Author: Driper Created: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Our (Freda and I) Overseas trip to Ireland and then London (with some trips in the middle we hope).

We just finished our long weekend (bank holiday) and it was a great sight seeing (or country traveling) trip. We did about 800 miles in total which was a little more than I had expected or wanted to do. I picked up a small Ford Focus Style on Friday from close to work and headed home. That was a bit of an adventure in itself because my GPS (on the phone) wouldn't work and I had to navigate home (Islington) from Work (St Albans) which is about 35 km's. I don't really know St Albans at all so getting to the motorway was fun. What is probably a 45 minute journey took me twice that, oh well.  At least I had the chance to test the GPS and realise it needed work that night which I undertook later that night and early the next morning. I got it working as well as a car charger and managed to make a phone holder for the phone/GPS from a clipboard and some hair bands of Freda's.

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Well another few weeks have passed and I am preparing for our trip to Greece which is now turning into only a trip for Greece. It was simply to difficult and costly to go somewhere else before hand. Being contractors every day we take off we don't get paid, something we are no use to. Given my contract currently covers us only until the last day in August our trip is somewhat bad timing as no doubt we won't have a great deal of cash and I would prefer to be well into looking for a job just as we will actually be on holiday. Having said that I am lead to believe that they will not cancel my contract until my replacement arrives which could be some time, who knows. With all this in mind we decided to do a short trip to Naxos Island (in the Greek Cyclades with Mykonos and Santorini (Thira). We found some great accommodation that isn't expensive (Mykonos is the most expensive of the three, then Santorini and then Naxos). Naxos is actually physically the larges t island of the three (I think the entire Cyclades) but somewhat less popular and therefore has the added bonus of being cheaper. There does however seem to be a lot to do and see there and it's something different from the other islands for us. We are planning to spend about 3 full days at each location with a little travel time between each in addition. We have decided to fly from London to Athens, transfer to the port and catch the high speed ferry from the port (Paraues) to Naxos. I looked at direct flights to Mykonos or Santorini and a boat to Naxos but it turned out another 40 pound and we arrived at the same time (because it was the same ferry in the end). Having been there before I knew we should take the high speed boats (about half the travel time) and that Hellanic were the best option.

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I woke up this morning (Thursday) feeling a little worse for wear as I felt the need to go and have a beverage with Ryan and an old friend of his. They (well we) were drinking the most amazing (translation, disgusting) things ever. Wild Turkey and Ginger, Jack Daniels and Red Bull. Surprisingly they are not as bad as they sound but I fear that given I didn't drink that much they have a more damaging effect on ones feelings the next day than more normal drinks.
The weeks are starting to pass by ever quicker now and I wonder if our 12 months in the UK will be enough (as does Freda). I guess we are close to a quarter through our original estimate for staying here and yet it doesn't feel like it has been that long and we haven't really seen much of the world. It  has set in that friends and family are not just a short trip down the road and that is difficult. Freda and I both miss our family and friends. Freda's mum is now only a 45 minute flight away which is lovely for her and for the first time my parents are a world away which does give me a new perspective on how hard it has been for Freda living so far from her family for all these years.

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I realised today that I have not been updating this anywhere near enough and the point of this was to tell people what I am doing and I haven't really been doing that, I'll get there. Its been a great few weeks. I finally got to stop looking for work. Much to my surprise the contract I picked up thinking it would only be for two months has offered and extension till the end of August which I accepted. This means we have started planning our trip to the Greek Islands and can consider some short trips between now and then which is fantastic. We can finally do what we came here to do. We finally got a real Internet connection which is nice because the speed on my phone meant that updating a web site (this blog) was just painful and that is my excuse for not doing it sooner. I went to buy a small hifi today so that we can have some tunes (TV just isn't loud enough for a party). One of the problems with not having a car means that picking up a hifi (that weights in a 15kg) is somewhat difficult. Anyway, long story short. I spent several hours looking into a cheap small unit that we could use, picked one and bought the next model up (because no one could give me the one I wanted) got it home after a rather long trip with a heavy box and found that it lacks the connection we need for the TV. Bugger, back to the shop for me.

It's been very sunny here for the last few days since the long weekend when it was not very nice. It's been about 20 degrees most days which means that the locals are in shorts and T-shirts. The rest of us can take our jumpers off!

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I spent the afternoon prior to there arrival cleaning up our little outdoor area and putting up a clothes line (not that common in the UK). Freda's mum (Val) and aunty (Irene) arrive from Dublin to enjoy the long weekend with us. Val arrives in particularly patriotic attire much to the dismay of Irene. Freda helps them both home with a beverage on the way home (which until a short time ago it was legal to drink on public transport).

 

We spent most of the weekend wandering from pub to pub which was great. Wandering is probably a bit of a strech, it was a bit more of a pub crawl. The girls had a bit of a shop and we went to Camden markets. Camden markets is a short walk from our place and given how close we are to Deirdre and Ryan we all went.  The markets are somewhat like Newtown mixed with Redfern for those from Sydney. After having a bit of a wander around the main section in the market, seeing some vintage clothes and antiques we decided to take the mamas in to see all the rave gear found in Cyber Dog. This is an experience for anyone.

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Well when it rains it pores (and not literally). It's been nice weather here for the last week or so, sun is out, temp is just below nice. Have had a few celebratory drinks tonight because as of last Friday as I am employed. Have found a contract for 4 to 12 weeks for a medium size site looking to do some cleanup and updates and cover a sick staff member. It has been a bit of a whirlwind looking for jobs. I made the mistake of looking at permanent and contract roles which of course meant that I have a permanent role which is in its final stages and a contract that offered. Oh well. Money in the bank. I am lead to believe by a few people that on your second contract you are likely to increase your income significantly (if you took average money to begin with like I did this time) assuming you have the experience (I hope so). Eventually the permanent role (CEO) turned me down, oh well. Guess I made the right decision to say yes to the contract and see what happened. Have now been working in the contract for 4 days and it's awesome to be doing something other than looking for a job for the first time in 5 weeks. People are great, boss is even letting me talk to other roles at work because he knows he has a limited timeframe for me. Have managed to impress the boss (IT Manager) and I am fairly confident that I will be in the contract for its longer expected duration which is perfect. I think having shown him that his virus protection was 5 years out of date, Active Directory is a mess and backup wasn't working to the point that it was not restorable has probably won me some points.

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We arrive back in the UK today and are to stay for good (well short term good). We go to see another apartment (together this time) and Freda sees just how much better a place can be than the first one we saw for the price. We agree that I will look at a few more tomorrow while she does her demonstration lesson for her probable new school. We get home and Freda jumps on the web. She finds 4 more units in the same place (only moments from a few other places we looked at) for 50 pound less per week. I have now seen a few and we need to decide what to do which as always is difficult. I spent all of the 24th applying for jobs and following up recruiters, it's amazing how many recruiters didn't get my application and need it sent again (probably 6 out of 20), two of them twice. Freda had her trial day today, teaching for a half day in front of the head teacher at her Jewish school. Our (well Deirdre and Ryan's) shower is fixed. Fantastic, we can have a real shower in our free accommodation.

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Our whirlwind trip in London is over and we achieved a great deal, have travel, looked at units, have bank accounts and managed a night out with a few pints (maybe a few to many).

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We arrive in the UK with two bags each (one hand a one carry on), all went well. Very interestingly when we came through UK (Stansted) airport and they didn't even look at passports or Visa's. Freda holding an EU passport that was my expectation but I am on a New Zealand passport. Oh well. We make our way out to our accommodation and the place is great, nice place (not to detract from it at all but it's free). We have great TV, internet, kitchen, nice bed, central place and simply a nice home (not a hotel which is an instant bonus). Getting there was easy was one train (above ground) from Stansted Airport to a tube station and then one tube ride to our stop. This issue really was dealing with two bags each. A nice guy (not me) gave Freda a hand up the stairs with one of her bags.

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We are packing for the UK and leave tomorrow. We have arranged accommodation whilst there with Freda's cousin (Deirdre, thanks D) which wont cost us any money. Can stay their until they get back (March 8). Their is an issue with the hot water (shower) not working but it's being sorted before we arrive, how very nice of Deirdre and Ryan (thanks again guys).

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