The one on the East Coast

Today is three months since we arrived in the UK (and the date is the 19th August, not the 29th July as indicated as the post date for this post). I've had this half completed blog posting saved here as a draft for the last few weeks (since the 29th July) and been struggling to find the time to update it. Largely due to work (yup, I've got a job... praise the Lord) spare moments are scarce. I started working for an environmental consulting group in London on 24th July. I am now a London commuter. This comes with a whole heap of challenges, of which the commute is probably the biggest. To get to the office involves 1 car trip, 1 train ride, two tube rides and a short walk. It takes me 1h40 to get to the office and another 1h40 home... a round trip of 200km each day. I know...it sounds nuts.... talk about a carbon footprint! I'll tell you more about some of my tube experiences another time. They deserve a page all of their own. Needless to say the tube is a great social equaliser... whether you are a CEO of a major corporation or a street sweeper, you all run the same, you all squash in the same, and you all sweat the same. We are trusting the commute will be temporary until we can move closer. This will depend on where Gaylene gets work. She has been applying for many positions and we are praying something challenging and stimulating will come along soon.

OK, strap yourself in, because with not blogging for so long, you're in for a extra dose this time. Note that despite our camera being broken we have photos. Thanks to Al and Chants for lending us theirs. Footnote: after not wanting to admit it at first, I have now come to grips with the fact that my Canon has gone to the big consumer electronics pile in the sky. After detaching myself emotionally, I've undertaken to dismantle it and try to get to the bottom of the problem. Not to be attempted if you have any aspirations of ever putting it back together again!

We are now expert boerewors makers and last night Al and Chantelle completed our second successful batch.

8kg of wors later!!

22 July saw G and I heading off to Cambridge for the day to do some exploring. Al has very generously put Gaylene and I on his car insurance policy meaning we can drive. Yehaaa!

Punting on the River Cam in Cambridge is a must. This is on our to-do list for when we've got a little extra time.

Love this architectural mix... where East meets West in Cambridge.

One of the highlights of late has been Gaylene's birthday. We splashed out and went out for supper. We had spotted a quaint little Thai (of course) restaurant a while ago and were keen to try it out. Its simply called Aunties Thai Restaurant. It was a winner!! Excellent food, and the fastest and friendliest service ever, although the hosts couldn't speak much English at all. The bill was written up in what looked like Chinese characters so you just smile and pay and trust you're not being ripped off.

A few weekends ago G and I went down to London one Saturday to see Benny Hinn. Having never been to one of his crusades before I was quite curious. Since it was an evening event, we went in early and spent the day walking around the British Museum. Was quite something to stand in front of the Rosetta Stone, ancient Egyptian carsophaguses and some Mesopotamian artifacts dated 5000BC. We learnt loads, most importantly that Gaylene does not share my enthusiasm for old rocks with scribbles on them or statues rescued from the acropolis. She was extremely patient with me though. I will try my lick again in December when the Tutankhamun National Geographic exhibition opens at the Millennium Dome. The Benny Hinn meeting was massive... over 20,000 people, and the Spirit moved. One little kid had been born with a disorder which had left him crippled from birth. By the end of the evening he was running (albeit it somewhat wobbly) and beaming from ear to ear. We felt like we wee back home... the congregation was 90% black which was great but one couldn't but help wonder where the Brits were. We left at 10:45 and spent the next hour literally running from train to tube as we realised we might miss our main overland train back to our village. We came charging into Kings Cross station at the stroke of midnight and (no, didn't turn into pumpkins) but managed to get on the train with 1 minute to spare. The alternative would have been an uncomfortable 4 hour wait for the next morning train. A miracle in itself.

Two weekends ago Patrick and Adrie (friends of Al and Chants) visited and we decided to head to the East coast for the weekend. This was an experience not to be forgotten. I was picturing English sea-side villages to be quite and full of the charm of the typical country-side villages. We ended up at a spot called Great Yarmouth. I think its best described as a hybrid of Las vegas and Mosselbay, a smallish beach town with its main beach road lined with casinos donning great big plastic facades labelled the likes of "Caesars palace" and "the Flamingo". It wasn't our style but the whole experience was quite amusing (unlike the temperature of the North Sea!!!). We spent the night at an interesting B&B where I was woken at 4am by the neighbour shouting death threats at someone who may, or may not have existed (this character was obviously much higher than our second floor apartment).

Roll-up, roll-up to the Hippodrome!!

Patrick attempts to regain his youth.

I'm told Fish and Chips was originally a UK institution but after sampling our first "cod and chips" we reckon they could take a lesson or two from RSA. The less said about the above "scampie" the batter..... errr.... better.

Die manne enjoy the horse 'n carriage ride.

This was impressive; the Scroby sands wind turbine farm just off the coast at Great Yarmouth. These 30 turbines, situated 2.5km off the coast, are 100m from top tip of blade to sea, and produce 2 Megawatts each. Together they power 41,000 homes.

We left Great Yarmouth the following morning. The rest of the gang headed home in Al's car, while G and I took Chantalle's wheels and headed south to do more exploring visiting Lowestoft and Southwold. We ended up at a brilliant nature reserve, Minsmere, renowned for its...... um...... birding. But hang on, in my defence, my wife openly admitted that it was just what the doctor ordered as we had both been missing the bush. The birding was great and highlighted by a sighting of a bittern. For the non-ornithologically inclined, the Bittern is a rare bird of reeds and wetlands and of which there are thought to be about 150 in the UK.

Birding in a hide at Great Yarmouth.

My bird in a hide at Great Yarmouth.

Another wind turbine, this time on land at Lowenstoft. A 3Megawatt, 126m high one.

In a hide at Minsmere, just after seeing my first Bittern.

We took the scenic A1120 home and ended off a great weekend with a poitjie compliments Al and Pat (and I'm sure the ladies had plenty to do with it too :-)

This little guy popped in for a visit.

Sunday 12 August was Chantelle's birthday we went out to celebrate and ended up having supper at ....... Aunties Thai restaurant again. Once again it was great food, even faster service and smiles all round. Sunday night we invited a bunch of folks round from the Open Door Church for pancakes, carrying on the Thompson tradition of Sunday night pancakes. For many of them it was the first time they had and banana pancakes (although they insisted they were actually crepes... pancakes are apparently much thicker!?!?!). We also cooked some boerewors for them. Some were skeptical at first but it wasn't long before some were back for 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths.

This Friday we had the cell group around to watch Faith Like Potatoes. Ester brought her lappy and projector and we had a big screen!! This movie tugs hard when you're far away from Africa and for G and I it was just one more of many confirmations of where our hearts lie. Strange, I'd never noticed before the part where the one character comments on RSA beating the English rugby team. It didn't slip past the rest of the cell :-)

http://www.faithlikepotatoes.com/

This Thursday we will receive our first international visitors. Yup, Mark, Liesel and Levi Roome arrive from Germany for a week-long visit and we get to try our hand at playing UK tour guides. On the draft agenda are London, Windsor Castle and maybe we'll give that Cambridge punting a bash.