London

So there I was leaving the country of Maple Syrup, Ice Hockey (even if I didn't make it to a game), Bears, saying "eh?" at the end of every statement, Poutine and lot's of fun... and heading to the

Land of the brolli
And I got to experience the reason for this name on my very first day in London. Walking through St James Park and I got caught in a downpour (middle of Melbourne winter type downpour), and due to the complete lack of shelter (as I'm sure anyone who's been to St James Park is well aware of, and the trees don't count), I got nicely soaked...

Though you know? It was a good start to my Britain adventure, was fun to get rained on (and it wasn't that cold) and all part of the travelling experience (particularly in Britain).

Chill out time
As I was staying with friends (thanks Andrea & Mark!!!) I was able to chill out and relax for a week or so.. Mmmm... Was good to do so! Got to hang out with Andrea's friend (Anthony) who was crashing there for a few days, so also did the typical museum jaunt (trafalgar sq, royal museum, tower bridge, etc...)

Brighton
Now for those who know her, Kirstyn has been in England for quite a while now, and had a little flat down in Brighton (which was perfect for her and her boyfriend Mark), so I obviously had to go down and visit her.. :-)

So Kirstyn used all her vast local knowledge and showed me:

• The Pavilion: Which was some kind of royal summer home, made out to look very Asian, quite nice. Not allowed to take photo's, but I took a couple anyway (though they came out quite blurry).
  
• The Brighton Pier: Very similar to Santa Monica pier actually, given that they both have carnivals on them.. Actually was fun to just sit and catch up on lots of stuff!
  
• The local Walkabout: hmmm... My first time in an Australian themed pub in England, and I think there is a reason why we were the only Aussies there, tack-o-rama!
  

Matt & Fish
As you may of guessed, my first few weeks in England were all about catching up with people, which actually was a lot of fun. So next on the list was Little Matt, who I knew was going to be in London at some point, but about 3 days after I arrived there, I got an sms "Guess where I am?", so alcohol here we came!

Of course Fish (also known as Paul Fisher) & his lovely wife (I can't believe you're married!) Lydia (who's name I hope I spelled correctly) have been in London for nigh on a year now, so it was out to dinner to celebrate Matt's b'day (ah the little tyke).

Changing plans
Now by this stage, I had organised going to see my relatives (or at least one branch of them) who live near Liverpool, however Matt put forward an enticing invitation to go explore the Highlands of Scotland with him. While I felt bad changing the plans with the relo's I couldn't miss out on that opportunity! So after some quick checks of some ways to get there, I was on my way to Edinburgh!

Next: The joys of travelling domestically around the UK, and the insane MacBackpackers!

Out of communication

Hi Everyone! (hi doctor nick)

Well it's been quite a while since I've updated the blog, so for those that have been checking up on where I've been and what I've been up to.. My apologies. For the rest, well you're probably not going to even read this are you? ;-)

A brief overview (before I do some detailed posts), I'm here in sunny England, arrived on the 15th August, have gone up to Scotland for a few weeks and then to visit all the relos around the Manchester/Liverpool area...

I actually intended to settle down for a bit after that and actually start looking for work, instead I head off to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks :-)

Now I have started that whole searching for a job process, argh!! So mundane! But it needs to be done, fingers crossed I've had some positive feedback so hopefully I'll be earning some english pounds in no time!

Cheers,
B