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Published: April 10th 2009
BUPA 10km Run, London
Rupesh & I at the finish with our medals!London & Around
April - September, 2008
Just thought that I would give a snippet of lots of outings and events that I took part in from April until September, 2008. There was certainly a lot happening in and around London. I continued to have quite a bit of time on my hands looking for work and then in July I applied for a resident permit for the UK.
It was a quite a stressful time for Rupesh and I putting together a whole array of documents that the Home Office in Croydon requested to see as part of the application. Just as I was preparing myself for 2 weeks of full time television watching of the Bejing Olympic Games everything happened in the next hour which changed all that! The opening ceremony was literally starting in 15 minutes, there was a knock at the front door in East Finchley, London and the courier handed me a big package then Bern rang and I struggled to open the package with one hand. As I was talking to Bern I read the first line of a covering letter which indicated I had been granted the residence permit but
Great ANZAC Run
Finish of run in Hyde Park, London. I couldn't see my passport - sifting through the papers I found my passport opened to the page where my permit had been stuck in - it was valid for the next 2 years. It was Friday afternoon - I was straight on the phone to one of my agencies who had a job lined up for me on Monday morning. I started work on Monday at the Home Assessment and Rehabilitation Team (HART) based at Northwick Park Hospital in North West London. It was a very exciting time and great to be starting working again. It also allowed Rupesh and I to look for a place of our own to rent in London.
The Great Anzac Run
We watched a team of Melbourne firefighters as they finished their run in Hyde Park at the Australian and New Zealand War Memorial. They were running to raise money for the Burns Unit at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne and had spent the past few weeks running through different battlefields in Turkey, Greece and France.
Cheese Rolling Festival - Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire
The Brits certainly have some interesting festivals throughout the year. The Stinging Nettle Eating Festival is one
Cheese Rolling Festival
Spectators trying to get a prime viewing position! I've heard about - sounds painful! Rupesh and I, along with Harry and her sister drove to Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire for the annual Cheese Rolling Festival. A big wheel of Gloucester Cheese is sent rolling down Coopers Hill and people follow, in an attempt to try and beat the cheese wheel to the bottom of the hill. It is a steep hill in which people run, roll and tumble down. It was a particularly wet day so it did become somewhat of a mud rolling festival. There is a short video at the start of the blog - you can just make out the white spec of the cheese wheel as it hurtles down the hill ahead of the people. I believe that the first person to reach the bottom gets to take home the cheese wheel. There is also an ambulance in very close proximity to the bottom to stretcher those away who don't tumble so well down the hill.
Work Trip to Paris
Rupesh spent a couple of days in Paris for work. While he worked I explored Paris a bit more on foot and on roller blades. Did the whole crepe crawl - sampling
the different crepe fillings over the few days. It makes quite a cheap lunch in Paris. Rupesh and I also visited Versaille just out of Paris where there is an amazing palace and gardens, once home to France's Royalty.
Music Festivals
The Brits love their music festivals in rain, hail or shine. Rupesh and I went to a couple of festivals at Hyde Park and saw The Police, Counting Crows, KT Tunstall, Ben Harper, The Bangles and Powderfinger just to name a few.
Wimbledon
We had a great day of sunshine at Wimbledon and of course enjoyed strawberries and cream in between some good matches. We spent a couple of hours in the early morning in 'The Queue' to get general admission day passes. The Queue is an experience in itself with kilometres of lines of people snaking its way accross a huge grassed area. There is even a 'Code of Conduct' when you enter the queue - you are given a queuing card and must behave appropriately. Dress code is strict for the tennis players - whites only and the umpires are very smartly dressed in their blazers, ties and flat caps.
Go
Karting
Rupesh organised a go karting afternoon with his mates to celebrate his 28th birthday. We were all suited up like race car drivers and had an awesome time racing around the track.
Bupa 10k Run
I may have convinced Rupesh to enter a 10k run on his actual birthday - the first 10k run for both of us. The route took us around Hyde Park on a remarkably sunny day. We both finished in good time and ran all the way. We had a picnic afterwards with triple chocolate muffins for Rupesh's birthday.
Bejing Olympics
I may not have have been able to watch 24 hours of Olympics but when I wasn't working I watched quite a bit and got up in the middle of the night to watch finals of some events. We had a medal talley going in the lounge room (Aussies vs Brits). I may have been a bit cocky a bit too quickly as the Aussies soon got overtaken on the medal tally by the Brits - a rare occurance!
London Visitors
Bern and Elizabeth were in and around London some of the time after finishing their second ski
Ussain Bolt, Jamaican Sprinter
Viva Athletics Competition at Crystal Palace, London season and it's always great spending time with them. Megan from Melbourne visited London for a work conference and we caught up in the evenings and spent a wet weekend visiting the Isle of Wight and Kylie and Steve in Southampton.
Crystal Palace Athletics
We spent a day with Bern and Elizabeth watching the final day of competition at the Aviva Athletics before the athletes left for Bejing. It was amazing to see Ussain Bolt race and Steve Hooker, the Aussie pole vaulter who won gold in Bejing. We also watched Australia's Georgie Clarke race.
Nike 10k Run at Wembley
I decided to keep up the running and entered the Nike 10k which started inside Wembley Stadium then went around North West London and finished outside the stadium. The run started in the evening to try and keep in time with all the other Nike Human Race Runs being held in all the major cities of the world.
Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival is a Carribean Festival in Notting Hill - a sea of colourful costumes and dancing parading through the streets. There was some great Carribean delicacies including barbequed chicken with Reggie
Reggie sauce (spicy sauce).
Last Night of the Proms
Each year the Royal Albert Hall in central London has a series of performances of classical music called the Proms. The 'Last Night of the Proms' is a big celebration both at the Royal Albert Hall and in Hyde Park. We spent the evening in Hyde Park with a picnic dinner enjoying the music and the pomp and glory of the festivities.
New Forrest Bike Ride
The New Forrest in Dorset is a huge National Park. Unlike National Parks in Australia there is stock including donkeys, cows, horses and local dogs. It's a beautiful area to ride around and we spent the day on an organised ride by the Orchid Cancer Appeal to raise money for prostate cancer.
Football (aka Soccer)
Rupesh and I watched the Socceroos play the South Africans in a friendly soccer match at Loftus Road ground. Rupesh even donned the Aussie Flag for some of the match.
Maggies Night Hike
Maggies is an organisation in the UK that raises money for cancer support centres. Maggies Night Hike was a 20 mile walk (starting on Friday evening) around London visiting
some sights that opened their doors overnight especially for the event including Somerset House, the Horseguards, Serpentine Gallery, Battersea Power Station and a final stop at Savoy Place where we had a glass of champagne at 5am and watched the sun come up. We also stopped at Maggies Cancer Centre next to Charing Cross Hospital. The walk was in aid of opening other centres like this one as a place for patients with cancer and their families to come and relax and talk to others and be given additional support.
Milly's 1st Birthday Party
Amelia (Olivia and Jason's daughter) turned one in September and they happen to be visiting London at the time. Milly had her first birthday party - a picnic in Teddington, London.
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