Our first week in London

Tuesday 19th of September

After our chaotic day on Monday we still weren't sure when our bags would arrive and it was lot colder in London than we had expected. We decided that we would just pay our insurance excess as we clearly needed more clothes. We did the exact same thing and headed into Oxford Street. This time we weren't as exhausted and could enjoy shopping a bit more. We had written lists of things we wanted like shoes, long sleeve tops and jerseys. We spent the entire day shopping, mainly in Selfridges since it seemed to have everything in the one place. Initially we actually went there because we were looking for a toilet and we guessed a nice department store would have some. We also figured if Lew needed a long pair of pants we might as well get him something appropriate for a job interview since he was applying to companies this week also. For lunch we went back to Kingly Court in Carnaby to get burgers. They were average. Lew has this obsession with burgers but every single time we order them they are not up to his standard. I vote we don't bother with them anymore as it is constant disappointment! It was a rather boring day to blog about to be honest but we had some shoes, pants, tops, socks and hoodies which would keep us going for the next week if need be. We headed back to Erlita's house to have the spag bowl from last night and she told us they would be delivering our bags tonight between 8-10pm!! Success 😁. They arrived at about 9.30pm and looked incredibly worse for wear with all the outside belts no longer done up and they seem rather scraped up. After going through the entire bag the only thing missing was the bag tag I had brought myself in Iceland. Disappointing but not the end of the world I guess.

Wednesday 20th of September

We started the morning off trying to get some of our mass loads of washing done as we hadn't done anything properly since Indonesia. The only issue was that Erlita doesn't have a large washing line like we do back in NZ as that doesn't seem to be the way in London. Everything was going to be needed to be hung in either her little hot water cupboard or there was a clothes horse. Apparently there are a lot of rules in the apartment block she lives in and it is frowned upon to put washing outside on the very small patio. But she said this would be ok as it was at the back and not the street view of the apartment. We also had a meeting with my Charge Nurse Amy from Continental Travel Nurse at 11am so we had to head back into Oxford Circus for the third time as the office was close by. We also planned to hopefully sort out bank accounts. I had been speaking to Amy since about October last year when we decided to make the move to London. So it was nice to finally put a face to the name. She just talked me through some questions and we worked out that I could start work as a nursing assistant or health care assistant we call the in NZ whilst I am waiting to sit my final exam to be an RN here. That way lewis and I could also move into the nursing hostel when we arrive back from our trip and we don't have to burden Erlita for much longer. Although I think she does enjoy the company as we often end up having very long conversations. So much so we were almost late to my meeting. The plan was for me to start work on November 27th and we move in the weekend before. There would be a week from when we get back from when we could move in that we thought we would fill with a visit to Oxford to see our friend Ollie and his Gf Zan for a few days. We also had plans to see a friend from NZ Nick who is now living in Lyon, France.

Amy printed off some paperwork for me to prove they were employing me and what my yearly salary would be so it would hopefully make it easier to get a bank account. We had been following Kiwis in London on Facebook and there seemed to be numerous issues with people trying to get UK Bank accounts. It seems every bank is different and it also seemed that often it depended on the person you were speaking to. We started off with the well known bank HSBC and there was a guy free who said the paperwork we had was all they needed. That was my biometric resident permit (BRP), proof of address from getting my NZ credit card bill sent here before we left, my passport, and a letter of employment confirming my address and salary. Lew just needed proof of address and his Irish passport. We thought we go lucky and it was going to be sorted right now. But he then went onto say that he could book is in with someone next week. We thought he was literally about to sort it then and there but no. We explained we were heading away for a few months and really needed to sort it this week. We said we were happy to travel to another part of London to get it sorted faster. He went through every single office in London and explained that because a lot of international students have arrived to start university they are booked out. However, he did find an appointment in a place about an hour out of London and we said we would take it. We thought we would try other banks and if not we would be going sight seeing!

The next bank we tried was Barclays. They weren't interested in the fact that my proof of address was a credit card and it apparently needs to be a debit card statement? No idea why. Plus Lews proof of address was online since he didn't get statements posted but they said he must have the original printed. I think they also wanted some proof of employment from Lew which he obviously didn't have right now.

The next bank we tried was Halifax. We didn't know anything about this one but figured we would try. Now they weren't helpful at all really and they wanted our National Index number as well as what Barclays wanted above. We left pretty quickly out of that one and clearly it wasn't going to work. At this stage we were pleased we still had the appointment with HSBC to fall back on.

Lloyds was the next bank down the street but we had heard terrible things on the Kiwis in London page about how useless they were and decided not to waste our time. There was however another one next to it we also hadn't heard of called NatWest which is run by the National Bank of Scotland. We figured we may as well try it out. They were super helpful and the guy Andrai sat us down and said we had everything he needed and he could sort it out right now! Hallelujah! It took about an hour to open both regular accounts and saving accounts for lewis and I. He printed off the proof of address which Lew emailed to him and even gave me an extra copy of my BRP since we didn't have access to a photocopier. Nothing seemed to be an issue other than the fact that Lews bank back in NZ- ANZ, had missed an important part of the postal address off. Andrew said this was fine and just told Lew to come back to a NatWest bank in a couple of days and update it and then ask for his debit card to be sent out. We left feeling very pleased with ourselves having relatively aced that! We headed straight to a "3" store to buy a 12 month plan, £14 for 12G and unlimited calling and texts. They also have this awesome thing that when your in the UK you can use Netflix and SoundCloud and it won't come out of your data! We had been given a print out from the bank with our account numbers and sort codes so we had no issues. We had also put some money into the account incase they charged us straight away. However we weren't going to be billed until next month. He also made it to the New Zealand House to cast our vote for the upcoming election this weekend. It was so nice being back on home soil where everyone around you sounds the same!

Leaving the NZ House we gave each other a big high five! We had sorted majority of the annoying things we wanted to get knocked off. But we were starving as it was 3pm and we still hadn't eaten. There were soo many food option but we went for this place called Benugo that had some cheap Chilli con carne and bread for me and a lamb and Harissa wrap. Top notch and certainly filled a large gap.

From here Lew wanted to get some shoe cleaner for his adidas shoes which he has thrashed on our recent travels. The only shop that stocked it was a place in Shoreditch. We had heard this was a pretty up and coming area so we were happy to take the bus there. It was a hip little area that included a place called Box Park. A group of containers filled with shops and restaurants, similar to the one the made in Christchurch after the earthquakes. I had my fringe trimmed and we brought a nice bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc wine for Erlita. It was certainly an area we could live in, but we should probably spend a little more time there first! It was easy enough to catch the train back to Maida Vale where Erlita has prepared us some chicken, salad and potatoes. It is certainly a nice treat to eat at home instead of trying to find somewhere cheap out.

Thursday 21st September

Now this day we had decided to just do absolutely nothing and get some more done on our trip. However, we spent a great deal of time getting caught up talking to Erlita and she insisted she took us out to lunch. She had a broken door on one of her cupboards that was held on with tape and Lew had fixed it for her this morning, so it was to say thank you. We tried to assure her she was doing enough for us by letting us stay but she absolutely insisted. The wee place was in the park next to her house so she got us out of the house for a short stroll also. Lew and I both had pizza and she had the soup of the day. She had some jobs to do and left us to walk around the park a little more before heading home. Lew got his CV sorted and sent it to some agency's whilst I researched the route we were going to take from the Loire Valley in France down to Barcelona. Before dinner Lew and I went for another walk in the drizzle to Lords Cricket Ground which wasn't far aways we were both feeling a tad under the weather and exhausted. We think Mondays overnight flight and then being up all day knocked is down a tad. Plus the bed is miniature being a double- I think we just got too spoilt in Dubai having a super king!  Dinner was sweet chilli sausages, moroccan cous cous, potatoes and broccoli which was excellent. We planned to do some work on the trip but I received a call from one of my mums good friends Tania who lives here in London with her family. I haven't seen them since I was about 14 so it is strange to be living in the same time zone let alone the same city!! She gave us all sorts of tips for our upcoming Europe adventure, mostly about keeping safe and we came away from the talk feeling rather alarmed and very concerned for our safety! But there was some very valuable ideas I had never thought about such as carrying a second wallet with only enough money for the day so if someone demands your wallet you don't lose everything important to you. Lew also caught up with his parents and we never managed to get some trip planning done! We would have to nuckle down and get some sorted tomorrow. Hopefully we wouldn't be constantly interrupted or distracted.

Friday 22nd September

From about 9am till 1.30pm we managed to sit down in the lounge and book accomodation from the Loire Valley in France down to Barcelona. We initially we going through Bordeaux and Andorra but had heard such great things from everyone about the Dordogne region through the Center of France we re-routed our trip that way. If you google Rocamadour this will give you an idea of how ridiculously beautiful this region is. We are booking everything through Airbnb but there was only one place left in Rocamadour and it was very expensive so we had to find a hotel instead. Such a shame It has broken our AirBnb streak! We were happy that we had finally solved that since it is only next week after all. Erlita was having a high tea party at 2pm with some friends from Portugal and we decided we didn't want to get caught up in all that jazz. We might be able to pretend we know what we are doing by sticking our pinky finger out when we drink tea but that's about it. It seemed like an important event and she had cleaned the house and brought multiple cakes and also spent the morning making sandwiches with wild salmon. So we decided we better escape before we got dragged into it all. After all we did have some jobs to do in town and it was a beautiful sunny day, alas it was still rather chilly compared to Dubai!

We planned to take the train into Trafalgar Square to change lews address at the bank so he could receive his card to the right place.We road a few stops on the train and then Lew asked me if I had brought the piece of paper with his bank account details on it. I had actually left it behind completely forgetting he needed it!! He had even put it out and I tidied it away so we didn't lose it. We went back to Maida Vale station and I decided to wait in the station for Lew and he could run back as he was less likely to get dragged into a tea party! It did cost more money as Lew had to swipe and out of the station. It is about £2.40 ($4.40 NZD) each way but he also forgot his passport anyways which would be required. Finally we popped up out into Trafalgar Square with the huge historical building, people painting the courtyard with chalk and buskers. The bank NatWest easily changed lews address details and we carried on. Despite making sandwiches back a Erlitas Lew was starving and we spent a good hour trying to find food, waiting for it and then finding a park to eat it in. Once again he went for a burger at a place called Honest Burger. Whilst he was waiting for it I went across the road and brought one of those typical American tourist things called a fanny pack. However, I'm expected to put this one down my pants or under my top so it looks like I'm pregnant with small alien in order to keep our passports safe in transit. Charming invention. It only cost us £10 ($18.40 NZD) and I guess our passports are worth a lot more than that! Once the burger arrived we decided to find the Thames to sit by. It proved difficult to find a seat as Lew didn't want people watching him eat haha! After a few frustrated works from me (I was actually hangry due to the smell of lews burger! I was annoyed at myself for not getting one also! But he didn't know that until after he fed me some chips! ) after walking for a good 10 minutes we found a park and lucky for Lew it was a bloody good burger! We had down all our jobs at this point so figured we should do some sight seeing and walked to Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful walking up the street we had seen on tv full of people during balcony appearance by the royals.

We decided we were rather close to Westminster Abbey at this point and headed in that direction via a supermarket called Marks. We planned just to borrow their toilet but decided to make nachoes for dinner as well. It was cheap to buy mince, nachos chips etc but there wasn't any spices. We ended up buying some red salsa to stir through for flavour. Continuing on to the Abbey it was huge and very gothic looking. I remember the entrance that Kate and Will used during their wedding in 2011 so it was strange seeing it in real life. I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. Next stop was the Parliament building which Lew thought was more impressive than the Abbey. It contains the House of Commons and the House of Lords so naturally a photo was needed to be sent back to the Commons family. There was also a statue of King Henry and the fifth and we sat down in front of it trying to work out how far before our current queen he is. The next plan was to head home and cook nachoes and we made our way to the station next to Westminster bridge. The London eye and also Big Ben were also attractions in this area we admired. But it was here just before the subway that I noticed St Thomas's and Guys Hospital across the bridge. This is one of the options I can work for with my agency so I insisted we had to check out the Emergency Department. It was pretty modern and it would certainly be incredible if your were a ward nurse seeing all the above famous sites out your patients window. However, ED is on the ground floor and all we have to admire is the ambulance bay. And I must say there were sufficient numbers of ambulances present, plus I presume they have a helipad on the roof since they are a major trauma Center. We figured we would see how far the other train station (Waterloo) is from the hospital so we could work out which one would be better to walk from. They were doing some construction around Waterloo at that point so the detour meant it was much closer to walk back across the bridge. 

Back at Maida Vale we started making our nachoes and Erlita came to make sure we were using the correct instruments for the job and wernt being too messy. Apparently we are very Kiwi and she waves her hand around so I don't know if she means messy by that! The nachoes certainly had a different taste about them but man there they nice. Erlita saw how much I served Lew and proclaimed he would be sick there was so much food. I was slightly concerned about what she would think of my portion since it's usually much the same as lews! The rest of the night was spent catching up with Lews family since it was already the 23rd back home being Lews birthday. Plan for tomorrow is to take the Eurostar to Paris!! Watch this space 😁