Brokenhurst: Frolicking in the forest

We took our first proper holiday since the wedding in October (weekends don’t count as “holidays”), four nights in the New Forest, about 90 minutes south of London. We chose the forest because it seemed the perfect place to relax and to catch up on sleep and fresh air. It sure was! Wild ponies and donkies roam the village streets (it’s a bit weird) and there’s really nothing to do but relax.
So we spent a lovely few days enjoying sleep ins, cooked breakfasts and afternoon naps at our B&B, walking through the forest, and torturing our butts on a 33km bike ride. We stayed in Brockenhurst but also explored the surrounding towns and villages, and spent a lovely sunny day at the seaside complete with fish and chips.
We returned to London feeling super refreshed, so it was just the ticket!

Bruges and the battlefields

We spent a weekend in Bruges in September and were spoiled with amazing sunshine the whole time. We’d booked a day trip to see the battlefields of WW1 and were not disappointed. The tour was based around the area of Flanders which saw some pretty intense fighting throughout the war. Amazingly each year over 200 tonnes of old munitions come to the surface in the farms of Flanders. When farmers find them they just leave them on the side of the road and wait for the Army to come to destroy them. We visited a number of different grave areas, including the largest Commonwealth cemetery at Tyne Cot, some incredible museums, one of which recreated the feeling of being in a trench (almost too realistic at times), and the Menin gate in the town of Ypres.

Inside one of the museums was an installation by the NZ artist Helen Pollock, created with clay from the Coromandel. Quite a moving experience as it was placed in an area where many New Zealanders fought and died.

Bruges itself while very pretty was a bit ho-hum and really expensive, although we did enjoy a few fabulous beers. We were glad we did the tour for a whole day otherwise we would have got a bit bored (only so much ‘wandering the pretty cobbled streets’ you can handle in one year). Stopped into Brussels on the way home on the Eurostar and scoffed some frittes with mayo and a couple of waffles cause you have to if you’re in Belgium. It’s the rules.

Last night of the Proms

Going to the last night of the Proms was high on our agenda, something Dean in particular had always wanted to do. Having attended a few proms concerts in 2008 we sussed out how to get tickets to the last night in 2009. Doing so was actually very easy, we just needed to buy 5 tickets for other proms concerts to have the option to purchase for the last night. We loved the more classical proms this year, especially ones featuring Finzi, Elgar, Saint-Saëns, Bartók and Dvořák and were not so huge on Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Patience”. We’ve also learnt that visiting orchestras have a lot more spark than local ones (we were blown away by the New York Philharmonic last year and the Budapest Festival Orchestra this year were amazing).
We were all set for the last night concert, with our big NZ flag to wave, and Dean sporting his All Blacks jersey. It was a wonderful sunny September day so we enjoyed a picnic dinner across the road in Hyde Park before entering the party atmosphere.

We sang with gusto, loving “Rule Britannia” in particular. A fantastic experience, really glad we made the effort. Looking forward to going to a few more next year, but don't know if we'll get to a last night again!

Bath - August Bank Holiday

We had a great relaxing long weekend in Bath.

The highlights of our trip were the Ancient Roman Baths, the free walking tour, a visit to the Abbey and scoffing a couple of buns at the famous Sally Lunn's. Tried the water in the pump rooms too, tasted like warm disprin - don't know how the old folk used to drink litres of it a day!

We also went to the new Thermae Bath Spa which was relaxing but the price was pretty steep at 22 pounds each when Hanmer Springs in NZ costs around 6 pounds!

A lovely way to spend the long weekend.

Dean outside the Abbey

Lou by the Royal Crescent

Inside the Roman baths

Us at the Roman baths

Amsterdam July 2009

When Dean finally returned to the UK after what might have been the longest wait a UK spouse has ever had for a visa, the newly-reunited von Yarralls paid a visit to Amsterdam. The weather was amazing so we had a great time wandering the streets, eating and drinking (which we seem to do a lot of on holidays!). Highly recommend Amsterdam as a weekend destination, plenty to do and the place is small enough to walk around.

Here's Lou strategically placed in front of a park sign

Dean by a canal

And the canals by night. Aw how romantic!

von Yarralls get hitched

Returned to NZ in March 09 to get married. A wonderful trip, the most fantastic day, and the most luxurious honeymoon in Langkawi, a Malaysian island, afterwards. We recommend 5 star living! Have included some favourite pics from the wedding and honeymoon here.
















Westin Langkawi - highly recommended. Spent a week lazing in the sun and drinking cocktails!

Snow day!!

In early February England was hit by a huge snow storm and Louvaine Rd in Clapham Junction was not spared! Monday morning arrived and we had a good amount of snow outside the flat. Dean's work sent out a message telling people not to come in, and while Lou's work was open (and transport was running albeit sporadically) she didn't have any proper gear to brave the weather.
So we worked as much as we could from home and ventured out a bit later on in the day when the streets were passable. Lots of fun for the little kiwis!!
Here are some snaps from the day:

Here is Dean in his expensive woollen coat, rolling around in the snow



There was so much snow that people had made huge snowmen! Dean, watch the ball!

A cute bunny

A romantic snowman

Our front steps when the snow started the night before