Our Home

This is our cute English style home.

The view in both directions of our street....notice the Pizza Shop directly opposite - My favourite! (that was taken while it was snowing!). Also, the bedroom / lounge (we still need to purchase a couch & TV) and the kitchen / laundry...... yes, we also have a tiny bathroom......

Tower Bridge

Chris and I visited the Tower Bridge on Sunday. We spent the afternoon walking around exploring.....

PS - That is my new jacket that I purchased in London to save me from the cold. It is a snowboarding jacket...wind and water resistant!

Backwards....

The adventure continues with finding out how the English do things....I feel like I'm trapped in the past, everything takes so long to organise over here...I have tried to organise broadband and a home phone for the flat, a rather simple process I would have thought. Well, I have been advised that it will take a few weeks for someone to contact me to discuss deals etc after I logged my details on their website. I replied to their email stating that I required their services a little soon than that. Their response was we will call you when we can. So, it looks like more sessions at the local library and internet cafes. Also, the gas and electricity are the same, they have advised that it will take 4-7 weeks to process us onto the account. At least we still have the use of the gas, electricity and water in the meantime. Another example is that we are having a problem with our water boiler, the maintenance man was suppose to contact me at the start of last week. Australians just seem to make things happen, I can't get use to hearing - that will take a few weeks....
It's the same with the health system, doctors are free over here if you go to the local clinic you are registered with. Well, we are unable to register until we have been here 6 months. In the meantime it will cost us £45 for each visit, $117 oz dollars...boo. Well, that's my whinge...see I'm fitting in! ha ha ha
Oh, and to top it off I now have a cheque book, didn't these go out in the 80s-90s?? ;-)

No Longer Homeless.....

Well, what a hectic weekend! Chris and I finally got to move into our new flat on Saturday morning. It is a fantastic location, 2 min walk to the station (which is on the same rd as us), restaurants and cafes across the street and loads of parks. We have just discovered that we live only minutes from Hampton Court Palace - I think we will be checking this out next weekend. The English are very much into their 'classes' over here, so when we say we live in Kingston they seem to approve and think we must be decent..ha ha.
We had accumulated quite a few new items for the flat from Asda and Primark (great cheap stores) that we organised a moving taxi to the new place. Not long after arriving at the flat our Ikea goods were dropped off. Speaking of Ikea, we went Friday night as they are open until Midnight...what a mission, we collected all but one part of the bed we were purchasing only to find that the last and crucial piece we needed was not available for at least 10 days! So we had to follow the maze back to the bed section and choose another design, as it turns out we are much happier with our second decision. The construction of the bed was an interesting exercise, it ended up being 4 hours with two trips to the shops for tools! And then another few hours trying to put a wooden clothes basket together, who would have thought it would be so difficult. By this time it was 7pm, Chris and I were in stitches on the floor laughing about how long everything had taken...well, we did buy cheap stuff - can't expect too much. Sunday was spent with more unpacking and house stuff. We did a trial walk to Chris' work, only 20 minutes.
At the moment I am still a lady of leisure, I have become even more domesticated, spending the mornings cleaning and washing. I'm also looking forward tonight to going home to cook! Scary I know! I must say I did enjoy our first grocery shop, the products are really different and they love packaging! Lots of the fruit and veg section is pre-cut and pre-wrapped goods. Also, a lot of pre-prepared meals...I love it! The meat looks quite different though. The supermarkets are massive here and all seem to sell alcohol. Also, you have to pack your own bags, which sends me into a bit of a panic as I can't pack as fast as they scan!
The most exciting part of the last couple of days is......we had snow yesterday! Only for about 10 minutes, it was fantastic. We walked outside and it just started, we grabbed the camera to take a couple of pic's...you can't see the snow it them but Chris and I can look at the pic's and remember our first experience with falling snow. So, we enjoyed a walk in the snow, although the weather was so cold yesterday it hurt! xo

First Adventure

Today Chris and I set off for Brighton on the train to Three Bridges, then a connecting bus to Brighton due to track works, all up about 1.5hrs. We wondered around Brighton, walking up and down the pier with all it's carnival rides and games. We couldn't go past having fish and chips on the beach, sitting on the stones. The weather today was perfect, the sun was out and fairly warm with a slight breeze.

Chris and I jumped on another bus and headed to Shoreham-by-Sea, where Chris' father comes from. We had a drink in The Marlipins, the place where Chris' grandfather used to always drink. This concluded our little adventure, back on two buses and a train home.

Wow! What a week....

Chris and I have just experienced the most manic week of our whole lives! From opening bank accounts (with all the red tape involved), going for interviews, flat hunting and getting NI numbers.
Chris got a job this week, first interview! In the same industry with a big company over here. He starts Monday. I'm still going through the interview process.
Flat hunting was proving to be a challenge, learning the suburbs - which ones are good or not so good (i.e. One particular suburb had signs on the traffic lights poles 'Beware of Pick Pockets' - this was concerning!). We found a place yesterday and both knew straight way that it was the one. It was a bargain too! The location is great, it is in walking distance to Chris' work, very close to transport, next to the River Thames and a massive deer park. Not to mention all the cafes, restaurants and shops! They do things very differently over here compared to home when renting a property, they don't just give out keys, you have to make an appointment to be taken out there. Also, the rent is negotiable, you put in a bid to see if the landlord will except it and also outline any conditions of letting the place. Also, the real estate agents charge you a fee for the paper/admin side of things, this is about £200! Just to do their job! The place we took is actually unfurnished, it's more common for places to be furnished, but with the savings we are making on monthly rent it will be cheaper for us to furnish. We went to Ikea, it is even larger than home, if that is possible!

London - Here We Are!

Chris and I arrived safely on Saturday arvo, rather tired and worn out. We went out for Indian with lots of Karen's friends but didn't survive long! Chris and I ventured out today to Buckingham Palace, the Queen was in! It is very cold here, even though it is Spring it feels like Winter...no amount of clothes was going to keep us warm, and it rained all day today. After wondering around we went into a quaint English pub for Fish and Chips with peas.
We are managing to get around well with the transport system and have already got our Oyster card (train card - that looks like a credit card that you top up with money...we purchased a weekly for £23.20). I used some of my going away money today to buy a fluffy hat, very cute and warm. Next will be a jacket and some boots. Big day tomorrow with orientation and flat hunting....
PS - something quirky - generally there are no powerpoints in the bathroom in London flats/houses.....the poms can't be trusted with electrical appliances and water..... ha ha ha
PPS - Cadbury chocolate does taste different here! But still yum.....
xoxo