Fullham Palace and Newcastle

Fullham Palace Court yard

Fullham Palace (on side of thames)

In Fullham Palace church

South Sheilds, Newcastle - The SEA!

Proof I found the sea

Durham

Newcastle crew out in Durham

Excited!

Castle Keep (1100BC - its old)

Black Gate (1200BC!)

The Sage - theatre venue (looks bit like a worm i think)

Me and Joel by Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Riverside - Bridge down

Bridge up!

View from train

New flat, new job..

Big news of the week is that I got a flat! Yay! have been looking for the last couple of weeks, and it is quite a mission, I wasn't even sure where to start. Bt decided to go for a place up north as it is a bit closer to central city and most of the work is up this way, so the less travel the better! So found a place in queens park with two lovely ladies, one a kiwi from ashburton (haha were everywhere!) and the other is a brit (i think? only meet her breifly). The house is an apartment on a main high street and really close to the tube station (key in london!), its a good size room and pretty well priced so I'm happy :) Going to move in later this week so will no longer be homeless and actually be able to unpack my stuff instead of living out of my pack! Amazing!

Also started a new locum job this week doing outpatient/community paeds up in Enfield (far north!), the team is lovely. Just working 3 days a week for the next 6 weeks with possible extension, buthopefully something full time might come up in the meantime..
Last week I had off, and inbetween my mamoth flat hunt I managed to squeeze in some tourist things. Went to the Tower of London on a lovely sunny day. Got to check out all the cool geeky history stuff which I love :) There are carvings in the walls still from all the famous prisnors, crown jewels were amazing and the White Tower looked amazing considering it was from the 1200s! It now has some cool exhibits inside. Crazy to think that stuff has been there for so long !
Also went to St Pauls and did a tour there. Also incredible. Alot of more cool history. The celing with the paintings and masoics were amazing, lots of old sculptures and memorials, and many famous people buried in the crypt under the church (nelson, wiston churchall etc. ) Then climed the about 500 steps to the top of the church , there were some very small passage ways!! but a panarama view from the top overlooking the city, very cool, and well worth the effort! They also have whats called the whispering room in the balcony in the dome inside the church, where if you stand on one side you can here someone from the opposite side really clearly if they just whisper. Choice :)
This week in london they also had a free festival for west end shows, so had a stage up with showcase performances from some of the big shows. So managed to catch some of that which was cool, saw some of wicked, and there is a dance group called burn the floor which were also really good.

So have had a nice realaxing week of being a tourist, and now back into the working world.
Oh and the All White's are amazing, watched the game here sun avo - but was running late and missed the first 10mins, who would have thought we would score against italy in that time!! Have Thursaday off so will try and watch the next game. Go NZ!

Tower and St Pauls

Trafalgar Square

view over tower green

My Yeoman/guide

Mini Armor!

St Pauls

Fleet st looking down to St Pauls

View of river from st pauls

View from St Pauls

giant armor

The sun is shining!

Well not right this minute, but it has been lovely the last couple of weeks - and people tell me you don't get summer in England! This week is my actual last week at the job I'm on. So will end up having done 6weeks of work which is pretty good considering it was only meant to be 2. Have a possible job lined up next in east London (well technically I think it's actually Essex) it's a 6 month one so that would be good. Will hear back by the end of this week if I've got it or not - the starting date is next week so would fit perfectly. Also need to find a flat this week, as I have to be out of my current place by mid next week. So I am a women on a mission!
Has been a fairly quite couple of weeks. Went and did the tour of the Tower Bridge, which was very educational! Had some interesting facts and great views down the Thames. Although sadly that day was a bit wet so we didn't actually get to see that much. Then that night went out in Liverpool area to a champagne bar on the 42nd floor of this building, it has floor to celling glass windows and panorama views of the city - was amazing! Much better than the London Eye (even though I haven't done it yet haha).
This weekend was another lovely and hot one, so had another crusy day at the park. Then went out for some food at a bar up north somewhere which was alongside the canal! It was like being in another city - very cute. No plans for getting to Europe yet, but I'm onto it, need to rally some troops!

Punting times in Cambridge

Summer's coming!

Sorry has been a while since my last post, have had some computer issues, but all sorted now. Got my job extended so have been working for the last month or so now, and have one more week before I'm due to finish up there. Has been really good, great to get my foot in the door and earn some money. And have some possibilities of jobs to follow after which is promising.
Two weekends ago did a day trip to Cambridge on Saturday with a group of us. Kate's friend is an ex-local so we had a free tour guide! Went self punting on the river which was great fun, although my steering skills were rubbish! And we didn't get very far while I was punting! One of the girls made a whole tray of cupcakes so we ate them while cruising down the river with some PIMS (which is a summer drink here) - very classy! Then had a wander through the town which is lovely, all old building which overhang the cobbled roads. And had a picnic in the park and relaxed. Was a really lovely day. 
Last weekend did some more exploring in London, on Friday night when out for drinks in Soho which was good fun, and saw some of china town - it's like your in a completely different place! Saturday was so hot, up to 27deg! So spent the day at the park with some friends of Claire's enjoying the sunshine and then headed out to Upper street in Islington. Was a good night. Checked out the Camden markets on Sunday, was another really hot day, so didn't really get into some serious shopping, but the market went on forever! Bit alternative but some cool stuff. Will have to go back sometime and have a proper look.
This week is another long weekend with a bank holiday, might check out Greenwich down the river, but it's meant to rain, so well see!

Back to work..

Had my first full week at work this week (well four days, one was a public holiday). Is going pretty well, not really busy at the moment which is nice, but the girl I am seeing is quite challenging so it's keeping me on my toes! And looks like I might get an extension on the two weeks as she's not going to be ready to go home this week so the boss asked if I would be happy to stay on a bit longer - yes please, money is all good!
Has been a pretty quiet week, quite tiring getting back into the swing of work! Who would have thought after about a month off, haha. Went to the Portobello Market in Notting Hill on Saturday, it is massive! Really cool, they have a whole street shut off, and stalls full of everything from clothes, antiques, jewelery and yummy food. Awesome stuff and some of it is quite cheep, was very tempting not to spend all my money!
Last night got to go on a boat down the Thames, a friend Claire had some spare tickets going last minute. It was a dance/DJ party on board this boat and we just cruised around. It was great fun, really cool to see the city from a different view, and quite interesting trying to dance on a moving dance floor with the waves!
I am moving houses this week, the girls I'm staying with lease is up, so have managed to set up a place to stay through Mum and Dad's neighbour who has a house here which she co-owns with a friend. Has worked out really well, the lady is a journalist so away quite a bit and happy to have me stay. So got another months le-way before I have to find a place and start paying rent which is great! Looking forward to having a room to myself, ratio of 3bedrooms to 2 people is much better than 3people to one room!