The beginning of a new adventure

Welcome to my new blog, documenting my life 16,890 kilometres from home. After spending the majority of my twenties always dreaming of moving overseas, I decided to take the leap and move to London. I arrived on the evening of Tuesday 7 November after a typically long flight of around 20 hours from Perth, Western Australia. The flight was actually really nice - I got a row of three seats to myself from Perth to Dubai and then a luxurious middle row of four seats from Dubai to London. Despite the comfortable flight, I didn’t escape the terrible jet lag that goes hand in hand with flying between Australia and the UK, but I think I’m almost over it now!

I am currently staying with a relative in Edgware (outer northern London). I spent my first day in London finding my way around Edgware and sorting out the basics (Oyster card, phone number and enquiring about bank accounts). I love how cute the London suburbs are - so much character for a suburb at the end of a train line! Edgware is filled with 1930’s semi-detached double story houses. I’m absolutely loving the double glazing and central heating here. The weather has been roughly comparable to the middle of winter in Melbourne, but I’m so much warmer in London thanks to adequate temperature control (when will Australia cotton on to this?)

I was very fortunate to be offered a job interview the evening before I left Perth and managed to arrange the time on my flight. On my second day, I got up bright and early and successfully navigated the tube from the end of the northern line to inner London. The interview went quite well and I’ve moved to the second round, so I’ll keep you posted!

My interview was in the centre of London, so I then decided to go on a reasonably un-planned wander down to the Thames, up to St Paul’s Cathedral and past the Inns of Court. I then decided I felt like hitting the shops, so I took the tube to Oxford Street. After spending an unreasonably long time in Zara waiting for sizes to be sourced from the storeroom, I then took the tube back to Edgware so I could head to the stables to meet Julie’s horse. The stables are in the country north of London. It was my first time in such a big stable - there were a lot of horses!

On Friday I headed into inner London again and this time went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I had a look at the fashion exhibit, which follows the changes in London fashion from the 1700s to modern times. There were so many lovely things for sale in the V&A - I came away with a cute pair of scissor earrings, a nod to my love of sewing. When I came out of the V&A, there was a group of amazing singers circling in the courtyard. There’s so much great free entertainment in this city! I then walked to Hyde Park and wandered through the park from the Knightsbridge side over to Paddington. While I’ve been there before, it’s such a beautiful big park to have a wander around. I then walked to Paddington Station to get the tube home.

On Saturday I spent the first half of the day at home and then took the tube to Camden. I wandered around the market for an hour or so and got some mac n cheese from one of the many food stalls - so many options! I then walked up the road aimlessly towards Chalk Farm and found a sign directing me to Primrose Hill. This area is absolutely gorgeous - so many cute shops and cafes on the way. Primrose Hill itself has a stunning view of London. I definitely recommend this walk from Camden to Primrose Hill. In the evening I went to see Paddington 2, which was just as cute and heartwarming as the first one.