We have bought ourselves some KIWI gear - black, grey and white fleece
jackets, sweatshirt for Geoff and hats for us both with silver ferns and NZ
logos etc - thought we had better fly the flag a bit.Geoff & Chris in the UK Letters & Photos: Previous Next
UK News 11 November 2003
We have bought ourselves some KIWI gear - black, grey and white fleece
jackets, sweatshirt for Geoff and hats for us both with silver ferns and NZ
logos etc - thought we had better fly the flag a bit.
Evening all... It's Tuesday night, a chilly 8 degrees outside (and it would be even colder if it wasn't lightly raining). In some ways it feels like its been a difficult month - we are both in dire need of a bit of R&R - I am especially feeling a bit low and tired - My Dad is always so caring of me though and rings me up on the days I don't go and see him to check how I am.
The sound of fireworks is thundering outside, testament to fireworks being sold year round, and of massively bigger effect and noise than those even able to be purchased in NZ. The biggest I have seen costs $200 each, has to be buried 3 feet into the ground before igniting, and recommends that you stand back a massive 35 metres. Hoons have taken a great liking to them, having blown holes in the side of police cars with these mortar-like fireworks.
Today is Armistice day, which is a Very Big Thing in the UK. Huge parades on Sunday, which was Remembrance Sunday. Everyone stopped work at 11am this morning, and there was a very well respected two minutes of silence. Normally the time is marked by the firing of guns in the city, but these were not heard this year. Shops turned off their music, drivers stopped their cars, quite a powerful moment in such a normally noisy city.
Winter is now definitely upon us. Daylight saving time has ended, so it is now dark by 5pm. Ice on the car in the mornings, fog... The footpaths are covered in thick piles of autumn leaves, surprisingly dry as there has been very little rain. In fact, Birmingham's water supply (in Wales) is running dry, so they're having to take water out of the Severn River (sounds familiar Aucklanders!).
 We
had a lovely fireworks night at Rob & Dawns last weekend, the adults
played big kids in the back yard, making a bonfire and letting over about
$300 of fire works. I've come to appreciate November 5th in a different
way, as the Northern Hemisphere does make a difference. First of all, it's
dark by 5pm and cold. So bonfires are lit at 6pm and fire works are let
off at 7pm (in the bigger shows). This makes for family events, with
little kids about to join in. Compare this to NZ where it probably doesn't
get dark till 9pm. Also, the name of Guy Fawkes is hardly ever mentions.
It's just called "bonfire night". Because it's heading into
winter, it's damp underfoot, so there's very little risk of fires from
stray fireworks. We didn't hear a single fire engine at any time on the night. Consequently,
sky rockets are still available, and they are indeed wonderful!
I bought just one firework, which had one fuse but 60 tubes built in. So with one match a whole display was set off. That's a much safer way of lighting them, rather than prancing around expired and unexploded ones, lighting them one at a time. After work on November 5th I went to the Bullring shopping centre, and
watched the fireworks display there. Very imaginative use of the building
as a launching point, but the glass roof is now covered in all the
debris... |
| Christmas is coming up fast, the town is beautifully
decorated, and shops are starting to play kitsch music. The dark evenings
and crystal clear air (after a day of rain) means that everything is
glittery and sparkly. A stunning variety of decorations and lights
are available in the shops. Debate in this household whether to get a real
Xmas tree or an artificial one. No Pinus Radiata here...No question we
are having a HUGE real one!!! I am looking forward to Xmas very much - it
truly is so special here with it being cold and dark. The atmosphere
everywhere now is gearing up with sparkling trees popping up all over the
place. I have bought xmas tree decorations form the Boot Sales so have a
lot of stuff which only cost about 4 pounds. I did however have to buy a
snowman and a special mantle decoration. I plan to have the family here (cos
we have a dishwasher!!) but we have not settled on arrangements yet. |
Shame it is so cloudy here, last weekend was a total lunar eclipse, but we saw nothing. Even without the cloud, it probably would have been difficult to see much, with the strong lights of the city making it seldom that we see stars in the sky.
After months of waiting, I have finally been given a National Insurance number. It is the equivalent of and NZ inland revenue number. To acquire this, I had to attend a nearly two hour interview in a very grotty social services office, home of queues of asylum seekers! Had to provide copies of passport, bank statement, birth certificate, marriage certificate, all sorts of things. At least I've been able to be paid while waiting for my number, our friend Lynda was made to wait months for her first pay! Also, I've been lucky to be taxed at the correct rate from day one, Chris was over-taxed by hundreds of dollars, which we must try to claim back.
George has indeed been good, well enough to paint his front door. Let's hope that his strength continues as winter sets in. We took him to see the Scrooge musical at the Hippodrome, with ancient rocker Tommy Steele.
A local novelty recently was scratch'n'sniff bus timetables, smelling of curry! These were to encourage the public to use buses when going out for a meal. The 'balti triangle' as the area is known, is not somewhere that I would want to leave our car! It's rather rough and not far from where there have been several shootings recently.
A columnist in The Times was extolling the virtues of New Zealand honey - Kiwiherb Manuka Paint at £6.80 for 20 ml. That's nearly NZ$1000 per kilo!!!
 As
winter sets in, the famous saying "train delayed due to leaves on the
line" is becoming often heard again.
Remedy? a new timetable, with all trains running slower than normal! "What we say to all our
drivers is just to take it a little bit more carefully. So we put a
bit more time into the timetable. Braking systems can be affected by
the leaves and it also causes rail delays for commuters. But cutting down
trees close to the lines was an expensive and short term solution to the
problem. However, the new timetable will still mean longer journeys and
more delays for passengers." |
Most people here are very sad that it is ceasing operations, and many wish that Richard Branson could purchase at least one - but British Airways adamantly will not sell to him (purely in spite). It would endanger Anglo-French relations even more if Air France was to sell him one of theirs... Instead, all the Concordes will all end up as exhibits in museums around the world. The BBC produced a magnificent web page, all about Concorde. Hopefully
it is still on-line for you to enjoy: I can't imagine the public getting so worked up over any other plane
being retired, perhaps except the old (Sunderland?) flying boats (which I
can just remember flying from Hobsonville international airport in the
early 1960s). |
| Our car has been repaired, after being slightly bent in an
altercation with another Ford Mondeo. We were given a Ford Ka to drive for
a few days, a weird little contraption! The guy who drove his car into the path
of ours is denying responsibility, so we've had to pay £120 ($300) excess and wait for
the insurance companies to argue to case. |
  Pictures:
the new Selfridges building at the Bullring Shopping Centre. This is a
very weird looking building, much to the disgust of some and delight of
others. It is a very curvaceous building, covered with 15,000 spun
aluminium disks. This photo was taken at night, when it is all bathed in
blue light. A walkway emerges from the middle, to a car park building.
Chris is too vertigo affected to go on the walkway! No I don't like it
- someone (a doctor) told me that during menopause women become more
anxious so I can now blame this on my hormones (or lack of) rather than
fear! |
We're hearing lots more about kiwi Hayley Westenra, most recently in a concert with José Carreras, Bryn Terfel and the Royal Philharmonic concert orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. Wonderful stuff. Her CD is in the top 10. And now Joseph Lemalu is getting mentions here as well!
We enjoyed the NZ Wales rugby match - I was thrilled with the game -NZ players so clever and the Welsh were fine opponents.
National Sausage Appreciation Week was last week, the funny side of which is that a photo of a huge sausage was in the newspaper, which unfortunately had an adjoining headline & article re a '100 year old condom found in castle toilet'. Had to laugh! We bought Ostrich sausages for Dad which we had with mashed potato - we didn't tell him till after - he thought they were venison. Treacle tart and custard for afters. No wonder those hips are getting more cuddly.... Brits do great sausages though I have to admit.
There are many excellent TV programmes on here, we get 5 channels, we could get another 7 from 'freeview', which requires a set-top box but is free of monthly charges. A recent highlight was the 20th anniversary episode of "The Bill" which was televised live. 'Televised Live' is a term seldom heard these days. So many things are said to be live, but in fact are recorded. The producers of The Bill decided to make it genuinely 'televised live' and coped with the complexities of multiple locations, film crews, and contingency plans for actors forgetting their lines (with some prepared adlibs from a 'spare' actor on standby). Very good, it really did make for compelling viewing, even more than other 'live TV' like 'Big Brother'! It's being live enabled last minute script changes, the best being the question "when was Sir Paul's baby born", answer "Yesterday..." (Sir Paul McCartney) - very cute.
 Sky
TV is in trouble for a programme called "there's something about
Miriam". In this 'dating show' the panel of men didn't realise until
quite late that the woman was in fact a pre-operative transsexual
(pictured). Some are now threatening suing for sexual harassment, after
they had been a bit too close for comfort..."Lawyers acting for the six men trying to stop Sky broadcasting a reality show in which they are seen unwittingly kissing and caressing a male transsexual are planning a litany of legal charges against the broadcaster, including conspiracy to commit sexual assault." http://media.guardian.co.uk/bskyb/story/0,13935,1075065,00.html |
While scanning NZ websites last week, I was thrilled to see a mention on the Radio NZ website for Hill Laboratories and Peter Robinson - talking about bottled water quality vs. tap water.
Along with the Armistice Parade, there has been the London Lord Mayor's Livery Company Parade in the last week. This is a tradition going back hundreds of years, with floats by groups like "the worshipful company of coffin makers". The intense rivalry between groups for a place in the parade meant that positions 6 & 7 are swapped each year, thus the saying "at sixes and sevens".
A busy month ahead: we're off to Paris for 4 days (13 to 16 November), friends are coming to stay the following weekend, more friends the weekend after that, then we're going to a huge classical music, fireworks and laser show at the National Indoor Arena with niece Christina and her man. We also hope to go to the huge motorcycle show at the National Exhibition Centre, to do some Xmas shopping for Aidan!
February 2004 is getting closer, to our delight we're being joined on our
short trip to Rarotonga by my Mum & Dad, Brother David and sister-in-law
Judy - anyone else is also welcome to join us...
Our final itinerary is:
ARRIVE AUCKLAND, TUE 10 FEB 04 at 11.30AM on NZ28 (from Singapore)
DEPART AUCKLAND, MON 01 MAR 04 at 8.00PM on NZ48 (to Rarotonga)
We're thinking of you, especially a couple of friends with health worries - wish we could be there to support and cheer you, wish we weren't so very far away...
Lots of love,
Geoff & Chris
3 Loxley Square, Olton,
Solihull, B92 7DW
United Kingdom
Geoff & Chris in the UK Letters & Photos: Previous Next
© Geoff Pooch 2003 - cos Chris reckons I'll make millions publishing our memoirs...
We
were thrilled to watch Concorde take off from Birmingham airport on Monday
20th October. With thousands of others we stood in a park just a few feet
from the end of the runway. It is a much smaller plane that we had
thought, remember - it only has four seats across. But it surely was
beautiful and elegant. The noise of the engines as it took off was
incredible, and would have been even more so if the afterburners were on
(but for the sake of our eardrums, there weren't). She is a dirty bird,
the fumes from the exhaust were massive! I didn't know until today that it
has another little wheel at the back, just in case the take-off is too
steep and bumps the bum of the plane on the runway.