Just a quick update to tell everyone that we are still alive and living in London, well, North London anyway. Oh, and we did manage to see "snow". It snowed briefly in Crawley before we left - not much, but we were excited anyway.
After New Years we went on the hunt to find a place to live, and time was against us as Anna was due to start her job a few days into the new year. We settled for a share-house located in Haringey, north of the centre of London. The house is your typically English two-storey place, with a bathroom (complete with carpet!) and 2 bedrooms upstairs, and the main bedroom (ours), lounge/dining, toilet and kitchen downstairs. We share the house with 2 single Germans, who are great to live with. We have been here for nearly 2 weeks now and have settled in well. However, the location doesn't ideally suit us, so we are keeping our options open to move closer to the city, as it is taking Anna just over an hour each way to get to work. There are lots of shops close by, which makes shopping a bit easier, as we have to carry what we buy and walk home. (We have been used to the luxury of having cars in Oz).
Matt is very excited that he has just got himself a job. After 2 weeks of signing up with recruitment agencies and applying for about 10 advertised jobs, it was a rather random email that got him the job. It was suggested that he should email some companies that he'd like to work for, so he did. A day later he had a phone call saying that they would like to meet him, and then an hour after the interview he had the gig. Cool! He doesn't start until the beginning of February, but he's really exciting about getting back into the swing of working again and earning those fabulous pounds!
Anna's agency (Roberts Knight) has sent her to work for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council until the beginning of March. She is providing admin support for a small group called the Family Intensive Support Programme (FISP). The travel to work each day on a bus, train, then tube and a further 10 minute walk was a shock to the system as she has been spoilt by me driving her to work and back in Adelaide.
One thing we have noticed, is that the weather in London is a lot milder. It's not really that cold, but we'd give it up for Aussie weather any day! It can change in a few minutes from clear and sunny to cloudy and rainy.
We are looking forward to celebrating Australia Day this Saturday, should be one to remember (or forget, depending on how things go). Planning on catching up with a few Aussie friends who are over here and embracing the bogan within.
Here is a quick video of us getting on the tube at the station near where we live...Turnpike Lane.
We hope that everyone had a great New Year's. Was nice to see how hot things were back in the land of Oz, although from what I heard it didn't drop below 30 all night.
Our New Year's was spent walking the streets of London with another 699,998 other people trying to get a glimpse of some fireworks along the Thames. Although every Londoner will claim that their fireworks are the best, from what we saw on TV, the Sydney fireworks crapped all over this. It was just the most insane experience, kinda like an enormous mosh pit that was nearly never ending. The weather wasn't fantastic either and there was the usual London drizzle to rain combo that kept us nice and damp. Anna and I went with Andrew and Anita, and when the clock stuck 12, we were jammed down a side street, just off Embankment, so we pretty much missed the fireworks altogether! So we welcomed 2008 crammed in like sardines in the streets of London. It wasn't all bad though, but we don't think we would bother doing that again.
Over the past couple of days we have been in search of a place to live, and today we just committed to a 2 storey house, sharing with 2 other people. When looking for a place it was very frustrating, as we had to firstly find a place to live that was within budget, close to a tube, comfortable to live in, etc etc. In the end we sacrificed a close location to the centre of London to save some £'s, and in return we got a really big room, the house is quite roomy (for London) and has a great kitchen too. It's fairly close to a tube stop, just out of Zone 2 and is 20 mins into the city. Hopefully we can cope with the distance, but for the price, we're hoping that we can put up with it.
Once again, happy New Year to everyone. We really missed being back in Oz for New Years though – nothing beats a warm night in your thongs, drinking with friends...
PS Just noticed that we can add videos too, so here goes.
Since our last blog entry we have arrived back in Crawley, but quite a lot has happened, so here goes.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
After a quick farewell to Bruce in York, we drove along the A169, on our way to Newcastle. We had heard about how confusing the roads in Newcastle were, but we were not prepared for what was ahead of us. All we had to go with was a “rough” map from the Lonely Planet guidebook, which offered some help, but not much. Most of the streets in the city were one way which made it impossible to turn around when we went the wrong way and even harder to find our way back. Our plan was to stay for only one night, so we decided to give a hostel a try. After nearly an hour of faffing around the streets, we found our hostel, the Albatross Backpackers. We payed nearly £50 for a double room (2 bunk-beds), and realised that we were either in a really expensive hostel, or the B&B’s that we were staying in very really good value.
Newcastle is know for its many bridges across the River Tyne and it’s wild nightlife too. Many people come here for big nights on the piss and for bucks and hens nights. The city is divided by the river, with Newcastle to the north and Gateshead to the south. We didn’t do much here, Anna was still really fluey and not too well. To save some £’s we cooked at the hostel (one good thing about staying in hostels is having a kitchen) so we cooked a big feed of Spag Bol. One bonus was the wireless internet, but we had to go down to the communal lounge to use it, which was a bit of a nuisance. We book our next accommodation in Edinburgh online and then head for bed.
Early the next day, we went to see some of the sights down at the Quayside area. As you will see from the photos, its very unique and the Millennium Bridge is quite impressive to see. We walked over the Millennium Bridge to the Gateshead side of the Tyne, and then back again over the Swinging Bridge, with views of the Tyne Bridge, which is similar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. While we were riverside we also checked out the Castle Garth Keep and Gate too.
HADRIAN’S WALL & INTO SCOTLAND
Heading for Edinburgh, we drove west from Newcastle, from the A69 to the B6318 in search of Hadrian’s Wall – Britain’s most famous Roman construction. Built between AD 122 and 128 to keep the Romans in and the barbarians from Scotland out, Hadrian’s Wall runs for a total of 73 miles. The B6318 closely follows the wall, so we could pull over and check out some of the highlights. Somewhere near a small town called Twice Brewed, we drove up a side road to where the wall followed up a steep hill. We stopped the car and decided to walk up the hill, where we nearly froze from the freezing winds, but saw some spectacular views of the open countryside. Some people were even abseiling down one side of the hill.
Turning north, we headed for the Scottish border through smaller windy roads, rather than the bigger motorways. The roads took us through pine forests and valleys, where the temperature dropped even lower – our car thermometer was showing a reading of -3ºC! We were surrounded by frost-covered countryside, which was really unique for us, just a pity that it wasn’t snow.
As darkness fell, (yes it was nearly 4pm in the afternoon) we began our approach towards Edinburgh. The traffic had become more congested as we drove in on the Edinburgh Ring Road that surrounds the city, but once again we didn’t have a very detailed map of the area and ended up taking a wrong turn westward around the city. Luckily, we took an off ramp, which directed us into the city centre, right into the busy Christmas traffic. In search of our B&B, we drove around for another 30 minutes trying to find our new temporary home. In the end we bought an Edinburgh street directory, which proved to be the best idea yet. The city centre was stunning to see at night, everything was in full Christmas mode and very vibrant. We found our B&B on Granville Terrace, about 25 minutes walk to the centre of the city. The bus stops right outside our B&B, which was very convenient, and only £1 per trip too.
EDINBURGH
The city of Edinburgh can be roughly divided into two parts: the medieval Old Town and the modern New Town. The Old Town's main street is the Royal Mile, starting at the city's icon Edinburgh Castle and continuing downhill until the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Right behind the palace stands Arthur's Seat, which offers some magnificent views over the city. The New Town is the city's financial heart, with its busy and commercial Princes Street, Rose Street and Calton Hill as its top assets.
The next morning we hit the city streets for some touristy exploring and to orientate ourselves with Edinburgh. Along Princes Street, the main street on the edge of New Town, there was a Christmas Winter Wonderland, including a German-style market, a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and ice-skating rink. Exploring the famous Royal Mile Road was to become a regular activity for us. Later that afternoon we entered the Scotch Whiskey Experience, for a tasting and a tour of how Scotch Whiskey is made, and what makes it so special. When darkness came around, we walked back to the Winter Wonderland for a better look, and fully embraced the Christmas spirit with music and lights everywhere.
Another famous landmark in Edinburgh is the grave of Greyfriars Bobby – here is a bit of a story in case you haven’t heard of it.
In 1858, a man named John Gray was buried in old Greyfriars Churchyard. His grave levelled by the hand of time, and unmarked by any stone, became scarcely discernible; but, although no human interest seemed to attach to it.
The sacred spot was not wholly disregarded or forgotten. For fourteen years the dead man's faithful dog kept constant watch and guard over the grave until his own death in 1872. The famous Skye Terrier, Greyfriars Bobby was so devoted to his master John Gray, even in death, for fourteen years Bobby lay on the grave only leaving for food.
It is reported that a daily occurrence of people from all walks of life would stand at the entrance of the Kirkyard waiting for the one o'clock gun and the appearance of Bobby leaving the grave for his midday meal.
So the dog’s grave is even more famous than his owner’s. A bronze statue of Bobby stands beside George IV Bridge outside of the churchyard. To escape the freezing cold, we spent a couple of hours in the Royal Museum of Scotland, which was conveniently located across the road. The early evening was spent finding a nice pub for a drink, and being the Friday before Christmas, there are many people out drinking. For dinner, Matt tried a serve of haggis, neeps and tatties although its not how he pictured it would be. The haggis tasted ok, but the turnip was a bit yuck!
Another attraction that we wanted to see was Arthur’s Seat, in Holyrood Park. Without much knowledge of what it even is all about, we actually thought it was a big statue in the middle of a big park. We were surprised to find that Arthur’s Seat was in fact the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 m (823 feet), and provides excellent panoramic views of the city.
On the way there, we passed by the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is where the Queen resides when she is staying in Scotland. We began the long climb to the top of the hill to see Arthur’s Seat and the spectacular views of Edinburgh. There are set main paths to get there, but we found that several paths had been worn into the mountainside, making it very difficult to tell which was the “suggested route”. We took one path option which at first looked fairly easy, but we later discovered that in fact it wasn’t at all easy – it was full hands and knees action up the side of the hill. There were times when it was potentially dangerous, as it was very cold and windy. Anna was really scared and at one point thought that she wouldn’t be able to make it. Nonetheless, we pushed on and got to the peak with Arthur’s Seat in sight. With the usual problem of short daylight hours we were worried that we’d be walking back in the dark. When we finally got to Arthur’s Seat (after 2 hours of walking) it was incredibly windy and really bloody cold too. The bonus of arriving at the top was that we were greeted by a visual sunset and the 360º views of Edinburgh were just awesome. Anna was surprised to see that people were running up the hillside, especially since it was so steep and slippery. Also there were a lot of people up there considering the amount of daylight there was left.
In the rush to get down before nightfall, Matt slipped up on the grass, crashing to the ground. Anna found it rather amusing – Matt didn’t as it really hurt. Walking back to the city, we walked past St Margaret’s Loch, which had possibly the most swans and ducks we’d ever seen in one place (Matt was scared as he thought they would chase after him). The Loch was partly frozen too and the swans followed us in the water till the frozen part began. Matt picked up a stick to try and pierce the ice, but it was too thick.
That evening we went hunting for some nice pubs, down the Royal Mile. We met a Scottish barman at the Tolbooth Tavern who gave us some suggestions on where to go for some grub on Christmas Day and we made our lunch booking at the World’s End, on the Royal Mile. We then decided to find a place for dinner at a pub along the famous Grassmarket. That night we had a few too many drinks, but it was Saturday night after all. (This is where we recorded our YouTube Christmas message.)
Sunday was a clear day so we decided it was time to go visit Camera Obscura and the Edinburgh Castle. We went to Camera Obscura first and climbed the five flights of stairs to the top of the Outlook Tower. Anna being very unfit was puffed out. The views of the city were just amazing. There were various powerful binoculars for close up look at boats in the sea and people shopping in Princes Street too. Anna had never heard of Camera Obscura before and discovered there are several others in the world, but Edinburgh’s is the oldest, created by 1850's by the optician Maria Theresa Short. Locked in a dark room with some annoying tourists, a guide showed us around the city from the camera, which was projected onto a white table. The floors below offered an intriguing show of illusions from holograms to lightning globes – Anna rated it highly and well worth the money.
Next stop was the Edinburgh Castle. At first we were a little disappointed, as we didn’t get a map or anything to guide us around – as we were comparing it to Warwick Castle. The weather was icy cold and quite full of tourists, but the castle walls offered great views of Edinburgh. As we walked around we discovered the castle grounds were like a small village and we got to see where the POW lived and the Scottish Crown Jewels, which was heavily guarded.
Here’s some Edinburgh Castle history – Dug into an extinct black volcano, Edinburgh Castle lords over Scotland’s capital and is an icon of Scottish nationhood. Its grey magnificence is visible from nearly every part of the city, and it makes its presence felt when the One O’Clock Gun booms from the battlements. The castle is the heart of Edinburgh. The commanding and inaccessible position was fortified from prehistoric times for its obvious strategic advantage, and has been crucial in the struggles between Scotland and the ‘auld enemy’ south of the border. Captured by the English during the Wars of Independence (1174–1356), the castle was razed by Robert the Bruce as part of his scorched earth retreat. The castle last saw military action in 1745, but it served as the British army’s main base in Scotland until the 1920s.
The following day we drove to the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens, which was nice, but the highlight was when Anna got to feed the squirrels, which were surprisingly tame. We continued driving north of the city to visit Leith, which is the port of Edinburgh and discovered a huge shopping centre, full of last minute Christmas shoppers. For lunch Anna had a serve of mussels, which were a decent size, so she was happy. Later than night we enjoyed a good serving of sushi for our Christmas Eve dinner and prepared to stay up late to talk to family and friends back in Australia. Christmas lunch time in Australia was around 3am for us on the 24th, but we stayed up and chatted to family using Skype on the webcams. It was really great to see and chat to everyone again.
Our Christmas Day started with a sleep in and a 3pm pub lunch at the World’s End. Being Christmas Day basically meant no buses anywhere, so we decided to walk to the pub from our B&B. It was really strange seeing the streets so quiet, it was like a ghost town. 25 minutes later we got there. We still had some time to kill, so went to visit Calton Hill, home of the National Monument (also known as Edinburgh’s Disgrace). It was really icy up there, and we were surprised by how many people there were, all tourists of course.
The World’s End was packed, and had a great pub atmosphere including bon bons and Christmas songs. Our three course lunch left us so full that we felt a bit sick, and prepared for the very long walk back home. Boxing Day was a pretty chilled out day. Weather was pretty crappy, so we stayed in our room and planned the long drive back to Crawley. That evening, we went and bought some more sushi and saw “I Am Legend” (Will Smith’s latest release) at the cinema on the opening day.
Next morning we headed south along the A74, via Carlisle, along the M6 to Manchester. Just stayed one night just outside Manchester, but had a great meal at a local pub and watched an entertaining game of football too. This time we were a lot better prepared and didn’t get lost finding our hotel. Our last day of our trip was spent driving along the M40, past Birmingham and London, back to Crawley to Andrew and Anita’s. There were some issues and faffs with returning the car though, as Matt got lost (again) and couldn’t find the car rental company.
Over the last few days we have been in search of somewhere to live in London. We’ve been searching the Gumtree website, spending hours reading and culling the masses of share houses to something that we want. Looked at a few places already, but are still looking for the right place.
