Yes, We're Still Alive!
Can't believe its a fortnight since we arrived in London. We've been busy sightseeing, job hunting and recovering from an injury on our last night in Dubai.
The evening safari in Dubai included 90 minutes of tearing and bouncing around huge sand dunes in a 4WD in the desert. Initially it was fun but after 20 mins the kids started to get car sick, and my head was thrown back going over one dune, it was instant agony. We had 7 hours flying the next day so Mark dosed me up on anti-inflammatories and pain killers which seemed to take care of the problem. I took the pills on and off for a week in England thinking it would all clear up, but the pain was just as bad as ever and my neck and shoulders completely knotted up. I am now all mended after a visit to an Osteopath who told me I had bad whiplash, and severe muscle trauma.
We were met at Heathrow airport by Mark's uncle Alan. And he and Dorothy have taken special care of us since. They have kindly opened their hearts and their home to us, and we are currently based with them in Tewin, a small country village a 40 min train ride from Kings Cross station in London.
Uncle Alan and Petra in the garden at home in Tewin
Platform 9 3/4 for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy at Kings Cross Station
After the disappointing response to Mark's job applications in Dubai (ie none) we were rather concerned that it would take more than a month to get organised with jobs here in England. So Mark responded to two engineering positions on the internet on our first weekday here. He was bowled over when his phone began ringing within two hours and didn't stop before he had 10 job interviews lined up over four days.
Taking phone calls in Green Park
We initially planned to base ourselves anywhere except London, Mark went to job interviews in Cardiff, all over Kent, and was approached for interviews in Southampton and Cambridge and received 5 job offers. However, a job in East Finchley, a northern suburb in London, caught his interest and he has accepted a position as Senior Structural Engineer at Maslen Brennan and Henshaw beginning next Monday.
In between the interviews we've managed a few days sightseeing. After spending time in other large cities recently we're mighty impressed with the amount of things to see, and the presentation of both London and Bristol. You could spend a fortnight (and a fortune) in London and still not take in all the important sites.
Sightseeing in London
Now that we have Mark employed, the next agenda items are to find a school and then a place to live. The two are inextricably linked, as the state schools are zoned (independent or private schools are out of the question, one I looked at had fees of £2.6k per term per child) so we need to know which school before we rent a flat. But, we've also heard that a school doesn't necessarily have to take you just because you live in the area... so you have to have some back up options!?!
I have spent hours on the internet researching areas close to stations which would make Mark's journey to work workable, and reading up official reports on schools in those areas. We also need to consider house prices in the area in case we decide to buy a property at a later date, as we want to avoid having to change schools....
We've twice driven around likely areas, for a visual and aural inspection - I'm very consious that the children will quickly lose their Kiwi accents so want to know what they are going to sound like :-) So far we think that the suburb of Barnet is a good option. I've found 5 schools (with good reviews) in the area, there's enough green space about so you don't feel like you're in central London, and the rental (£1,000 per month) and purchase prices aren't too outrageous (we've stopped converting to NZD!)
We are really loving England, everything is sooo green, so organised, so convenient. And I'm an excellent motorway navigator. My only complaint is summer seems to be rapidly coming to a close with autumy leaves around, and a few chilly days. Although we've had a three month summer already, I'm not quite ready to bring out the winter gear :-)
Taking a stroll in the country with Dorothy and Alan.
As you can see I've been able to load some photos at long last. I've also gone back and added some photos to the Dubai posting and if anyone is interested I can dig out some from Asia.
Hopefully my next post will have news on a flat, and then we can extend an open invitation for anyone who cares to pay us a visit.
Cheers for now
Hayls
x
