Hello, Sorry for the radio silence. Since moving into our flat at the end of March, we have been flat out! The internet was finally connected last week, so we are planning to update things more regularly from now on. Some things in this country take forever to organise. Like broadband and a phone line. Anyway, we now have both, so give us a call or chuck us an email!Technology is amazing...
I (Steph) finished up working for Castlebar school the week before Easter. I was quite sad to leave as after 7 weeks I had got to know the staff and the kids pretty well. I wasn't sad to say goodbye to an hour and 20 min commute though!The first few days of the hols, I just hung about, did some gardening with Hannah, spent some time with my cuz Bruce and my Aunt Val. Bruce and I did some exploring of my local 'hood, and ended up walking along the Thames path all the way to Canary Wharf, just in time to meet Zander for a pint after work. Val and I went to the V & A museum to see the "Hats" exhibition, which was really interesting. I have a new mission to get my hands on some of Val's vintage clothing, stored in her attic....
On Good Friday we went with Rowan and her Aussie friend Jax to Wales. Rowan has a wee car. We went to stay in a 'luxury' caravan near St Davids, in Pembrokeshire. We were in the middle of nowhere, it was lovely! The weather was fantastic, really cold but really sunny (unusual for Wales we are told). We visited the island of Skomer, a bird sanctuary where you can get very close to PUFFINS. It was a bit like Sommes Island in Wellington Harbour. There were also thousands of rabbits on the island, introduced 700 years ago by the Normans, who farmed them. They have had a huge impact on the ecology of the island, meaning very little in the way of vegetation and millions of rabbit holes, which are used by the puffins and shearwaters for breeding.We also visited the Cathedral and ruins of the Bishops palace in St Davids, and a CHOCOLATE FARM, as well as eating and drinking far too much.
We came back to London for one night, and then caught the train to Edinburgh for Catriona and Chris's wedding. (Steph worked with Cat at Kilbirnie school) We spent 4 days wandering the city, seeing where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, among more historic places... It is very beautiful there, although it was FREEZING and each day we wore about 50 layers. It was very misty and atmospheric, especially when we were doing the ghost walking tour and going up to the castle. We spent the morning before the wedding walking up Arthur's seat, where you get 360 degree views of the city and surrounds.The wedding was fantastic, the bride was beautiful and all the blokes (The NZ contingent as well as the Scots) were in kilts. The reception was in a hotel overlooking the castle and the Princes St gardens.
We got back to London and Richie started back at work, while I wondered whether I would get anything for a couple of days. Not to worry, after 1 day of no news I was then offered two jobs. One in an ASD class in Greenwich, but unfortunately it took me an hour and a half to get there, so althougth the school seemed lovely, I won't be working there this term! The other one is in Finsbury Park, about 35 mins away. The class has 7 students, mostly ADHD, so it is pretty full on. At this stage it is for 2 weeks, possibly longer. It is a very small school, only 4 classes, and 24 students, but seems very relaxed and friendly which is nice.Richie is going well and has settled into his job at SSL247. I made him go shopping today but tomorrow we are off to explore Epping Forest, provided we can get out of Wapping, as the London Marathon is on our doorstep tomorrow and the roads are all closed!
