It's a drizzly Sunday morning. The past few days have been nice and sunny, which has gasted our flabbers. Our main activity recently has been catching up with Kiwis - how are we supposed to get homesick?! Still, it's good fun - Luke and Paul came last week for some drinks and croquet, then Mum and Dad left on Sunday, we chatted with Gareth and Nicola on the banks of the Thames, dossed at Andrew and Kirstie's then had dinner with Beren and Angela in Aylesbury. If you don't know any of these people, it's ok - we do, and that's [View Full Entry]

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Aah, it's a time-honoured topic for those of you who have already had the misfortune of visiting this monolith of doom, and no doubt many people have done a hit-job on this airport much better than I'm about to, but here's to a good rave: I hate Heathrow. In no particular order, the traffic to get there is always horrible unless you're picking someone up at 5 am, when the lack of vehicles is mitigated by the shocking hour. I've driven there twice in the last two days, and it has sapped me of the will to live. The entrance to [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while between drinks, and of course I have no excuse at all. 2 weeks in fact! What's going on? Well, we've been to London 2 or 3 times, and finally got some decent weather in town. Lodon is lovely - it's really great not to feel unsafe, but it is very busy, which us provincial bumpkins find quite tiring. So what then? Well, if you're short on time, this is the short version: jobhunt, eat, sleep. If, however, you're at work, procrastinating or both, read on. The London visits are of course the obvious starting point. A sunny [View Full Entry]

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I've just realised that the reason I couldn't find any pictures for the last blog was because we forgot our camera that day, like the good tourists we are. Never mind. Our second visit involved more dance, but we had more around the fringes - we bludged off a cuzzie, just like real kiwis! He made lunch, including an amazing salad. We hung about chatting, watched some football and then rushed off to the Sadler's Wells again. This time we only just made it, and poor Mon had to run in heels! She done good. I had a fairly exciting mid-week [View Full Entry]

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Mum and Dad were off to Paree for a few days, so we had organised our own little jaunt: some friends we met on Lake Titicaca (as you do) are in Exeter, so we decided to abuse their hospitality. The drive started with a pfffft: we waited for ages to get onto the M4 due to the ubiquitous roadworks, but as soon as it cleared up the Mighty Proton (our steed) roared and we flew down the motorway. Not quick enough for some, though - the Brits do tend to chug along, and anyone holding up proceedings is quickly subjected to [View Full Entry]

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Last week we had the Eton gala day - it's called the 4th of June, and it takes place on the 28th of May. Obviously. The day began inauspiciously, as Mon and I failed to get up on time to see one of the first acts, a choir concert. As we walked the 53 or so steps it takes to get to the Chapel, we met Mum and Dad coming home. Well done us! Faffing about is a terrible thing. Subsequent entertainment included a visit to the school library, which contains such stratospherically valuable baubles as an original Gutenberg bible. We [View Full Entry]

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We rejoin the fray in Oxford, site of the oldest university in the universe. The purpose of the visit was to see our good friend Eesvan, who is there to study the post-Orwellian implications of jelly engravings in the 12th century. I could be wrong on that. The first stop was the best milkshake shop in the world, where they take the guilty pleasure of your choice - Ferrero Rocher and Rolos, in our case - and whizz them into a milky brew. It's Chocotastic! Punting followed - or rather more pragmatically, pedalling - the men (invariably it was the men [View Full Entry]

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We've been here for just over a week, but it feels like much more than that. Our job hunt has begun in earnest - Mon is rocking the web with her business acumen while I stare blankly at a computer. I find searching fo jobs on the web singularly dispiriting due to the lack of interaction - it's you vs the screen. If I see the words 'implement' and 'deliver' in the same sentence again I may give it all up and become a nun... No pressure, though - we are happily ensconced in the Eton Manor, the jet lag has [View Full Entry]

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That's right folks! The greatest travel blog by someone with the initials CJB is back online. Rejoice! It's a different kettle of fish this time round - from the backblocks of South America, we've landed smack bang among some of the richest people on earth. It's great! Sightings so far include beagles, an ambassador and St Paul's Cathedral (only outside the latter - it costs $25 to get in! Jesus wouldn't have allowed it, folks). I almost need to devote an entire blog entry (or webpage) to Eton itself - for the philistines among you, that's the college formerly attended by [View Full Entry]

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Good afternoon all, We got here on Monday morning, and the fiendish jetlag is only just subsiding. I was awake at 5 this morning, and went for a long run (one of those statements is a lie). It's been interesting - so far, we've heard the American ambassador to the UK speak about democracy (not sure he was qualified), seen the Eton beagles scamper about the College, had a vegetarian lunch in Richmond and marvelled at the paintings on the Chapel here that date back to 1440. Standard stuff, really. Most importantly of all, I have seen my Mummy and Daddy! [View Full Entry]

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