Loving London, and a lovely trip to Leeds

Well we apologise profusely for the long time in between updates. We’ve been busier than blue-arsed flies over here, and have a wee bit to update you on...

Since our last update, we’ve kept ourselves busy applying for jobs, exploring London town (you could explore for a year and still discover new and exciting places), as well as venturing out on a few road trips. Everything is going well and we’ve had a few bites on the job front, and are now wanting to settle down. As much as we love this lifestyle, the bank balance can only get smaller, and we’re getting a wee bit fidgety, so it will be nice to settle down into a routine. We’re not desperate though so thankfully we can wait for the right job to roll around.

We visited the Tower of London last week, which is supposedly the ‘one sight’ you have to see in London. While we certainly enjoyed it, it wasn’t our favourite experience so far, but agree that it does seem to be one of those ‘token tourist’ things that people must do. We saw where Anne Boleyn had her head chopped off, the crown jewels, a real life Beefeater, and of course plenty of those guards with the fluffy hats (which are made out of bear fur FYI – bit cruel, but they claim they only use the fur of bears that were killed on the roads, or died of natural causes – hmmmm?)

We went for a stroll along Portobello Road, which I’ll forever have ingrained in my memory thanks to the Disney classic, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. In fact, I couldn’t help but sing it as I strolled down the street. The market itself was a bit bare – regardless of what Lonely Planet claim, the market really only gets going in the weekend, so we’ll have to head back there one Saturday morning.

The highlight of the week had to be our trip to Leeds Castle in Kent, with my good friend Philly and her mate Gemma. Philly has just moved to London from Melbourne, and it was great to see her! When she rung up on Thursday suggesting we head to Leeds Castle (which we had never heard of), we jumped at the chance. We enjoyed the day so much that when you all come over to visit us we’re taking you straight there!

It was a gloriously hot day, so we spent a lot of time outside, exploring the grounds, the aviaries, the playgrounds, maze, and of course – the castle. Leeds Castle is very different from the Scottish castles and the Tower of London, on account of it actually looking like it belongs straight out of a fairy tale - moat, turrets, peacocks strutting through the grounds – the works! Brad insisted we visit the ‘Knight’s Realm’, which is a massive castle-styled playground for kids. While we walked away with more than a few bumps, bruises and sweat-patches, we had a grand old time reliving our childhood days, on what has to be the coolest playground in the whole of the United Kingdom!

We were thoroughly exhausted after a day’s exploring, so we headed out with Shady and Emily to a local burger and beer bar, run by good old Kiwis! While the rest of the team enjoyed a Steinlager Pure, I opted for the L & P (something which came as quite a surprise, as I haven’t drunk it in YEARS. It’s funny how you gravitate to all things Kiwi, regardless of whether you actually like it or not!).

We also visited Europe’s largest Westfield Mall last week (so good I had to go twice), which was thankfully quiet enough to shop. There’s no way you could navigate your way through on any other day and time than early Monday morning. Even then you usually have to queue for a changing room – madness! The highlight of the day though was heading into Leicester Square, Soho to watch Eclipse (the new Twilight film). Despite the movies costing an arm and a leg, the film was fantastic and worth every penny!

We’re missing you all, but are having loads of fun. It’s certainly easy to keep yourself entertained over this way!

Love to all

xxx