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Published: October 19th 2006
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Well, here we are... London!
We've been back from the France trip for 5 weeks now, and as homeless bums we've been blessed by the hospitality of many friends & family. Firstly Andrew & Lynette down in Clapham Junction, Pete in Willesden Green (what a great guy!) and now we're staying with Anna & Nick in Harlem, I mean Harlesden at Willesden Junction! They even gave us their bed, what gems!
Actually, staying with Anna & Nick has been the most fun, crazy flatting experience since our time at university - they call it 'The Villas' and it's filled entirely with Kiwis & Aussies on their OE. There are 12 people living in the 5 bedroom villa where we're staying, and the villa next door is exactly the same. The backyard is shared, complete with communal BBQ, leaners, a bath (?!) beer bong & fairy lights.
A TV crew from Channel 4 have asked if they could shoot a documentary here about Kiwis & Aussies living in London - hilarious! What more could you ask for!? The flat outings to She-Bu (where the antipodean 'Walkabout' pub is at Shepherd's Bush) or 'The Church' (obviously not a church, but
another antipodean pub that only opens on Sunday mornings), the 'trips' of various sorts, the drunken stints, dress ups, the weekly flat shop at ASDA, new dossers every Thursday, the Sunday morning fry-ups on the barbie - it cracks me up, and while there's never a dull moment it will be nice to move on in a few weeks to some peace & quiet (Lovin' those ear plugs Anna!) heheh.
We're going to be housesitting at a friend of a friend's for the month of November out in Walthamstow. His name's Tony and he's going to NZ for a month to visit our friends. Thanks to Ahmed & Natalie (& our broker Nic!) for sorting this out for us! Tony is a lovely guy and his house is tops, so we can't wait.
My sister Claire & her boyfriend Lee just left today to return home to NZ from their UK holiday, and we were really excited to see them. We went to Brick Lane last Wed night for a cheeky wee curry, then the standard tours of the Tower, Greenwich, Southbank etc etc and of course a flat white at 'Flat White' (God bless this cafe). We
also took them to the Portobello Markets in Notting Hill & of course dirty old Camden town... but no piercings or tats to speak of.
We'll be having several visitors over the next wee while - Scott's cousins Johnny is already over here, Greg & Molli are arriving on 6th November on their way back to the USA, and hopefully Corinne & Julien will pop over from France...! We've also got the All Blacks at Twickenham on the 5th November (Scott is already excited) then a date with the PM on the 11th (Armistice Day) at the Wellington Memorial by Buck House... I'll be sure to pass on all your regards to Helen.
After that we'll be continuing our holiday to Dublin to visit Scott's sister Jennifer & her partner Ryan (did we tell you about this yet Jen?!) and hopefully to the Isle of Man where Cushla's family come from (or maybe that's the Isle of Wo-man, ay Trev?!), then on to Edinburgh for an early Hogmanay (ie whisky tasting) and catching up with Dad's family, then to Hong Kong for some serious food research (yum!) and back to NZ in time for Xmas. Can't wait!!! Contrary
to popular belief, we're not too sad about coming home and in fact are really looking forward to finishing off our travels on a good note.
Thanks to Richard & Mark for sending those photos of your massive crayfish catch off Waiheke (they were 2-handers; I can vouch for that from the photos). How could we not get back in time for that!! Bring on the seafood (and the strawberries!). Oh, and a job (if anyone knows of anything...!?!)
Now that you've got all OUR news, we can't wait to catch up with YOUR news over the next few weeks, so why don't you give us a wee email back to say hi?! So all you have to do is hit the 'comment' button below and write a few words, or better yet email us at scottiruss@gmail.com or sarahmcgoff@hotmail.com - looking forward to hearing from you! (Photos of crayfish, wine tastings and weddings won't work anymore - you've got us, we are coming home, I repeat, we are coming home).
Lots of love to you all, see you soon!
Sarah & Scott xx
PS: If you're keen to add some excitement to
your day, check out www.thechurch.co.uk - I can't add the hyperlink straight to the blog I'm afraid, had some problems setting it up... anyway, go to 'most recent photos' then click on '15th October 2006', and scroll forward through all the photos of the comedian, the stripper, the spew shots, and the whipped cream & flames session to the photos numbered 100, 101 & 105 - that's Scott, Lee & Johnny at 'church' last Sunday. Of course, Scott was only there to escort Lee who as a tourist was naturally interested in the goings-on at the Church (told you you'd make the blog Lee, heheh!).
Mum: shall I send you our Xmas wish list, or shall I just give it to you when we arrive?! 😊 heehee
Sean & Sarah: any suggestions for Hong Kong? Want to meet up with us on the way?!
And thanks Marie for sending over the photos of Steph & Mike's wedding - you both look so happy! Nice dress Steph 😉 Thought you'd like a wee surprise, so we included you on our blog as well (but obviously not for the same reasons as Scott, Lee & Johnny!!!). Looking
forward to catching up over a few wines with you 2 at the beach house in a few months!
Mel & Te Rangi: OMG!!! You're getting married! I didn't actually get your original email Mel so I'm sorry my congrats are late, but it's very exciting news! So we should be able to make it to the wedding, but will let you know closer to the time, heheh! That's really great news, I'm happy for you guys - can you email me with all the details?! xx
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Brett Christmas
non-member comment
Jealousy
What a wild time and excellent photo of Clare Sarah and Andrew; priceless!!!! Please think of us poor sods who have to work for a living peering into the dark recesses of peoples bowels, tonsils; and minds!!!!!! regards Brett C