An Encouragement

As we mentioned earlier we've had a few troubles since arriving here in Southampton. However we've also had some really amazing and encouraging things happen too. Just to lighten your day we thought we'd tell you a little about it to show you how we think God's been watching over us here on the other side of the world.

1. We were searching for somewhere to live with very little time to spare before we were due to start work. As a consequnce we accepted to rent a one bedroom flat after seeing it just once and not really working out the terms with the agent. They told us we were paying for a fully furnished house. What we got was a barely furnished, decaying flat in the red light district of Southampton. The area is infamous and everyone gasps when they hear we're living here. Well we do have a bed, a fridge and an old couch. And the hot water works and the heating is almost too good. Our first angel-like encounter was Anne from work who has lent us all we need for a home for as long as we need it.
2. Then the car. Obviously when we bought it we checked all that we could as non-mechanics, even taking it for a good long test drive. It really did look great. No rust and everything functioning well inside the car. We drove around London a bit and then down to Mum's cousin in the country with no problems. Then some lights came on on the dashboard. The ABS light and the Park Brake light (although the park brake was off). We thought we'd get it checked out at the next garage we passed. It was 2pm so we pulled over for a late lunch, parking behind a man who was fixing his car. He pointed to the road and then said we were leaking something . Could he have a look under the bonnet? Well apparently we had been driving with practically no brake fluid left in the car anywhere and you could see the last drops running into the gutter. This man happened to be a mobile mechanic and offered to fix the brakes for a fraction of the cost that a garage would charge. His name is Gary and he's originally from Jamaica. Enter: angel No.2. Last night Gary came by for a cup of tea and chatted with us for 3 hours!! He's fixed the brake lines and the abs sensor and the suspension that became ULTRA noisy just when the brakes went. He's a friendly face in a not so friendly neighbourhood.
3. We've also found a really great church here and have been invited out a few times with a phd student David who has been so kind in introducing us to people and the city. Angel No.3. He sat next to us on our first night visiting the church and then invited us to his house for dinner that week.

So even though things haven't been running altogether smoothly we've still had someone helping us out through all the issues.

Sights of London

Trafalgar Square. No pigeons surprisingly. They must have had a culling.


At 'The Walkabout' Auzzie pub in Sheppards Bush. It was here that we won the trivia and £100 drink voucher.




Beck had been waiting 6 months for someone to go on the London Eye with her. And it was onthe top of our list of things to do in London. We managed to get on just as the sun went down. The best time, we thought. Sorry about the moving background. It was hard finding the correct settings on the digital camera for the fading light.
Prove we're really here!
The capsules fit about 25 people each with a bench seat in the middle for those moments the height gets to you. You go around just once.
A 'Hot Toddy'. This drinks includes brandy, hot water, cloves, honey and cinnamon. It'd be jsut perfect if you had the sniffles. A bit hard to get down at other times.

Our First Month in England

This is the lovely village of Rye. It has a pub built around 1250!! The streets are all cobblestone like this one and very very narrow.
We met up with some St Hildas friends here at the Tate Modern. Behind Jane are some huge stainless steel slides taht you can queue for. A lot of time in the line for a very quick ride but they look impressive!!
Greg's first castle! With a mote and all! And it snowed everywhere in Engalnd except at Charmian and Lovatt's where we were staying. Greg hasn't seen snow falling yet. We'll get there. This is Bodiam castle.
Isn't he sexy in the gorgeous tunic. Standard dress here in English hospitals.

Thought we'd vanished?

Hi there everyone,
Its been a tricky couple of weeks and a long time since we last blogged. We've been conned by a few Brits in regard to our house and a car with faulty breaks and Greg's had gastro. On a brighter note we've done some sight seeing and had great catch ups with Hildas friends and Beck Everett and crew for Jane's birthday.
Our jobs are great and everyone at Southampton General Neurology Xray are lovely and friendly. One lady Anne has lent us a whole lot of furniture for our aweful decomposing house. Now it almost resembles a home.
The car's brakes are working again and the creeking suspension may be fixed next weekend WHILE WE'RE IN PARIS!!
Yes we are finally going to Paris for our first wedding anniversary.
Check out the next blog for photos of our last month in England.
Love to you all.
Jane and Greg

HELLO SUNNY ENGLAND!

Hiya everyone,
We're in sunny London, and I really mean sunny. Blue skies and we haven't seen rain yet. Greg thinks perhaps his presence brings on a drought? Mum and Dad just told us its been pouring in Geelong pretty much since we left!!
Its been all go since we arrived in London on Tuesday after our mega effort 3 days of travelling by boat, bus, taxi and planes from Koh Ngai. After a late change in plans once again, we'll be working in Southampton on the coast of Southern England from Feb 12th. We're both in the same hospital and for a change, Greg is earning more than Jane! Greg will do CT and Jane, plain xrays. Hoepfully we can steer clear of the shift work for a while.
We've been thoroughly spoilt in London staying with Jane's mum's cousin Hew and his wife Jane in central London. Its also been great to spend some time with our great pal Beck Everett, a radiography friend, who's working here in London. Yesterday we went on the London eye together and topped the day off celebrating Waitangi Day (New Zealand's equivalent of Australia Day) at The Walkabout Pub in Shepherd's Bush.
Greg also endured yet another market with Jane on Portobello Road, although he confessed that this one was interesting and quite enjoyed the experience. Where Australian markets often have a whole lot of crafts, jewellery and clothing, the Portobello market was full of interesting "boy's stuff" like old antique swords, wooden boche balls, leather gun holsters, giant turtle shells and 5 million year old fossils. We even had a hot toddy at "The Portobello Star" (brandy with hot water, spices and honey).
Our other exciting news is we bought a car!! Its a 1998 Renault Scenic with the road dimensions of a large-ish hatchback but taller to fit all our luggage. We're planning camping trips and all sorts. We'll include a picture later.
More news from Southampton to come...