Not so quick update…

I am hoping that you are reading this as a result of the email I sent out…

I’ve finally managed to find some time, in between working, drinking and watching Top Gear, to upload some pictures and write something!

If you didn’t know, which many won’t, we’ve moved flat.  Twice.  Anyway scroll down to  read about that.

Thames Barrier at first light

The Thames Flood Barrier is literally outside our window.  Wikipedia says “Located downstream of central London, the barrier’s purpose is to prevent London being flooded by an exceptionally high tide moving up from the sea, exacerbated by a storm surge. It only needs to be raised for the duration of the high tide; at low tide it can be opened to release water flowing down the Thames which backs up behind it.“

I’m intrigued by it though you can’t get that close to it, which is a shame.  I haven’t seen it in action yet, though as winter approaches, surely they’ll need to test it at least once.

I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had a good chance to have a look around the park next to our flat, though there is a nice cafe there, and there are plenty of open spaces good for touch rugby or frisbee, and also plenty intimate pockets and trees for more laid back times.

View of Canary Wharf with the O2 Millenium Dome in front of it.

The building we are in has an observation deck on the top floor which has some fantastic views of Canary Wharf and East London.  There is also the Free Ferry that goes back and forth between the north and south sides of the Thames, as well as foot tunnel – as yet I am yet to try those, though they are a bit more east along the river.  The Thames Clipper Ferry also leaves just across the barrier which is a boat that goes all the way to Westminster, via Greenwich, Canary Wharf, Tower of London and the City.

Our lounge, and our 40 inch flatscreen TV!!!

The flat comes with it’s own 40″ HD TV – we couldn’t believe our luck.  Pasanka has hooked up his PC to it so we can play movies on it.  The TV has a built in Freeview decoder, so there are a few more decent channels too.  Should make the winter pass a bit easier!

Toast NZ – September 27 2008, Kensington Olympia Centre

Toast NZ is an event that shares no similarities with Toast Martinborough, other than it is attended by many kiwis, most of who will consume a fair bit of liquor.   I’d like to point out that those beers were shared between a couple of other people – so don’t worry, I did observe the sensible drinking code!  And yes, that is a Beige Brigade bucket hat!  Also to make an appearance was Dan Carter (all of 5 minutes), Zinzan Brooke and there was live music from OpShop and SuperGroove incl. Che Fu – who played a rocking hour and a half set!

SuperGroove rocked the house.

All in all a great day – plenty of NZ food, beer and a few familiar faces too.  It makes up part of a giant antipodean weekend of Toast Australia (Friday), Toast NZ (Saturday) and Toast South Africa (Sunday).  Seems that we got the best deal!  The only downside was to learn that the Warriors lost their semi-final that day.

Speaking of which, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIONS??!?!?!?!? Man, 5 finals in 5 years, and bridesmaids every time!

Oh well, at least we made the final, and at least we’ve got the Sheild!

Anyway as I said in the email, Vanita and I are going to try and keep this site updated, rather than send out emails.  We’ll send out an email when we make an update, and you can view our unedited photos on Picassa – click the image galleries to the right.

Vanita is due back on the 2nd of November – Tier 1 Visa and all, so looking forward to that.  Our clocks go back tonight, so it’s back to 5pm darkness, grey skies and chilly mornings.  We love London!