Typical London living as viewed from the tube

We have been really happy with all the generosity of our friends and their flatmates, allowing us to sleep in their lounges and live in their homes. The dossing lifestyle is a strange mixture of fun times and no personal space. It has quickly become apparent that our NZ $avings will not go far here so the time came for our new career in job hunting to take shape. We spent two days scanning the internet and applying for jobs far and wide; from maintaining gardens and meals on estates in the middle of nowhere as live-in staff, to suit-wearing positions in the heart of London.  All this hunting turned out to be quite time consuming and unsociable, so we took off to Dublin for an Irish weekend – a good ole time!

When Ryan Air spat us back out somewhere near London, we had a feeling that it was time for us to find our own room where we could completely unpack our gear for the first time in three months. We spent a day flat-hunting in an Earl’s Court internet cafe, and found two perfect short-term rooms. The modern apartment in Notting Hill with two tidy ladies won out over the bachelor’s pad in Brixton with the huge tv, due to the easier transport links. The best thing to come out of the credit crunch is that the demand for rooms in london has dropped, so flat hunting is pretty easy.  We moved into our new flat straight away and our two Lithuanian flatmates are choice. Living with classical musicians who are whizzes on the piano matches our la-de-da location. It turns out that Notting Hill is one of the posher parts of London, although we live at the rougher end where the “world famous” Portobello Markets on our doorstep attract colourful people form near and far, seven days a week. It’s brilliant to be settled somewhere with our own bed and our clothes in drawers rather than ripped Glad-bags.

Research of potential workplaces included the Natural History Museum

Lucky for us the employment drought is not as apparent as feared. A week after applying, we had gathered half a dozen interviews. These have since taken us on daytrips to York (my new favourite place with a medieval wall around it, river through it, coast not too far away and young people everywhere), Oxford (England’s much older and ponsier version of Palmerston North where a city is built out of a university) and Canterbury in Kent (where there is a zoo and an old church. Kent used to be the “Garden of England” but Yorkshire has since taken that title). I also had an interview at London Zoo, and Louise had one at Westminster Council.

I found Oxford a bit more tiring

Despite all my inerviews, no bread-earning jobs have come to fruition as yet, so luckily Louise landed her high-brow Westminster Council job in the middle of the city so she can bring home the bacon for a while. Well done Louise; the winner of the Great Race!

Walking from home to the Natural History Museum we stopped for a rest in Hyde Park

Now we are enjoying our last few days of official holiday. It’s been three great months of unemployment, food and travel, beginning with the end of the NZ summer, and the start of the UK summer (which is turning out to be a scorcher I tell ya!). My brother Trav and his wife Naomi are back in  town for a few days, we have free tickets for a ride on the London Eye and plans to watch the Lion King musical on Monday. After that the holiday lifestyle will transform into a working week for Louise, while I improve my job and flat hunting skills. I just hope the Wimbledon final is before Monday, otherwise Lousie won’t make it to work – she is totally addicted to the game of the season!

Big City Life. Locals sing tributes to MJ in Trafalgar Square

PS. A gastronomic note – English food does not equate to anything near what we ate in Vietnam, Hong Kong, France or Germany. Luckily London is so  multi-cultural that it is not hard to find a good Thai meal or Italian pizza, but the beer is nothing like a Monteiths, Macs or Waikato Draught.

Naomi and Louise in a London pub after our Speaker's Corner visit.