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Published: March 10th 2008
Kiwi Klan
Leaving after a hearty breakfast for our day of Waitangi celebrationsAfter the sun and surf of Southern Spain, it was back to reality in London. Well sort of. It was a good week to come back as Wednesday was Waitangi Day, and I think Waitangi Day (like most other national holidays) is celebrated with a lot more passion when you are actually out of the country. The Australians would definitely agree from what I saw a week or so back on Australia Day. So for the actual day, I went around to Alaina’s place. And boy, had she been busy! We had a fantastic roast dinner followed by dessert of Pavlova and a fantastic Cadbury Crème biscuit dish.
Following that, on the Saturday, our view of reality in London was brightened with the Annual Waitangi Day Pub Crawl. It’s a bit of a tradition that goes back to the 1970's when 2 Hamiltonians decided to have a drink at a pub on every stop on the Circle Line, and over the years it has evolved to be a Kiwi celebration of being a Kiwi while in London. When you arrive in London, you never realise actually how many of us are over here. The 2 from 1972 has transformed into
Our group at Bayswater
First stop, early in the day the approximate 20,000 Kiwi’s and WannabeKiwis that attended this years event.
For me personally, it is definitely my highlight of being in London, and already I’m looking forward to next years one. We started with a solid breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast cooked wonderfully by Leah the master chef before heading to Bayswater about 11am already loaded up with beer, cider or whatever we were drinking. We either tubed or walked our way around the stops and over the course of it, we ran into loads of people we knew, and people I knew but didn’t even know who were in London! We eventually made our way to Westminster by 4pm, where the tradition is for people to do the haka. But as the photos show, it was far too packed for me to make my way to the front to watch so I contented myself with catching up with friends who I hadn’t seen in months. Sean, Morgan, it was good to see you guys again! After this, we went against the tradition to head to Temple Walkie and went for a nice pub meal and a few drinks ended the day about 9.30. By
Kiwi Crowds on the Tube
This was pretty quiet as well. Often they had to close the tube stops for a while to let the crowds to clear a bit. this point, we were absolutely exhausted, having been through a lot of drinking, walking, singing, and whatever else that photos told us about later on.
A few days later, I managed to grab the day off work and head up to Leeds for my first midweek game, and not just any midweek game, but one between two fallen giants. Nottingham Forest, former European Champions, have suffered a similar, if not quite as spectacular, fall from grace and it was destined to draw a big crowd. The crowd didn’t disappoint, and neither did the game. It finished in an entertaining 1-1 draw, though if we had had a ref who had proper eyesight instead of a guide dog waiting for him, then it would have been a different result. And of course, no bias there whatsoever. 😊
After a couple more weeks of work, and also seeing the Smashing Pumpkins with Clay, I had the 'entertaining' task of taking 4 girls (Katie, Helen, Jacquie and Kim) up to Leeds for their first experiences of English football. For a change, Katie owns a car so we travelled up by road instead of rail. So a big thanks to Katie for
Westminster
The crowds of Kiwis that big driving effort. I just about managed to survive 3 hours in the car with 4 girls despite a distinct lack of taste in music. I mean Flashdance and Lionel Ritchie?!? What were you thinking? We arrived up and had a bit of a look around the town before heading to the ground. I really wonder what people who see me each time must think. I mean, the last home game, I brought 3 girls, this one, 4 different girls…. Anyway, luckily this time, they got to experience a Leeds goal, and I believe there is a video of my fanatical celebrations which I haven’t seen yet. The game finished in another 1-1 which was a disappointing result, but better than a loss, which was the way it looked like it was heading.
After the game, we made our way back to London with the idea of finding a nice little pub for dinner but after several attempts, we were unsuccessful so we decided to just head back to London. Then we got to 18 miles outside of Rugby (90 miles outside of London), and Katie mentioned “Oh, my Dad used to live around here.”, so I half
Westminster at sunset
As you can see, we brought the weather with us from NZ for the day jokingly said she should send him a text (to him in NZ) and see if he knows a good pub for a meal around here. 10 minutes later, the reply comes through with incredibly precise directions on which exit to take, and after which set of traffic lights and we ended up with a fantastic meal! So another big thanks goes out to Katie’s Dad!
Sunday was my first experience of the Church, which is a Kiwi/Oz/Saffa rite of passage that you must do once while you’re in London. Basically from 12-4 on a Sunday afternoon, you go there and get 3 drinks in a plastic bag which you tie to your waist. Very classy. Even more classy are the strippers who come on for entertainment. They were actually so terrible that myself and several others turned around and pointedly didn’t look at the stage. An interesting day out nonetheless.
The following weekend, I thought it was about time and I headed down to Portland to see the family I have living down there. I was met at the train station by Aunty Glenda and my cousin Sam, and was given the guided tour of the highlights of
Me in my Leeds gear
On the way to the match the town where both my Nana and Mum were born. I really enjoyed it and definitely loved being near the sea again, even if it was way too cold to get in the water. Sam then took me out and showed me some of the nightlife of the town as well, which was quite interesting. You could definitely tell it was a small town. Everyone seemed to know everyone! And Sunday, it was a nice long trip back to London just in time to see Strassman, a ventriloquist comedian. He was absolutely amazing, and incredibly talented. I really do wonder if he just uses those other voices around the home or on the phone to freak people out. I would.
This past week, i've been helping Leah move by packing up Hannah’s stuff, because she is still stuck in NZ. It must be tough in the best summer NZ has had in over a decade..... But my God, I didn’t think one person could have that much stuff! Especially one living here temporarily. Oh well, she doesn’t have that problem anymore. Mwahaha! Then as per usual, my weekend was incredibly busy, with taking Clay and Ange up to Leeds
Katie and I
At Elland Road watching the Mighty Leeds for their first taste of English football as well. So that's the 9th and 10th people I have introduced. I should get some sort of commission! And in the third time lucky of taking people up, Leeds got a well deserved 2-0 victory. And interestingly, out of the three groups, it’s funny how their opinion of the people changes with the results! When Leeds lost, Leah saw them as really aggressive and scary, whereas Ange loved the atmosphere (when Leeds won).
And yesterday, I had my Hapkido grading, my first since being in the UK. It started with a 2 and ½ hour Ki (Meditation) seminar, which was very inspiring, before moving onto the actual grading, which went pretty well and I should find out the results within the next week or two. Then we finished with another 2 and ½ hour Hapkido seminar where Master Chang taught us several new techniques, including a lot of ground work with lots of arm locks, and how to get out of a choke hold. The last one, we practised with the other person properly choking us! I still have finger marks around my neck! No wonder I got odd looks when
Rest of the girls
Kim, Helen and Jacquie I came into work........
So that’s an update of the last of month (Is that all? It seems like 3 or 4 months!!!) since my last overseas trip to Spain. And since then some travel plans have changed. I’m still off to Ireland this Saturday for 10 days for St Patricks Day and Easter, which I can’t wait for, even if my liver may disagree. Then April, I’m off to LA for a week, and then it’s back to Spain to the small island of Menorca for some much needed sun, sea and scuba diving with Katie and a few others. Alright stay tuned for my next update when I get back from the Emerald Isles!
PS. Big congratulations to the Black Caps for the hammering of England in the cricket!
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