United Kingdom

Hello again, before I begin, I just have to say that it is actually snowing in London here today! Yes, snowing, with big flakes settling on to the ground - 2 days ago we had the warmest day ever for this time of year - 18oC - we thought summer was here - not to be after today!

Due to public demand, we are renewing the blog! We were wondering if the entries were really of interest, however we have learned during the absence of reviews, that you are wanting to know how the Houghtons are getting on in the Land of Hope and Glory.

Our last blog entered in November described how Noel lost his passport, and our amazing trip to Dubai. That whole chapter in our lives seems so distant as we have been kept busy here in Fulham ever since ....

We relished the Yuletide Season here, the English certainly celebrate Christmas very well indeed. We spent many a cold dark afternoon wandering the streets, markets, department stores and parks of London which exhibited their Christmas wares and wonders to all and sundry. We spent an enjoyable evening watching the ice skaters on London's largest open air ice rink in Hyde Park, one of many rinks set up over London especially for the Christmas season, and in awe of the spectacular "Winter Wonderland" which featured an authentic German Christmas market (and it really was, it had all sorts of German food, ornaments, candles, furs, ornate Xmas decorations), a tobaggan slide, bungy dome, helter skelter, carol singers, and we were greeted everywhere we walked by Santa bearing glasses of warm Mulled Wine (a spicy warm red wine with cinammon). I am attaching photos of Regent and Oxford Street Christmas lights, a truly spectacular vision, I haven't quite seen anything like the enormity and splendour of the Christmas lights, decorations, trees, etc etc

Our Christmas was spent in the Fool em Flat huddled in front of the tv as Noel got very sick with an aggressive flu. No alcholol passed his lips for two weeks (even past New Years) so a very sobering and pretty dismal time really. Fulham really quietened out over this time however, the streets were deserted and very little activity around, even public transport was restricted most days - the poms certainly enjoy their public holidays - everyone escapes to the country for Xmas!

As to work - well we are both quite exhausted really! I am employed as a Lettings Negotiator in Parsons Green, I walk to work, and our office is situated right next to the underground station, so I am enjoying "people watching" from my desk. It's a busy footpath indeed, and the flow of pedestrians continues all day and night. Never quiet. I am involved with advertising properties to rent, screening applicants, taking viewings, processing offers and paperwork, and setting up on the computer. I have learned to download, upload, scan, attach, diarise, minimise, use the pdq, and pdf and jpeg and all sorts of wonderful IT stuff, but the monetary rewards are minimal, I seem to do a hell of a lot of work for very little money!

Noel is commuting from Clapham Junction to Waterloo then on the tube to Goodge Street to his office just off Oxford Street, near Tottenham Court Road - takes him 45 minutes. He has had another trip to Dubai since November (his passport was safe and secure this time!), he seems to be working with a good lot of people and is used to the open plan environment where he is surrounded by 70 desks and no windows.

We have had fantastic trips out of London, we have spent many an enjoyable evening with our friend Maria in Burnt Oak where we frequent the best Indian restaurant (and modestly priced too) in Mill Hill Broadway, a fantastic trip to Queen Vic's holiday home Osborne House on the Isle of Wight with our friend Margaret in Bishops Waltham near Wincester, a home made roast dinner with our friends Wanda and Glyn in Godalming, and we have had numerous kiwi visitors at the Fool em Flat, the classic being when Noel's ex workmate Alan arrived for Saturday night, and the Fool em Flat already had Bruce from Auckland using the sofa bed, so where to put our mate Alan ....no spare bed and no spare blankets ....we took the squabs off the couch, bedded him down on the floor of the dining room next to the radiator, and just like Maria in the Sound of Music, we took down the heavy drape in the dining room and used that as a blanket!!! Alan swears he had a comfortable night's sleep and assures us he was warm and cosy on our floor wrapped in a curtain!! Our hotel rating may have lost a ** or two however!!

We have a full itinarary ahead ....our Danish friends Jorgen and Kirsten are arriving for a couple of days at the end of this month, Lois and Nancy from Maine, New York, whom we met on our travels through Italy are here for a week in June, to Ian and Helen's wedding in Preston in May (ex Newmarket neighbours), to Prague for 3 days in May, and we have Def Leppard and Journey concerts to see in London. We saw the Eagles at the magnificent O2 arena (formerly the Dome) what an amazing arena, and a feat of engineering (this is for Emma, Grandad Tom and for other engineers we know!) - its base is 10 times that of St Paul's Cathedral and Nelson's Column could stand beneath its roof. Its canopy is made from 100,000 sq m of teflon coated spun glass fibre and is held by over 70 kms of steel cable rigged to 12 100m masts. It's not just an arena but it includes residential, hotel, offices, retails and a huge entertainment restaurant facility - so many restaurants, so much choice!

We have been to numerous Westend shows including Noel Cowerd's Brief Encounter (set in a rail station just like in the movie) but great special effects, we thought a real train was actually coming through the theatre! The hilarious Alfred Hitchcock The 39 Steps - 4 actors who played over 120 parts - we were in stiches - and we went to the Royal Albert Hall built in 1871 and modelled like a Roman amphitheatre - it is famous for hosting "the Proms" but we were there to see a Classical Symphonic Spectacular - the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing under Laser Lights, fireworks (yes and all set off indoors) with canons (which frightened the hell out of me) to music of the 1812 Overture, Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Brittania - to hoardes of poms waving their Union Jacks (very patriotic indeed), the best being the very moving and goose bump thrilling "Ravel Bolero" the music made more famous by the ice skating duo Torville & Dean (who incidentally are performing here at the moment). What a memorable night - just awesome.

Here are some random photos for you just to show that we are certainly alive and well in this wonderful city of London we are callingl "Home" for now! For those of you lucky enough to be coming over to this part of the world, make your bookings at the Fool em Flat .....the sofa bed is being well and truly used!

Well, it can be said......the Houghtons were sick and tired of being on holiday, yes, I have no hesitation in announcing that to the world! We were delighted to be able to think that, at last, we would continue with our "normal lives" (is there such a thing?) and at last get back into jobs and begin to earn some long awaited British pounds to enable our poor little bank account to recover and keep the bankruptcy proceedings at bay. Celebration at last, the Houghtons have jobs, only thing...... there is "trouble at mill"!

Alas, there is something to be said about commuting in London....and I know that in a week or two we will think nothing of it, because Noel and I will have adapted, but commuting here really is a "life experience" and one that needs to be addressed.....

We should never take for granted how we travel to work....our own car with radio, air-con, automatic, stereo, cd player, driving along the Southern Motorway in a mere 3 lanes of traffic, - a dream come true in our minds....the Pakuranga Highway, Waipuna Bridge, Eastern Arterial .... piece of cake .....! Come and work in London.

We live close to all amenities and public transport, which is fortunate for us as we can use the buses, the tube or the overland train which takes us into one of the busiest(and largest) stations in London (Waterloo) from which the famous Eurostar departs from as well.

Noel works off Oxford Street. I work off Fleet Street. Journey time takes one hour (easy stuff we hear you say!). HELL NO! Both of us leave together in the mornings (after a 6.30am alarm) and we head off on different tube lines to be at work by 9am. But what a trek.....no matter what time you leave in the mornings, the tube arrives at the station to a very packed platform. The double doors on the train open wide and you just cannot get on the train ...the commuters are squeeezed in like sardines, the isles are jammed packed, the windows fogged up on the train, and although we look up at those lucky ones on board with pleading eyes to let us on, no one says a word, no one even looks at us, the doors suddenly close, the tube chugs away, you remain left behind, and again you wait for the next tube ......and time ticks by.....

And the same thing happens, another packed train full of commuters, too full to allow you on, and again you step back and wait .....and again....what? third time lucky.....we wish!! And suddenly you realise you have spent 15 minutes trying to leave the station! Time ticks by .....9am is creeping up real quick!

But what's weird about this whole scenario is that the English never complain about it, our workmates just shrug their shoulders and carry on with their work, I seem to arrive in a huff and puff and ready to blow hot air around the room, just to recover from my morning commute, hot and sweaty (yuck), but the POMS are blase and just continue on with their working day....you gotta admire them for their patience and politeness, no road rage (er should I say tube rage) here, I guess that's why we love Londoners so much!

The time will come (and I think sooner rather than later) when Noel and I won't even notice a packed tube, people pressing themselves up against you and invading personal space without making eye contact, still reading their paper in the process, holding on to anything for balance, a full platform, a queue to get through the "oyster barriers", a long ride up the escalator to the top, that feeling of cold fresh air against your face as you head for the station exit. This, we realise, is London. This is how one commutes, conquer this, you will accept the London lifestyle.

For those of you who know London, we spied out a great tee-shirt ...."Mind the Gap" is recited thousands of time over the loud speaker through all the stations to deal with the wide gap between the platform and the tube train. We found a great tee shirt in a souvenir shop which sums up the daily commute in this wonderful city of London ...."f**** the gap!" We just gotta buy that soon!

Job wise though all going well, we are both fitting in nicely, getting on with our jobs, coming to terms with having no coffee or tea making facilities on site, and having no proper lunch hour, no one seems to leave their desks all day, and sharing an office, desks, phones, stationery, printers, with about 50 other colleagues no windows or natural light.......gotta love London. Maybe our kiwi employers want us back??! You can see why we question ourselves as to why we are here.....!

We had Teva (Noel's golfing buddie) stay at the Fool em Flat who enjoyed a golf game at Stockley Golf Course last week (Noel won 2 and 1) much to Teva's disgust. He reckoned the room service wasn't up to scratch! We caught up with our lovely Danish friends at the surprise dinner in Nottinghill last weekend, Kirsten, Bende and Regina (lots of laughter), we caught up quickly with Carol Woods and Suzanne from Howick (on Sunday) in a quiet little mews street right behind the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge and enjoyed a drink, great girls, great kiwis, great fun....

Better go, have a train to catch (ha ha).....we are heading to Edinburgh this weekend to enable Moundie and Noel to play golf at St Andrews (no doubt another adventure follows), and I am catching up with a NZ couple whom I have not seen since 1985! Keep up the good work on the emails, we love hearing from you all, from a rather "harrassed working couple of commuters"! Til next time, Elsie and Noel!

As our last visitors checked out of the 'Fool 'em Flat' Noel, I headed north to Oxford for a "surprise" birthday party for David Gibbs (Highland Park) whose lovely daughter Victoria, was organising. Noel and I hired a car and headed to a National Trust manor along the way called "Waddesdon Manor" a late 19th century in the style of a 16th century french chateau. The manor was built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to entertain his guests and display his vast collection of arts, furniture, carpets and enormous collection of french porcelain. It was all too grandeouse for us wee poor kiwis in Fulham still it was a gorgeous sunny day and we enjoyed the Houghton homemade ham sandwiches in the victorian garden.

We managed to arrive in time for David and Sue Gibbs' 'surprise' entry to the hotel at Shillingford, where we dined on fine red wine, seafood and pork, it was lovely to see David and Sue and meet their extended family, who made us feel extremely welcome.

We arrived back to London to be greeted with fantastic news that Noel had secured a job with a Danish/UK engineering company called Ramboll Whitbybird based off Oxford Street near Tottenham Court Road. The job is in the finance department and it will involve some travelling to Dubai. Poor Noel, had a slow start to working, as it had been 5 long months since he had sat behind a computer desk and put his brain to use, and he had to get used to the open plan office, 50 colleagues working alongside each other, and not a lunchroom in sight! The poms here seem to sit at their desks all day long, and not take any sort of breaks at all, Noel decided he needed to enjoy his homemade vegemite and cheese sandwiches whilst endeavouring to complete the daily suduko. God, how he missed his old workmates at Eurolift last week!

And the luck of the Irish shone down upon Elsie as she was fortunate to secure a staff recruitment position as a consultant in Holborn, the heart of the legal district in London, with potential to set up a Legal desk and recruit staff for legal firms, whilst also securing solicitors firms to use the recruitment company. The company is called Parkhouse Bell and already Elsie has started chatting up prospective business contacts in the local pub! Hey, its called networking - Go Elsie!

We have met some more interesting people here, we met a lovely couple, Elise and Fraser Devere from Fielding way, who are neighbours and we entertained them with Elsie's famous lasagne, chocolate cake and cheap red vino (is there any other sort?) and we ended in the tiny kitchen all night eating wining and dining - great fun, a typical kiwi party in the kitchen!

We have more friends arriving from New Zealand, the 'Fool 'em Flat' is really busy, one of Noel's great golfing buddies, Teva Loos, is arriving this weekend for a game of golf with Noel, and following we have Moundie (Ian Mound) arriving for a 10 day visit, so there will be loads of entertaining and fun times ahead.

This is written the day after the disappointing loss to France, and I hesitate to even mention the rugby at this point, but Noel and I, together with our friends, Wanda & Glyn from Godalming, took a "Beige Brigade" bus tour to Cardiff for the event. We have never ever seen so many kiwis bonding in a foreign country ever, quite honestly, there were 1,000's of us there all wearing our supporting black and Cardiff was inundated with kiwis and the frogs everywhere, Cardiff had an electric carnival atmosphere, the town was alive and every bar in town was bulging at the seams with rugby revellers in every corner. The beer flowed like water, the tongues were wagging, there was a real sense of party fun in the air, colours of black, blue and red everywhere......fun and frivolity and great excitement ahead...

The bus trip home was very sombre indeed, very few words were spoken, tears flowed, hugs galore, a very bleak and sobering atmosphere, the black garb seemed appropriate, everyone in mourning, and the grieving and the pain of a loss to the french was overwhelming.

Enjoy the photos, keep up the comments, we appreciate news from home, and hearing from you all, Noel and I cant believe its 5 months since we left you all behind.

Our feet have not hit the ground! Noel and I need Pluravit multi vitamins to keep up! We have had the pleasure of 4 lots of kiwi visitors starting with Wanda & Glyn Pemberton (Raglan) who are estate keepers in Godalming, Surrey. They arrived for the Notting Hill Festival, arrived with backpack and walking shoes, checked in to the Fool 'em Flat and off they went to explore London and all that it provides. Thanks guys for the chocolates and comments (cheeky as they were) left in the Guest Register.
Paul and Rae Ewing provided us with some fun nights, we think Paul is the King of the Cheap Wine Brigade, always seems to find a real "bargain" and is always ready to get the party going, and dear Rae who is the Queen in the kitchen, her white cheese sauce (out of a packet) is the world's best, and one never goes hungry when she appears with her crackers dips and cheeses - we miss you Rae! They were also satisfied no matter what! Great "roomies" who appreciated the cheaper things in life .....Paul knows his potato chips!
Dave and Wendy Timms (Howick) duly arrived, duty free Pimms, kiwi potato peeler and a laundry scoop (I had bought a super king size packet of laundry powder to last us about 2 months, and the damn thing didn't come with a scoop!), in hand and the party began.....we had our first real kiwi bbq in the back yard (see photos), we nearly set the smoke alarms off, the smoke didn't stop, the poor neighbours must have wondered what we were up to, loads of activity, noise and laughter, ..... but the chicken drumsticks and cheap steak tasted great, all washed down of course by Pimms (made with Mint and Cucumber thanks to the boys from the canal trip), and cheap red wine. We sat outside til the wee small hours, listening to great music, Dave particularly enjoyed re-living his youth with Steely Dan!

Noel and I hired a row boat whilst Wendy and Dave enjoyed peddling a canoe in the Serpentine (Hyde Park). The weather perfect, sunny, warm, 21oC, and suddenly Wendy voiced her rendition of a poem starting with "there was a young man from Ealing....who had an incredible feeling ......great fun! A leisurely stroll through Hyde Park on a Sunday afternoon lead us to Princess Diana's memorial fountain...this is the controversial one that didn't operate properly and people had accidents slipping over water cascades! But we must say, it was a rather serene and peaceful and a sight to see everyone with sox and shoes off dabbling their feet, kids paddling and giggling, and the oldies (like us) sitting on the grass and people watching.

Denis and Liz Signal (Howick) now living on the Wirral, Liverpool area, joined us for the weekend. We spent a lovely afternoon at Buckingham Palace and toured the magnificent State rooms all lavishly furnished with the world's greatest treasures, the finest porcelain and English and French furniture, paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin and others, and the epitome was the special exhibition of the celebration of the Diamond Wedding of the Queen showing all the wedding costumes, archive film footage and gifts, a well organised worthy tour of this magnificent "living" palace.

Thanks to Denis for driving us in his mercedes to Tunbridge Wells to visit Scotney Castle, a late 18th century castle set in parklands, beautiful gardens, vistas and views. We topped off the weekend with another bbq together with Paul and Rae and again sipped on Pimms, wine and cold beer and chomped on salmon sausages and chicken - another fun night with loads of fun laughter and frivolity. We are making the most of these warm summer evenings.

Our quiet little flat in Fulham needs more activity, so who's our next victim....er house guest....BRING IT ON!!!
PS: An absolute cracker for you : Denis rang Buckingham Palace Tourist Office on Sunday morning regarding the palace tour, overheard Denis in his finest kiwi accent ..."Yeah Gidday, I'm enquiring about the tours of Buck House..." you just gotta laugh - well done Denis!!

Hands up to those who have ever tried steering a long narrowboat (otherwise called a canal boat) down a creek? Bloody hell, it's not as easy as it looks! We had visions of getting on the boat, steering out into the calm still quiet canal and meandering along at a leisurely pace, sipping on a cold beer or perhaps on a polite French red, friendly nodding and waving to our passer-by comrades and continuing on our journey from Napton following the Hawkesbury canal.........
HELL NO! We arrived at our destination (an hour and a half train ride from London) to a place called Rugby, right on schedule, we were blessed in having a really hot summers day, no wind, temperature around the high 20's and facing a rent-a-crowd London Piccadilly Circus welcome - remembering it was August bank holiday weekend! There were people, (and dogs) everywhere at the departure marina, cars, taxis, luggage, people, boats, bedlam ......and queues .......

Don't be mislead however, remembering that we four, Paul and Rae Ewing, Noel and myself, were in no particular hurry, after all, we had no pressing engagement or regimented schedule we needed to follow, hell no, we had all the time in the world to check in and get started ....

Well "Hannah" our lovely boat was presented to us and she was parked about 4 deep, which meant we had to wait for 3 other boats to be processed and depart.....we were invited on board to unpack and famaliarise ourselves with the lovely lady. WOW! Again, the English do things so damn well, "Hannah" was beautiful inside and out....2 double beds (separate bedrooms), modern bathroom with shower glass-door and toilet and handbasin, a built in modern kitchen (room to swing a healthy kiwi cat in) but boasted full oven/grill, fridge (perfect for the beer and cheese), sink and bench, cupboards with all utensils provided, and a sitting room and dining table with tv and radio. French doors leading from the sitting room to a front deck (big enough for Rae and Elsie) and a rear deck for the captains. What more could 4 kiwis ask for ........?

We were the last to leave the marina, by now it was quite late in the afternoon so being the tired and thirsty kiwis that we are, our first question we asked the boat keeper was the location of the nearest pub....and we found it, thanks to Paul and Noel manoeuvering a 30 point turn right in front of it in full view of other boaties and locals sitting in the garden bar - but hey they did it, and we eventually moored and enjoyed a really well-deserved cold beer or two, then plucked up the courage then to continue on with the trip and after a peaceful chug-a-long the canal passing loads of traffic, overlooking cows and bulls, sheep, freshly mowen hayfields and spying loads of ducks, ducklings and little birds which resumbled our kiwi pukekos, low bridges, sleepy marinas and quaint picturesque church steeples and serene inlets, we moored securely and safely and opened the bubbles, hooters (you know the ones, Elsie enjoys the birthday hooters just for the fun of it!!) and the pirates hats!! Great fun enjoyed by us all. We really were the experienced canal boaties now, but hang on a minute, what about mastering the locks, of which there were only 3 in total ......

Rae and I were designated the responsibility of firstly, jumping off Hannah onto the 'toe path' and tying the middle rope which "held" the boat close to the bank, and then opening the gate in order for Noel and Paul to sail into the lock, and undoing the paddles (this lets out the water) and then closing the gate and paddles, and opening the otherside and doing the same thing, making sure that all is done methodically and without incident - Noel came over to help us and nearly got his hand ripped off because he hadn't secured the paddle with the "key"! Of course, Rae and I knew exactly what to do ......!!

What a lot of fun and excitement, it seemed that at every lock there was a whirl of activity, as the locals seem to come out and watch the world go by and enjoy seeing everyone attempt the process, honestly we saw dogs jumping off their boats with the owners screaming at them to get back on, kids casually leaving behind their lock keys and would have if we hadn't told them, a longboat which had to stay inside the lock as its rudder had popped, just loads of noise, buzz and non-stop action. We loved it!

We met up with an incredible lot of people, thanks to sweet Dave, Guy, Kevin and Frank from Air New Zealand, who introduced us to drinking pimms on board, and to their wayward antics - believe me they had us in stiches, they had 2 NZ flags flying high on their boat, but they managed to hit other boats, (or was it the other way round), got yelled at by other captains, lost their buoy overboard,Guy talked to every Tom Dick and Harry, and who knows what else, but they truly delighted us with their stories, and we hope we can meet up again soon. And to the lovely English family (the Martins) from Doncaster (and their smelly dog!) who were so friendly towards us kiwis and made us feel so welcome in their mother country.

What an experience, please, if you are intending to travel to the UK, make it a priority to sail on the canals, it truly is so much fun, both Noel and Paul mastered the art of steering, reversing, manoevering, parking, locking, and drinking and eating whilst achieving all that!! What a memory for us all, and it was rather sad having to return to London after our 3 night stint - we kiwis are born to sail!!

We are now back to our "Fool 'em Flat" in Fulham, Paul and Rae have set sail on their Baltic Sea Cruise, and we are expecting Dave and Wendy Timms from Howick to enjoy a week on our comfy sofa bed. No doubt there are more stories to tell ........