The beginning of time..

This sunday's expedition was out to Greenwich where time began.. we had a roast in a nice local's pub, then wandered through the park up to the observatory where it all happened!.. i've set my watch to the clock there so now I can blame the stations clocks for being out when i miss the train!!..



A stroll through the markets (where i picked up some yummy olives), a quick look at the Cutty Sark, then we headed to a pub to thaw out!..



Another "things i must do while in London" successfully ticked off my list!..

Next weekend.. Malmo (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark)..

The sea, dirty seagulls, rollercoasters and a glimpse of sun..

I love Brighton..

I don't know if it's just because it's on the sea, or because everything there just seems like fun.. but in a laid back kinda way...

On Sunday Blake and I set off on another adventure to explore another part of England for some "QT" and to celebrate 15 months of joint shennanigans..

After a nice roast at a pub that reminded me of so many relaxed cafe's at home, we strolled along the pebble beach, taking in the sounds, smells and sights of the seaside.. the burnt out pier skeleton sitting amongst the waves has a certain aura, as if it was meant to be there - in that state all along..



We went out on the existing pier and tried to win a big Tigger (to go with the big Piglet Blake won me at Alton Towers) but failed.. so consoled ourselves with a ride on the rollercoaster.. fun!



We cruised through the little shops in the lanes (and I bought a pair of boots!).. then moseyed amongst all the nice cafe's and bars to finally settle in a sushi place for dinner, and then a bar with the most comfortable couches for a couple of cocktails..

What a splendid Sunday!..

Free as a bird..

I got my passport back!!!

Like a lemming..

I've joined the post-Chrismtas masses and joined a gym ready to work real hard and then follow the other running little mammals off a cliff of sanity.. hopefully I'll get fit in the process though..

Talk to the animals..

Still confined to the borders of the UK, it's actually been quite refreshing to do stuff around London.. I'd been wanting to go to the London Zoo for a while now.. I know it's a big debate about whether they are right or wrong, but I love watching animals and I think the educational value is the big bonus of them..

Anyway, enough of the disclaimer..

Last sunday I finally got to go to the zoo.. Thinking that 2 and a half hours would be enough considering that the zoo isn't that big.. of course we were wrong.. we started off with the giraffe's, some funny stripey butt zebra type things, some weird snout nosed pig type things, then onto the small mammals where the various breeds of marmosets kept us entertained for ages with their amazingly humanlike actions.. and they're sooo cute!!


An Inquisitive Marmoset

That led onto the Nocturnal animals enclosure where the highlight were the tiny Australian gliders (like the sugar gliders I was used to from North Qld, but about the size of a mouse!).. there were hundredes of them!!.. There a few different types of sloths too (I always wanted come back as a sloth)..

And then - my favourite animal - the otters!!.. they were a great big family with about 6 kits (baby otters) all running/swimming around showing off for the spectators.. so carefree and oh so cute!



By now we had almost run out of time so we quickly went past the monkeys, tigers and lions en route to the reptile display (Blake's favourite animals) - but unfortunately we were too late.. So we have vowed to go back in the summer to see the rest of the zoo..

Starting the year off with a limping fizzle..

Where have I been the past 3 weeks??.. Wading (or maybe just floating) around in a pool of tepid post-Christmas and post-New Year anti-matter..

After the flurry of Christmas parties, end of year catch ups and farewells to my friends lucky enough to travel overseas for their holidays, there was nothing left but a sneeze at 1pm Xmas Eve, which by 3pm, was a itchy throat and cloggy head, and by 10pm, a full on sniffle, can't swallow type cold..

Xmas day was jolly, with lots of presents and fun.. We had a huge dinner supplied by Blake's bosses girlfriend - pheasant and turkey galore!.. with a side of strepsils for me.. yay!!

Boxing day was a haze of fever, sweats, coughs, aching back, delerium and ibuprofen.. was totally oblivious to the outside world!.. the fever broke that night and can you imagine my surprise when i woke on the 27th to find that I had slept through the huge tsunami devastation!!.. still on the ibuprofen and added tears of sympathy..

From the 28th to the 30th of Dec, Blake and I set off to the English countryside.. Ludlow in Shropshire to be exact.. to go and visit Blake's friends Caroline and Yupi and their son James.. It was lovely to get some fresh air and get out of London.. we poked around the village, castle and pubs, and played with James and all his christmas toys!!..

New Year's was spent at Vesbar with the gang, and then back to the She Bu Crew's playhouse for manic mayhem.. Blake and Jaco managed to make it down at 3am (after they closed the pub).. Crazy shenanigans - lucky there were no cameras around!!..

Since making back to work, nothing much has happened of note.. it just seems like all the fun and excitement of last year has caused a deficit at the moment.. i suppose there's only so much that can go around... :-)