Goodbye England, Bounjour France !

We've just spent the last week crusing around the Basque country in South West France and nth Spain. The first stop was Biarritz, France - the surf capital of Europe. Gav was pretty stoked to be back in the water on a 'planche de surf' surfing in just his boardshorts. Meanwhile I enjoyed soaking up a bit of sun and sussing out all the yummy cheese, chocolate and Gateaux Basques! We've been practicing as much French as possible and feel pretty confident until people start talking back to us really quickly, at which point we realise we have a lot to learn!

We then headed down to San Sebastian, Spain, where we explored the crazy Parte Vieja (old town), gorged on Tapas, Sangria and Rosados (rose). They party pretty hard in this town so we found ourselves dancing to Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer, Guns n Roses Sweet Child of Mine and other classic tracks until 3am... complete with cowboy hats. And if we thought we were out late, we were wrong as the noisy street parties continued till daylight just outside our pension window! And even when we left town the next day at 7am, the train was full of people just ending their night!!

Gav was also pleasantly surprised by the cranking surf in San Seb so had a nice long session out at a 4 ft point break. Apparently the locals weren't quite so pleased about having a 'tourist' take their waves. Unfortunately for me the sun vanished and I had a long, cold and rainy wait on the beach!! The price we pay for love hey :)

We're now back in France and having taken on some wheels (thanks Bev), have been cruising around the stunning Dordogne region. Will write more about this later in our next blog, but a big highlight was floating down the Dordogne river yesterday in a canoe, cruising past huge chateaux and old bridges. Also staying in a gorgeous cliff side town on the river with an excellent restaurant, plus the sun has returned again in full force and it's now officially hot!

Below are just a few pics from the Basque region. More to come.


Pqrte Vieja, San Sebastian (Spain)

Biarritz (France)

memories

Given that we have both lived in London at various stages of our lives, most of our current trip to london has been spent catching up with friends.

Earlier in the week we caught up with Gav's English mates for a good night out on the the town in Islington to celebrate Stueys 28th birthday.

A few of the guys and girls had been out to Australia but many of us hadnt seen each other for over 12 years!! despite the time gap it was just like old times and a lot of memories, laughs and good times were had by all!

Thanks guys for showing us such a great night out! We look forward to being able to shout you back a few beers either in the slopes or back in London!
the lads (...alright son)
Laura, Katie, Anna and Gav
Paul, Annabel and Kirsty

Matt charming the lovely ladies. (Jen and Em)... sound as a pound
Ella, Claire, Steve, Stuey (the birthday boy!) and Em

just like old times

Its amazing how even after a few years of not seeing someone, it takes no time at all to be right back to normal!

Tara and Caius put on a feast once we arrived in London and a lot of laughs were had over dinner and a few vinos with tinks and G.T.

Em robbo the ferret is especially for you!

"the ferret"

Singapore to London...via Glasgow

Finally arrived in London on Friday after an absolute mission!

Thanks to a well timed British Airways catering strike we had to fly from singapore to the uk with no food or drink, then we were diverted up to glasgow airport rather than heathrow.
After waiting 2 hrs to pass immigration (one guy on his own stamping 400 passports!) we had a lovely 10 hr coach trip down to London! Welcome to the UK!!

Anyway on the bright side at least I guess we got to see more of the english countryside! The good news is that we managed to make it back in time for Marky Mac and Pippa's wedding. With flowing Pimms, lots of air guitar moves on the dance floor to some crankin' tunes, catching up with Gav's Enfield mates and also the Australian contingent, and of course a glowing bride and groom, it was an awesome night. Great speeches too. Check out the pics below.

The rest of the weekend was spent chilling at Em's Aunt and Uncle's place in Bramley, Guildford, enjoying their hospitality and some lovely country walks complete with tasty Blackberries to pick and eat along the way!

We're now at Tara and Caius' very funky flat which is just a stone's throw from London Bridge. They've been looking after us very well so we feel a bit spoilt. Have spent the past few days catching up with Tinks and GT, the Enfield crew, enjoying lots of pimms and pints and basking in the London sun which has come out in full force!! Have even had to put sun screen on!

Woke up to the very exciting news this morning that Gav passed his mammoth CFA exam so are in top spirits and all is looking up for the journeys ahead. (Gav wanted me to take the "mammoth" reference out but having been through the build up with him - I reckon there's no othey way to describe it!).


the groomsmen "the band"
the Aussie contingent
Mr Mark and Mrs Pippa Maclennan !

last days in sydney

One of the best things about heading O/S for a long time is that it's a good excuse to catch up with a lot of old and new friends in one very, very busy last week! here some shots from our farewell drinks at Industrie, some of the Pulse work gang and a bank holiday shot from clovelly beach.

singapore fling

Em and i have arrived in Singapore for a quick 2 day stopoff to work on our tan's and make sure we are sufficiently relaxed to take on london. So far so good, after a pretty hectic last few weeks it's been nice to hang out by the pool with the shirt off, having a few tiger beers in the sun and listening to the new ipods! Everything here so far has been pretty good. Warm weather, great deals on electronic goods (pitty we paid top dollar before we left oz!) and good food. Only lesson we have learnt so far is not to bother with the chicken sausages or the spam style bacon! I dont think breakfast is Singapore's specialty! Tonight we are heading to try this place called "Carnivore". Apparently its a brazilian cavary style place where they carve the meat from big skewers straight onto your plates (15 different types!). now thats my type of restraunt! Should be nice with a few caprihana's (like caprioska's) to wash it down! see picture below!

Gav getting stuck into some brazilian prime beef!