One month down the track

May 2015 

Oh hi there!

How goes it? I thought I should do a wee update of all the recent happenings.

Where to start...

New digs

We have a place to live! A cute little one-bedroom flat in Kensal Green. Living by ourselves is amazing. There isn't a single arse-monkey to mess anything up! It's got an itty-bitty bathroom, three radiators and a little kitchen/lounge. And enough room for an air bed which is what I really wanted. Robert Saunders was our first guest! Our friend from Whangarei who is going to move to England in a few months time (probably). He spent the entire night on Wednesday shooting in London. He's a very good photographer, but he's a little bit mad. We love him all the same.

Here's a photo of Robert's. Like I said, he's an amazing photographer.

Raclette

May 2015 

Food. Undoubtedly one of my favourite things. Therefore, it only seems logical that I assume responsibility for blogging about all the amazing, delicious, life-changing food things that we encounter and devour. It's a big responsibility and not one I take lightly, but I shall bear it. For the good of... me, mostly. Where better to start than the humble spud. 

A few weeks ago Mike and I ventured to the Borough Markets, where we'd visited back in 2013 for a spot of lunch. I would like to introduce you, to 'Raclette!'

First, let's take a giant half wheel of cheese and put it under the grill till it's nice and melty and golden...

A week in London

April-May 2015

Well, we're finally here.

After several months of planning and build up, we finally arrived in London a week ago - and what a week it's been.

After touching down Gatwick, getting Oyster cards and SIM cards, we lugged our, er, luggage along on the Tube and through the streets, and finally made it to Bex's place in West Hampstead. It's been a handy base for the week.

Right up to when we got off the plane, it hadn't sunk in that were moving to the other side of the world. Somehow it felt like we were going on holiday and would be back at work in Wellington in a few weeks. Not anymore - living out of a suitcase for weeks and the reality of finding work and a flat have changed that.

It's taken a while to adjust to the time difference, but after a few 3:30am starts I think we're mostly there.

The biggies - jobs, flats and bank account

We're finding the job market here quite different to back home. For starters, everyone seems to advertise and find jobs through recruitment agencies. I can see how they're helpful (more on that soon) but our short experience so far has been a bit mixed.

I've registered with a couple and they haven't contacted me back (after several days). Rach registered with one and had to go through a rigorous 2.5 hour registration, interview and testing process. The others she registered with so far haven't contacted her either. 

So, on helpful agents: I've been lucky enough to land a temp job - 3 weeks doing data entry and scheduling (but in reality I don't know what the job entails) - through one agent, starting Tuesday. My registration process was a piece of cake compared to Rach's - a 3 minute interview followed by basic spelling, Word, and typing tests done and dusted in under an hour. They were taking me on for general admin roles (as opposed to Rach's which was for HR specifically) which might explain the difference. Obviously it's not the ideal job for me, but it's a foot in the door, and it'll be good to have some income. Hopefully I can be properly registered soon with agencies that can get me more permanent and relevant work. Rach was put forward for what would have been a great job, but her CV was apparently "too senior".

Flats are less strange, and more straightforward. After a fair bit of Gumtree browsing and calling around, we did some flat viewings all over the city. We've now landed a nice little one bedroom flat in Kensal Green. The paperwork should be finalised in a few days' time.

And lastly, the bank account - our appointment was to be Thursday morning but the bank manager's wife apparently went into labour so it's now been postponed to next Thursday. Fair enough - that's a pretty solid reason to have it postponed - but it's still a bit of a pain for us.

The more fun stuff - exploring London and Britbound

We've spent a fair bit of time out and about the city, getting good use out of our monthly Oyster tickets. 

We did the really big attractions back in 2013 so we've mostly visited the areas we missed last time. They've generally been the lower key areas, and where we've looked at flats - around Liverpool Street, near the British Museum, West Hampstead, Clapham, Kensal Green, Rotherhithe, Notting Hill, Hyde Park, Covent Garden, Holborn, Little Venice... 

Outside the British Museum. 

A very patient and calm dog at the Canalway Cavalcade festival. 

A monument outside somebody's house.

We also had our Britbound arrival session a few days after we landed. They're a good bunch of people, extremely helpful and welcoming and full of information. We also hadn't realised exactly what they do - we thought once they set you up you were on your own. But no - they seem to have built up a good community of Britbounders (mostly Kiwis, Aussies and Canadians) over here. They've also got a year round events calendar which we'll be hoping to take advantage of. 

So we're starting to feel more comfortable. Those first few days are quite daunting, but things are slowly starting to click into place. We're definitely not there yet, but it's starting to move in the right direction. 

How very British. 

Goodbyes - Part 2

April 2015 

Hi, Rach here. I figured it's about time that I say a little something. Here goes!

We're sitting in Dubai Airport at the moment. It's massive and fairly grand. We've completed the longest stretch of our journey, 14 odd hours from Brisbane. Our next flight should take approx 7 hours to Gatwick. We're really on our way now!

We had a lovely time in Brisbane catching up with Chris and Nicole and Korah, and we met Nova for the first time. Unfortunately both the girls were sick so they weren't themselves. While we were there we caught the train to the Goldie and hung out with Stace and Blair and Rhi which was very cool! We were both very mindful of making the most of the sunshine over there seeing as we might not get a lot of it for a while. 

Goodbyes - Part 1

April 2015 

It feels pretty strange right now.

We're unemployed and with no fixed abode. Our life in Wellington is over for now. The grand and decrepit 66 Central Terrace, where Rach and I found and fell in love with each other, is only a memory now. No more Hamish the cat, no catching the cable car home, no sitting on the sun drenched patio admiring that view.

I'm not at the heart of criminal law policy and politics. Rach isn't working for the dolphin killer oil company.  We both had huge and emotional farewells from our jobs, did our final flat clean up (a mammoth task carried out gradually over the course of a few weeks) and flew out of Wellington on Saturday 11 April to the Bay of Plenty.

We've even had our flat bond refunded in full (netting me a $5 win from a bet with Rach) so the formal Wellington ties have been severed. The life we had built in the capital has ended - for now at least.

We're now in a strange state of limbo - Wellington is over but London hasn't started - in a mix of excitement, trepidation, anxiety and sadness. We've had a few days' relaxation, catching up with family and wandering through the farm. And it's been a huge culinary week - saying hello and goodbye over many extravagant and delicious meals.

This afternoon we both said our goodbyes to our Te Puke family before hopping on a tiny little 20 seater from Tauranga to Auckland. Now our first few job applications have been fired off across the globe, and we're slowly working our way to London (via Whangarei and Brisbane). 

It's starting to feel more real.

Where, when and how

January 2015 

Since making the call, it's just been a matter of us working out a few crucial details – such as where, when and how.

The decision

December 2014 

We’ve made the call.

It’s something we’d thought about for a few months. Almost as soon as I suggested it to Rach, she was keen, but I was less sure though. I still needed time to feel comfortable with the idea, despite raising it myself. Come hell or high water, we would make a call by 11.59pm on 31 December 2014.