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October 7th 2007
Published: October 15th 2007
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What a whirlwind it has been! I will warn you in advance that this blog is rather long - loads to catch you up on! So grab a cuppa and get comfy….

I arrived in London on 14th September after an amazing 5 month trip. I keep forgetting I have travelled for so long - must get some photos out to remind me!After I arrived in London I headed to Clapham Junction to stay with Robyn. She was at work so Jess met me at her place and we got ready to go out for drinks and to watch the England v South Africa game at the pub. It was a great night with a lot of familiar Sydney faces (including Ros who also arrived recently with her boyfriend Mark) and some new London faces also. Jess left the next day to head back to Oz so we said a sad farewell but it was more of a see you soon as she may be back before we know it!

Mum and Eric were here for the weekend before they left for Australia so I met up with them in Kensington for some shopping and then we went out
Ros and I @ Buckingham palaceRos and I @ Buckingham palaceRos and I @ Buckingham palace

You couldn't take pics inside so this is the next best thing - out the back!
for dinner to a great Greek restaurant Robyn had booked in Primrose Hill. Robyn & Dan joined us and my bro James came with his girlfriend Wing. It was a lovely dinner and I succeeded in not thinking about the inevitable sad goodbye afterwards. We said goodbye to Mum and Eric in Victoria (near their hotel) and I headed back to Clapham with Robyn & Dan.

The time since then has been spent looking for work and a place to live and some low key (to not spend too much money!) catching up with friends. I stayed in Clapham for a week with Robyn then moved to Raynes Park (next stop from Wimbledon on the overland) to housesit for Paddy & Carol while they took a trip back home to South Africa see their families. After 4 months of travel it was really nice to have my own space (and so much of it!) for a couple of weeks. It was pretty hectic, with going to interview after interview during the day and then travelling back to Clapham in the evenings to see places to live.

I have forgotten to mention so far that on the second last
Lamp posts at Buckingham PalaceLamp posts at Buckingham PalaceLamp posts at Buckingham Palace

They had little crowns on top!
day of the trip in Mallorca I picked up a horrible cough….I then managed to pick up a nasty cold with running nose & another nasty cough about 10 days after being here so I was going to interviews & house showings with this nasty chesty hacking cough! I am only starting to get better now. Apparently I need to build up resistance to the germs on London public transport as I am not used to catching public transport! Hopefully that will be my last dose of illness for a while.

Luckily in my first week of job hunting I was offered a role with BT. It was a contract role but only for 3 months so I was going to take it but reluctantly so. I was offered the BT role on the Wednesday but knew I had an interview with HSBC for a permanent role the following day so I told them I would give them an answer on the Friday. I met with HSBC at 5.30 on the Thursday night for a role and they had me back in for another interview on Friday, knowing I had another offer. By Friday afternoon I had another offer on the table from HSBC - they actually created a junior manager role for me in an area I am keen to work. Very exciting! So I accepted the role with HSBC.

The role is based in their Corporate, Investment Banking & Markets division and is based in Canary Wharf where all the investment banks are and there are huge high rise buildings. HSBC is the 2nd largest building in the UK and I will be on the 35th floor! The onboarding process with a global bank is very slow though - it usually takes 4 weeks to get people in as they have a strict screening process, credit checks and reference checks. The employee handbook for HSBC itself is 131 pages and the one for my division is 83. That, combined with a 15 page employee questionnaire and a medical screener will take me forever to read!! I start my job on 22nd October (hopefully) and have 28 days annual leave a year - woo hoo!

The other activity that has taken up a lot of time has been finding a place to live. I had firmly decided that I wanted to live in Clapham Junction in the south of London, as it has great transport links all over London, is easy to get to work and it seems to have everything - great bars & restaurants, every supermarket you can think of, gyms and also the gorgeous common. Plus I have a few friends close by which makes things a lot easier! It seems a lot of other people had the same idea as every time I would go to see a room in a place there would be other people already there or arriving as I was leaving. I was prepared to spend some decent money for a nice place that was relatively close to the station and was a good size. I wanted to live with more than one other person bit preferably not more than 3 so that narrowed the search somewhat also!

A couple of weeks ago I came to see a gorgeous flat in a Victorian house and fell in love with it. Luckily the girls who lived here like me also as I got it! It is between Lavender Hill & Battersea Rise (for those who know Clapham) and has the common within 2 mins walk. I live with 2 english girls and one of them owns the place. She has had it for about a year and everything is nice and new and has been renovated. My room is lovely and has a lovely outlook onto other gardens and has a lovely wrought iron bed & white furniture & a big bay window. There is a great big living room with dining table and a kitchen with great appliances so I can’t wait ti start cooking again! It has 2 bathrooms and one of them is basically mine which makes life easy!

I moved in about 10 days ago which took longer than I thought it would as I had stuff stored at Robyns and had to move on foot, and had to go shopping for things like a duvet, pillows, towels etc. Luckily I only need stuff for my room as the rest of the house is furnished. I think I will love living here and my flatmates are lovely. The first night I was here we went out for drinks to the local (the Goat - love it!) with some other friends of theirs they met through flatsharing also. It’s kinda nice sharing with English people so I will be forced to not hang around aussies all the time (not that there is anything wrong with us!).

It’s a shame I haven’t started working yet as there are so many great places to eat & drink but I will have to watch the pennies until I get paid in November. I also probably won’t go away for the next couple of months. Being impatient, I really want to go away but I need to keep reminding myself I just had a big holiday and I should just hang out in London for the next few weeks until I am financially stable again! The list of places to visit is long and varied so I can’t wait to travel.

I have managed to do a bit of sightseeing in London in my free time though and Ros has accompanied me on most of it as she has been job hunting also. The highlight for me so far has been Buckingham Palace. They open the state rooms every year and mum had recommended I go. It was amazing, it is so beautiful and I can't believe the Queen and her family live in the palace. The highlights were the beautiful ballroom, and also the special exhibition marking the Queen's 50th wedding anniversary - there was a display all about her wedding including wedding dresses, gifts, and beautiful jewels that she was given. What was a little disappointing was she wasn't on the audio guide welcoming you - however Prince Philip did so I guess that was enough.

I have also visited the Tate Modern with Ros and and also the Terracotta Army with Naj, a friend of Robyn and Dan's. The Terracotta Army wsa pretty amazing - they weren't displayed in the many rows as they were found, but just the stories that surround the army are astounding. The first emperor of China unified all of the provinces, and created the Great Wall. He had his people make 7,000 larger than life terracotta army figures to protect him in the afterlife, and even thought to include chariots, and entertainers as well!

We have also been watching a lot of rugby - its great having it in the same timezone but Australias games have all been at 2pm in the afternoon which leads to a dilemma - when you go to the pub do you just keep drinking from 2pm in the arvo? My solution to the problem has been the shandy - drink shandies all arvo and you can keep going forever! I realised this solution when we went out for Ros’ birthday on south bank. It was a great night and we ended up very rowdy in an Indian restaurant at about 10pm after drinking all arvo. When it was time to go home I walked with some of Ros’ friends along the river Thames and had a ‘pinch me’ moment - so close to Tower Bridge and we admired the city lights, walked past the HMAS Belfast and up to London Bridge which is fluro pink at night!

The loss to England was devastating and not helped by all the smug English commentators on the telly! I had chosen to stay in with Robyn, Dan and Katherine to watch the Aus v England game and glad I did. Ros was at the Walkabout and said the mood was very somber! I was meant to meet up with her & some other English friends afterwards but chose not to, being too depressed and not wanting to have to talk about it all night. The disappointment was further compounded with the loss of the all blacks. Most Aussies chose to barrack for the Kiwis, thinking that if they got through to the semi finals they would thrash England.

Other outings have included Borough Markets with Ros. We went on a Thursday which wsa a great day to go as not many people were there, although I don't think all of the stalls were open so i must go back one Saturday to see it in its glory. There was beautiful fresh fruit & veg (including the biggest mushrooms I have ever seen!), seafood so fresh it was still crawling and every type of pork product you could imagine. My faves were the cheese stalls, the raclette toasties which I managed to resists this time and the cake and chocolate stalls - yum yum! I can't wait to plan a big Saturday night feast and go shopping for all the beautiful fresh ingredients.

More in my next installment!!


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Hanging out on the west sideHanging out on the west side
Hanging out on the west side

Clapham Common is 2 mins walk from my place!
Massive Sunday Roast at the Rise Massive Sunday Roast at the Rise
Massive Sunday Roast at the Rise

This is a pub right near my house - Ros and I tucked into roast beef with yorkshire pub, stuffing balls, roast potatoes, parsnip, carrots, cabbage....yummo! And no, I didn't finish it all!
Spider outside Tate ModernSpider outside Tate Modern
Spider outside Tate Modern

Can you pick out St Pauls Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge Behind it?


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