Last Night of the Proms 2007

Here's pics from 2007 Last Night of the Proms: Party in the Park, which was just as good as 2006. As you can tell, the Brits really get into it. Debbie and I were rather taken with the people having a silver service picnic, complete with candlesticks, and the ladies all wore tiaras.

Walkies

Sometimes when the city starts closing in on you the only remedy is getting the hell outta there!

Lately the noise and the sheer amount of people here in London has been starting to grate on me (I'm coming up to my 2 year anniversary), so armed with my trusty Time Out Country Walks Outside of London guide, I headed off to Haslemere on the Surrey/Sussex border to do a round walk along Marley Woods and Black Down. As I made my way to Marley Woods from the train station I looked enviously at the big houses and gardens and was lulled by the gentle roar of 3 chainsaws. Yes, 3 of them, hacking down a tree, an event that seemed to have bought the entire neighbourhood out to supervise. 'Great', I thought, 'Just what I need to hear in the background, 3 ruddy great chainsaws. This does not bode well'. I'm such an Eeyore.

Fortunately within minutes of entering the forest, it was just me, the animals and the trees. Peace and quiet. Bliss. You've no idea how smug I felt. I was positively hugging myself with glee at finding such tranquility. The whole way I met maybe 5 people. Otherwise I felt like I had the whole forest to myself, bravely hacking my way through the nicely cleared paths (thank you National Trust and Sussex County Council), boldly going where no Angela had gone before. There were probably loads of other people thundering about like me, as there were tons of trails to follow, but it felt like I was the only person on the planet.

I saw lots of wildlife - deer, rabbits and squirrels, and even a friendly farmhouse cat, who had a lucky escape from being brought home with me in my backpack.

The English countryside worked it's magic and I am completely in love with the place again. The trail took me through miles of farmland and woodlands, past cute stone cottages, a great pub (they always have a recommended pub lunch break in these books!), a cricket match, pine forest, and I walked uphill along some wet and rocky track for several kilometres and was rewarded with a stunning view of a Sussex vale and hillsides carpeted with purple rhododendrons. It was just so beautiful I'm afraid the only thing I was able to utter was "Shiiiiiiit". Not my most eloquent moment. I wish my photos could do it justice, they never do capture the colours properly.

Be warned, I shall be turning into David Attenborough or Bill Oddie if I carry on this way. My blog will soon be filled with me waxing lyrically about the Lesser Spotted Green Warbler, or treatises on the protection of fungi.

Wales

Before I mention my foray into Wales, I went with Ariane to the Scissor Sisters concert at the O2 centre at North Greenwich (conveniently just down the road from Ariane). I'm not a dedicated fan but they know how to put on a good show. At the end everyone was up on their feet, except the people next to us, who must have forgotten to switch on their fun genes that day. I mean c'mon! It's the Scissor Sisters!


I decided that after almost two years it was high time I actually ventured into Wales and headed off to Cardiff for the day, amidst warnings to 'be careful' and promises to 'not wander into the dodgy parts'. Ok, so it's a bit rough around the edges but the city centre is charming. Lots of Victorian arcades, wide streets, and it's FULL of pro-Wales shops selling you all manner of Welsh-related paraphenalia. I resisted the temptation to come home with lovespoons, the welsh rugby team home and away kits, teatowels with welsh poems emblazoned on them and fridge magnets with welsh lasses frolicking amongst the lambs and daffodils. Alright, so I bought something with the dragon on it...

The Millenium Stadium & Welsh Tartan

I strolled past the Millenium Stadium - very impressive - and the animal wall that leads to Cardiff Castle. It was such a beautiful day I didn't want to waste a second of that precious sunshine by taking a tour of the interior, as I figure I'll come back. I did wander around the grounds, up to the old Keep and watched the medieval activities - archery, juggling, falconry, sword-fighting, and a wonderful puppet show about the bold Sir Gawain. It was great fun, full of audience participation (booing, hissing and hurraying).


Even Goths like puppet shows!



Afterwards I strolled through some of the arcades (Castle St Arcade is one of the best) and the Cardiff Market, and marvelled at the large teenage goth population bravely wearing black in the intense heat, before making my way to the National Museum and Gallery. I had read in the trusty Lonely Planet that Cardiff had the best collection of Impressionist art in the UK. I must confess, this amazed me, so I thought I'd check it out. I had the good fortune to go there while there was an exhibit on why Cardiff had such a collection. Basically two Welsh sisters inherited pots of cash, and were the first people in the UK to begin collecting French Impressionist art. Their governess was deeply passionate about art, and her brother was an art buyer and advised them on most of their purchases.

Lonely Planet does not lie. The collection was amazing. I was literally squealing (my apologies to the other people there) everytime I went into a new room. These sisters had major pieces of impressionist art - and I'm talking about pieces that most people who know nothing about art would have seen before. 3 Monet 'Waterlillies' and 'Westminster', Pissaros, Renoirs, Turner's 'The Storm' series, and Rodin's sculpture 'The Kiss'. And many, many other priceless paintings and sculptures. The sisters served as nurses in France during WW1, and were understandably disturbed by their experiences. When they came home they set up a community where people could recuperate - sort of art therapy I suppose. They were great patrons of just about everything cultural in Wales - choirs, education, writing etc. Their brother was an inexhaustible campaigner for world peace. Neither sister married, so when they died their collection was gifted to the Welsh people.

Did I mention that the museum, gallery and all the special exhibits were free? I love Wales.

Althorpe

In July we finally made it to Althorpe, ancestral home of the Spencer Family, and resting place of Diana, Princess of Wales. As you can see, it is quite a beautiful home, and the family have an amazing collection of art and books. There isn't a great deal of landscaped gardens, but that somehow made it seem much more of a real home, and you could tell that people do in fact live in that house. All the couches were arranged for maximum conversation, and in amongst the objects d'art were board games and leafed through magazines.

There was an excellent exhibit on Diana's life - complete with THAT wedding dress - which had all kinds of letters, and school reports, and keepsakes that give you a feel for what a typical young girl she must have been. And there was a lot about the various charities she supported. I hadn't realised but during the last year of her life, she completely scaled down her involvement to 6 charities so she could devote her time and attention to them. My favourite bit was her dress collection - from 80's tragic Sloane Ranger to 90's chic designer muse. Ah, Versace. Genius.

Live Earth Concert

My friend Yvonne was able to lay her hands on tickets to the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium for herself, Neil, Fiona and I. Man it was awesome! Well over 70,000 people, and top bands like Genesis, Duran Duran, The Black Eyed Peas, Metallica, The Beastie Boys...
I'm sure I will never go to anything like it again.

The standouts for me were Snow Patrol - who completely rocked the place, despite their slow ballady-type songs, and the Foo Fighters. Just brilliant. Paolo Nuttini was a disappoinment, as I love him, but he was quite incomprehensible (ok, so he is scottish, but that's no excuse) and he didn't sing my favourite song of his, New Shoes. The only person I didn't see was James Blunt, who is the musical equivalent of nails on a blackboard to me. The only thing I would suggest is that next time, have less artists so they can perform for longer. You'd just start to get into it and they'd finish.
Ah, the usual beer cup chain...


Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters rocks Wembley


Fiona takes a power nap

Me with Fiona and Yvonne

Bank of England/City of London

I recently went on a tour of The Bank of England with Dave & Cuffy. For obvious reasons you can't take photos, but the chap in pink in the photo is the doorman. Apparently the servants of one of the governors of the bank wore this uniform, and it's stuck. Hmm. Pink. Those poor servants.
Naturally the Bank is wonderful inside, and even has a courtyard garden. It's not as old as it looks though. As the Bank grew they realised they needed bigger premises, but by this time they were surrounded by other lovely buildings. So they deomlished the inside, leaving the outerwalls intact, and built upwards instead of outwards. It was only finished in the 1940's, but still has many of the original fixtures and features.

These next pictures are of the area surrounding the Bank.

Statue for James Greathead who inventing the machine that made cutting tunnels for the tube possible.
The 'Old Lady of Threadneedle Street': the Bank of England

Hawaii

I was sure I would get to Hawaii and just wilt like a lettuce in the humidity, so it was a surprise to find Hawaii not very humid at all. In fact, being quite a sun-worshipper, it was bliss!

It was absolutely fantastic to see my friend Jen again. I met Jennifer at High School in Augusta, Kansas, when I was an exchange student, so we tend to only see each other every six yearson average, but time and distance has very little effect on our friendship. I know this is a very rare thing, so her friendship is very treasured by me.

Jen moved to Hawaii a few years back to do a short stint as a guide at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, where she met her husband Billy, so she's still there four years later. Billy is in the US Navy and is away on deployment for 7 months, so unfortunately I didn't get to meet him. Next time Billy! But I got Jen all to myself, and she always is the best host. Jen now teaches History at several of the Universities on Hawaii, and as a fellow history buff, she knew the sorts of things I'd be interested in seeing.

Because I got to see Oahu with a local - and one with access to the Military bases, I got to see the REAL Hawaii, the one that doesn't make it on the glossy tourist brochures. We drove almost every inch of the island, which was way bigger than I thought. The scenery is breathtaking and dramatic and the beaches are stunning. But there are also places that look like shantytowns in Africa and tons of homeless people that live in tents on the beach. I think it's hard to find jobs that pay ok and Hawaii is an expensive place to live. I am in awe of Jen's driving. Now I hate to stereotype, but as a witness to near-accidents almost every day on my way to school in Korea I feel qualified to make sweeping generalisations about asian drivers. There is a huge asian population in Hawaii and driving there would leave me both enraged and terrified if I had to do it endure it on a daily basis as rules and road markings are largely ignored.

On my first day we went out quickly to the Arizona memorial so that I could meet Everett, a friend of Jen's who is a Pearl Harbour survivor. That was a real honour, and it's nice that some of these (now very elderly) men give their time to meet with the tourists that visit the Arizona every day.

We also went for a bit of a drive - Waikiki, the beach where From Here to Eternity was filmed, and went out for dinner to La Bamba, a great Mexican restaurant. I can also heartily endorse a restaurant called Pyramids where we had the best Eygptian meal of my life.

I first saw the Arizona Memorial as a 7 year old, and was surprised at how well I remembered it, although it obviously has more meaning for me now. You view a film about the attack before you board a boat that takes you to the memorial over the wreck of the Arizona. Even now, you can still see patches of oil on the surface of the water around the wreck.

I went to the USS Missouri, the battleshipship where the Japanese officially surrender to the United States and ended WWII. It's massive and very impressive considering what an old vessel she is. I also went to the newly built Pacfic Aviation museum where you can view the planes that were involved in WWII and to the USS Bowfin, a submarine. I've always wanted to go on a sub. It was so cool! We went to Bellows Beach which Jen rates as the best beach on Oahu. It was stunning - soft golden sand, and hardly anyone in sight. the water was lovely and warm. Seems almost wrong doesn't it kiwis? We went to most of the bases on Oahu like Hickham, Fort Shafter and Ford Island, so I got to see things that tourists can't get to, like the wreck of the Utah, plus I had Jen's vast knowledge of where things were, such as Japanese bulletholes still visible in the concrete, and we even found the mast of the Arizona which has just been removed from the water.
The wreck of the Utah

On Wednesday I hit the mall in Aiea, where Jen lives, and I was reminded why I love Americans so much. Their service is incredible, and they really are some of the friendliest people you can meet. Jen finds it frustrating that while the Japanese tourists can get every comfort of home, there are many things she can't get in Hawaii that are easy to get on the mainland. Still, I am always floored by the sheer choice offered in American stores and had great fun shopping at places like Macy's and even the local supermarket - Jen, I forgot my American Flag jello mold! (It was only 40 cents, a bargain.) My best buy is my 'Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can't Read Good' t-shirt. You have to have seen the movie Zoolander to appreciate it...

On Thursday it was time to soak up some Hawaiian history so I went to the Mission Houses museum to learn about the first Christian missionairies who went to Hawaii. The scope of their mission was awesome, and not only did they attempt to write down the Hawaiian language, but thanks to the missionary schools, within 40 years most Hawaiians could read and write in their native tongue. I strolled past the famous statue of King Kamehameha at the court house and did a tour of Iolani Palace, home of the Hawaiian Royal Family before they were overthrown. While small, it is lovely and a testament to what an educated and sophisticated man King Kalakaua must have been. Built in 1882 it contained all the modern conveniences of the time, like indoor plumbing and telephones, and it had electricity long before the White House. You can see the quilt that Queen Liliuokalani made while she was imprisoned in 1895 after an attempt to restore the monarchy was made. For the record, I did not go to a luau. They are cheesy and besides, being from New Zealand and having exposure to polynesian cultures I think we find such things less exotic than Japanese or American tourists.

The best bit was simply getting to hang out with Jen. I had a ball. Thanks for such a great time!

If you ever overnight in LA and stay near the airport, I recommend the free trolley bus that takes you to Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach shopping mall (it looked huge). I had a day to kill, so I hung out at the beach. Much better than being stuck in a hotel room, or worse, at LAX.

Wellington

My week in Wanganui was over all too quickly. The weather packed it in as I predicted, so it was a very cold and blustery day when I got to Wellington.

My week at work was great, although I did wonder what on earth I was going to do to occupy an entire week at first. When I arrived nothing very comprehensive had been set up, and the whole training took a mere hour and a half. So the rest of the week was spent taking the training one more time, just for good measure, and then having meetings to catch up on what was happening with the various projects. Fortunately most of the people I had meetings with were friends of mine, so it wasn't an arduous week at all.

It was a very stimulating time actually and it made me realise how much I miss having a job where I am actually require to use my little grey cells, so finding a decent job will be high on my list of priorities from now on.

I got to catch up with all my old workmates and even with some of the ones who don't work for DIA anymore such as Robyn, Gareth and Troy. I also ran into loads of old friends on the street on my way to work every morning, so that was very cool. Wellington is such a village. Love it!

I got to hang out with Monique, Kara, Cameron and Rebecca (thanks for a great dinner Cameron! He's a good cook, all you single ladies out there...)and also with my brother. Mum and Dad came down to Wellington for my last weekend, and we had a very successful day of shopping, although I am still horrified at the prices we pay for things in NZ even when I convert it to NZ dollars. Rebecca also showed Mum her fantastic classroom, which is done up in true Rebecca-style, and shows off the classwork to perfection. As a visual person, I want to be a kid in her class! There's all sorts of cool things on the walls. Dad and I of course, were relegated to outsider status as Mum and Rebecca spoke in their teacher jargon. So many acronyms....

I had a fun night out dancing at Electric Avenue with Kara, Cameron and Maria to 80's cheese. Lots of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean, Tiffany and Wham. I was sorry at call it a night at 2am, but I had to be up early to go shopping. A girl must have priorities.

On my last night I went with friends and family to The Black harp for dinner where we watched the All Blacks v Canada, which was not quite the walk-over that was expected, but was hardly a nailbiter either. And how glad am I that Dan Carter has decent hair again!

Wellington has chaged quite a bit since I was last there. Developments seem to be going on all over the show, especially along the waterfront, and Queens Wharf looks like it won't be such a White Elephant afterall. I still love Wellington more than anywhere else in the world - even on a cold, wet, blustery day.

Wanga-Vegas or Bust!

Rebecca and I got into Wanganui in the afternoon, after throwing my mother off the scent by calling her that morning to wish her a Happy Birthday and to give her a reminder to please take lots of photos of her party to email me in London. Mwahaha! We whiled away the hours doing the shops of Wanganui - doesn't take long - and by going to see Pirates of the Carribbean 3 (a bit disappointing, but Depp & Bloom more than make up for the stupid plot).

We went off to my Mum's school, as she was having the party in the school hall, where my brother was waiting eagerly for our arrival. We hadn't even gotten out of the cab when he was off! Julian announced that he had gotten Mum a special present for her 60th, and that someone had brought it all the way from Wellington. In walked Rebecca, much to my Mum's delight. She is always referred to adopted daughter No. 1 by my parents who caused great confusion at Rebecca's wedding by claiming to all and sundry that they were her REAL parents. Rebecca is definitely my Mum's spiritual daughter - they have been known to give me the exact same card and presents, and they read the same books at the same time. Spooky really...

Anyway, Julian announced me, and I walked in. Mum was so stunned she just stared at me for a good 5 or 6 seconds until it dawned on her that I was real, and then she was off like a rocket to give me a hug. Everybody was cheering or crying or both. It was a very, very special moment, and the look on Mum's face was worth all the planning and those lies. The cool thing was I got to catch up with all my family and family friends at the party. As you can see from the photos I was one of the folks leading the charge to use the karaoke machine. I did a particulary rocking version of Pat Benetar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot :- ) I don't have any photos of Mum's face when I walked in, but lots of other people do, so I'll post one when I get it. By the way, when my brother announced a special guest was coming, Mum thought she was getting a strippergram!

Dad of course, being the smart man that he is, had deduced that I was coming after his chat with Jack, but kept it to himself. My brother is terribly pleased with himself that he was the only one who knew I was coming and managed to keep it secret for months. FYI, the walking stick Mum is holding is a birthday present from Cheeky Cousin Graham. Couldn't have done better myself.

This week in Wanga-Vegas has been great. Mum took Thursday and Friday off work, and has taken me to almost every cafe! I've caught up with the rellies and friends, and even Ann-Marie was able to stop by on her way from Wgtn to Auckland. It was lovely to see her as she was the one person I thought I'd miss seeing this trip.

I've had lots of doggie-cuddles and taken them on nice long walks. Mostly I've just relaxed, and read books and watched DVDs (I thoroughly recommend Nanny McPhee and My House in Umbria). Wanganui is actually looking quite good. The UCol is building a massive complex by the riverfront, and a tram is almost up and running. There are cool boutique shops and galleries everywhere, as Wangas is getting very arty.

It's been quite yuck weather - lots of wind and rain, but I don't mind, it's so nice to be home. I've missed those green hills and the forests and the Nu Zild accent on TV (I still have a crush on John Campbell. He has such marvellous hair). Craig Parker and Angela Bloomfield are back on Shortie Street. Suzannne Paul has won the latest Dancing with the Stars. April Iremia is still in the Woman's Weekly. Dan Carter is still flogging Jockeys, long may it last. Things seem outrageously expensive - $4 for a piece of slice in a cafe, and these are Wanganui prices. I'm not even going to mention the house prices for fear of depressing myself. The story of that poor women who's oxygen was turned off by the power company has absolutely outraged the nation, and rightly so. My Mum and her colleagues are having to deal with the gang problems stirred up even more by the shooting of that little girl, as many of the children at her school have family members who are in the Mongrel Mob or Black Power. And yet, also one of the main stories in the Wanganui Chronicle the other day, was to announce the retirement of a chap who has campaigned vigorously for more public loos in Wanganui, alongside ads for the local Market Day. So all is not lost.

Off to Wellington next week for work, and am really looking forward to catching up with my friends and cousins and just soaking up the atmosphere of Wellington. And then to Hawaii. Life is rough, isn't it.

Sydney

I got into Sydney a couple of hours before Rebecca, and I was soooo excited to see her. Our holiday there was fantastic - it was awesome to be able to catch up on almost 2 years worth of conversations, and just hang out and have fun. I think Rebecca was also pleased to have holidays when everyone else was working and the kids were in school.

The week was, shall we say, shopping-centric. We didn't get up to much in the evenings - we discovered a great Tapas place down the road from our apartment - it's charm was added to by the adorable waiter, so we went there twice. We also saw Spider-man 3 at the IMAX, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to see a movie with Rebecca. I'm sure our poor neighbours found all our inappropriate snickering and laughter very annoying! We did lots of dedcadent things, like have cherry ripes and coke for breakfast, and stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing music and chatting.

We did squeeze in some touristy stuff too - the Opera House, Cockle Bay, Darling Horbour, Taronga Zoo, the ANZAC memorial, St Mary's Cathedral, and a recital at St Andrews by the Town Hall. And as you can see by the photos, the weather was incredibly sunny and warm.

.

It was one of those blissful holidays where everything goes according to plan. We were both struck by the friendliness of the Sydneysiders, and Rebecca was also struck by the less frentic pace of life, compared with Wellington. I thought Sydney was beautiful, and took a zillion photos of the harbour. We were left in a quandry on our last day though. As the apartments we were staying in are privately owned there was no reception where we could leave our luggage. But there was one in the place next door, so I cheekily asked if we could leave it with them for the day. The lovely man behind the counter only wanted a bottle of coke in return, and it turned out that not only was he from Rebecca's hometown of Carterton, but he was the cousin of her Dad's best mate. Ah, small world.