders v the Tesco lamb (despite being for '6 to 10 people'), the lamb did not fare too well.

Buying lamb using pounds is a bit tough so it is good news that we are both finally gainfully employed. As I write this Shaun is selling his services to a US law firm for the week in one of London's new landmarks, 'The Gherkin'.

Despite being up for a bit of Gherkin time, my contract (at a painfully ordinary-looking building across town) starts tomorrow so I will have to live the Gherkin Monologues vicariously. Shaun does have a permanent job offer with a view of London docks and the Tower of London to follow though so I think the office one-upmanship may continue beyond this week.

We are also moving .. finally leaving our very patient squatting hosts for a flat of our own, albeit one that is almost completely unfurnished. So, we will be trading sleeping on the floor to eating off the floor!

Hopefully soon there will be some further overseas adventures to report - once we've bought a chair or two - and possibly a toaster.

M

Passing the days in London...

It is now 2 weeks since we arrived from the lush beaches of India to the cold and grey of London.

We are entertaining ourselves (and others it seems) by frequenting 'not very posh' pubs for cheap English food - I have taken to a pensioners' special available between 2pm and 5pm of fish and chips, a piece of bread and butter and a cuppa tea for the princely sum of only 2.99. If it will do for Grandma, it will do for me.

We are, however, extremely lucky to be sleeping on the floor of a super-super central location. This is a picture of the Millenium Bridge (St Pauls is the dome in the background) and we are squatting in the dark brown building on the far right hand edge of this picture, on the Thames. This is our base for surfing the internet for Hollywood gossip, watching CSI re-runs on daytime TV and launching ourselves into the cold to visit free museums and galleries.

Despite some initial trepidation, we have also ventured into London's social milieu a few times.
Megan (former workmate at DLA PF in Wellington) was flying back home to a cushy job - and the end of a New Zealand summer - just as we arrived. My sister Regan also had her Casablanca-themed 30th party before herself jetting off to India for a holiday - so a man in a fez and an attempt at a French 'Resistance' agent (but apparently more of an air hostess) joined in..
All this lounging around must come to an end at some point though .. (we are trying) .. and Shaun and I each have an interview in the next week or so. Hopefully the next post may contain news of some gainful employment .. and an impending loss of freedom!

M