Hannah's visit to the land of the long white cloud: January - February 2014

At the end of January I began the mammoth journey back to NZ for a visit. My flight from Heathrow was delayed which meant a rush to transfer in Singapore. Although I made it, sadly my bag did not until later the following day. I now appreciate the wisdom in packing a change of clothes in your carry-on. 

Auckland welcomed me home with stunning weather

It had been two years since we left the country so it was nice to be seeing friends and family again. I spent time in Wellington, Palmerston North, New Plymouth and a brief stop in Auckland. I really enjoyed catching up with friends and family, and making the most of all the things I miss about NZ while living in London.

You can't beat Wellington on a good day - looking out over Oriental Parade

View from my sister's house, Titahi Bay

Titahi Bay

Titahi Bay

Fantastic strong flat white and date scone

mmm delicious sushi from Sushi Bi (Wellington), and feijoa juice

View from my old uni (and work) back to the city

Oriental Bay, the beach in the city (Wellington)

Oriental Bay

Wellington harbour

Wellington harbour

Market on Wellington waterfront

On the track up to Mt Kaukau, looking back towards Wellington

I'm sure anyone who has spent a long time living away from their 'home' country and returns for a visit can relate to the slightly surreal feeling I experienced. Although Wellington still sort of felt like 'home,' I have a different life in such a different place now. Some things are the same but many have changed. So it was with mixed feelings that I jumped back on the first of my three flights and 26+ hour journey back to my second 'home.'

Only in New Zealand...the departure board telling me to relax

London, Little Venice: December 2013

I think many visitors to London the most they see of the city's canals is the customary visit to Camden. However there is a real community of people living in canal boats, and it's quite enchanting to wander around the area nicknamed Little Venice, near Paddington, north London.

In fact, it's a great walk along Regent's Canal, from Little Venice, through Regent's Park, and on through to Camden. From Camden you can also continue on to uber trendy Angel. If you were to walk all of that end to end, it's a pretty decent walk, so you'll need some nice weather! But even a little walk along the canal is a nice escape from the busyness of the city. Along the route, there will be occasions where you have to leave the canal-side to walk on the street.

From my work in Regent's Park, I would go for a morning jog along the towpath, and watching everything change so dramatically with the seasons was stunning.

December 2013: Xmas in London

The weeks leading up to Xmas in London are an odd mixture of joy and madness,The lights and trees go up, the scent of mulled wine is wafting down the streets, the pubs are full of merry people drinking by open fires.On one hand, things are winding down at work and people are looking forward to getting out of town.On the other hand, the lack of planning and the massive sales that have been running since black Friday are mixing into a shopping tornado of madness. Then on Xmas day everyone has gone out to see family or gone on holiday, it's like a scene from a movie, collect supplies and evacuate.
While there isn't much to say about Xmas day 2013 except that the food and company were wonderful, I did manage to get in a morning bike ride into London central and try and get some snaps of London after the storm had passed.

 

October 2013: good times in Paris

We jumped on the Eurostar and popped up on the other side of the channel for a four day stay in Paris.

We were staying in an airbnb studio apartment in Le Marais, near the Canal St. Martin. Overlooking a beautiful church and near to a lot of nice cafes and restaurants, it was nice to stay in a less touristy area of the city. To get in the spirit of things we started our trip with an apéritif of delicious red wine and Comté, bought for a bargain at the local supermarket.

That evening we went for a wander down to the canal itself, which was very picturesque. After much trip advisor consultation, walking around, and negotiation, we finally settled on a place for dinner full of French classics. We enjoyed foie gras, crème brûlée, duck, and snails.

To fuel up for the day of touristing, we visited the Richard Lenoir market, also known as the Marché Bastille, which was full of foodie delights.

Keeping with the market theme, we spent a good half a day visiting the nooks and crannies of the vast flea market Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen, apparently the biggest flea market in the world.

Heading up to visit the Sacré Cœur and explore the Montmartre area a fierce storm lashed us with rain and wind, breaking an umbrella and thoroughly drenching us. I still own the tacky purple ‘I love Paris’ umbrella we had to buy as a replacement.

In search of a good photo spot, we trekked across to Montparnasse Tower, a tall office building with a roof terrace open to the public which offers fantastic views across the city.

Although I had been to Paris a couple of times before I had sadly never quite had the time or stamina to visit the vast and daunting Louvre. Although I feel like we only skimmed the surface of all there is to see at the Louvre, what we did see we really enjoyed.

Exhausted, we took refuge in the neighbouring Tuileries gardens. Plonking ourselves on a nearby bench we enjoyed watching local children set model yachts afloat in the water fountains.

Taking advantage of the fine weather, a stroll along the Seine led us to the Notre Dame cathedral. Although I’ve seen it quite a number of times now I still find it impressive.

We queued for a couple of hours to visit the Paris catacombs. Admittedly the idea of the catacombs doesn’t sound particularly appealing, but the extent of the warren-like tunnels, the quantity of bones and the history of the site made for a really interesting visit. The city’s graveyards were proving a risk to public health, and the catacombs were built below the city streets, in former quarries, to provide a practical place to store these bones and corpses.

Before bidding ‘à la prochaine’ to Paris, we were sure to squeeze in another few French culinary classics, like these sumptuous macaroons, and a pistachio and chocolate swirl to enjoy beside the canal.