The Mr X factor 23: A spot of romance ;) – December 2009–February 2010

A budding romance – dates with Wendy out in London - quick trip home to New Zealand – Auckland/Christchurch/Wellington/Tauranga – Snowed in in London – waiting for Wendy – back in London together

Hi all and welcome to 2010!! It doesn’t seem that long ago that it was 2000!


This edition of The Mr X-factor has a (long overdue!) romantic theme to it, as recently the 'X factor' has been working! - I’ve met and begun a relationship with a lovely girl called Wendy. We’ve been together almost four months now (see end of previous blog) and have been having a great time so far. It has been really nice!!

I’ve known Wendy for about 20 months and have developed a good friendship with her in that time. From October onwards we began realising we had feelings for each other, but were a bit unsure if they were reciprocated. Anyway, we worked that out in time and went for a romantic walk in a favourite park of ours in NW London on 8 November, and confirmed things with a beautiful kiss!!

So the best addition to my OE experience is Wendy! She is from Tauranga in New Zealand (yay!), has been living in London almost 3 years, works in the legal industry and I reckon she pretty fantastic! She is bubbly and warm, caring and genuine, as well as a lovely mix of femininity and your outdoor-type Kiwi girl. I’ve probably been single for much of my adult life because I’ve been quite discerning (another word for fussy!!) in the qualities I’m looking for in a good woman – am pretty excited to say Wendy ticks all the boxes!!

Wendy is also my flatmate – living just upstairs from me! We didn’t realise we fancied each other until after I was given the OK in September to move into the flat. So we are working through what that entails - I must say it is nice to come home to your girlfriend after work each day! The flat has eight of us in it and continues to be a great source of fun, enjoyment, cool people, and a nice place to live – we had a lovely flat Christmas dinner together in early December.

Now, it is fair to say that ‘romantic Dave’ has been dormant for a fair while, so it has been lovely to kick that side of things into life and treat/look after/have fun with Wendy. She too has proved pretty adept at that also, so we’ve had some fun ‘date nights’ out. We managed to see a Snow Patrol gig at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 November, which was excellent.

Another fun adventure was a day-trip to Birmingham (where my Dad grew up), in late November. This was to take Wendy to watch her first football match - Aston Villa (my favourite team) were playing. We caught the train up and made it to Villa Park for Villa’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur.

To help prepare Wendy for this expedition I needed to educate her on the ‘offside’ rule – something that most new-to-football people struggle with! To help me with this, I managed to find the perfect analogy for helping girls understand the offside rule – it involves shopping for shoes, and I recommend it to any bloke who wants to take his girl to a football match!: http://www.bone.me.uk/offside-rule.php

In terms of the match, there was plenty of atmosphere - especially when Villa took the lead early. However it ended in a 1-1 draw – not ideal, but given Spurs’ dominance of the second half (and the fact that they had beaten Wigan 9-1 a week earlier!), it looked likely they would equalise. Wendy enjoyed it and is making pleasing progress in understanding the beautiful game (or perhaps she is enjoying watching me watch and react to the constant ups and downs in each match!!).

I think the best date we had was on Saturday December 12th. It was a belated 30th birthday present for Wendy. The day’s activities were secret – at least to her! After tubing it into town we jumped on a ferry heading down the River Thames, enjoying the amazing cityscape views of London, on a crisp and sunny winter’s day. When we reached Greenwich we enjoyed some lunch and mulled wine in the famous Greenwich Market, before walking up to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park and enjoying the fabulous views northwards towards the river and Canary Wharf area. Then we toured the Greenwich Time Museum.

After kissing on the Prime Meridian line (surely every Geography teacher’s fantasy!!?) and checking out the museum we found a local pub to have a nice meal and a drink whilst watching the big event of the day (for me anyway!) – another football match! This one was Aston Villa taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford. Villa hadn’t beaten the Red Devils in the Premier League since 1995, but have been upping their game in recent seasons, so I was ecstatic to watch them battle well, take the lead and then hold on admirably for a memorable 1-0 win to go 4th in the league – it certainly made my day! Wendy seemed pretty pleased too and is now a confirmed Villa fan (like she had a choice!?) - I had bought her a Villa scarf on our visit to Villa Park! Pity we couldn't repeat the victory against United in the Carling Cup Final.

I had lined up another event for the evening - a trip to the O2 Arena (the old Millennium Dome) for a concert – UB40 were playing! We had a lot of fun dancing to their reggae tunes – especially their classic ‘I can’t help falling in love with you’, which they predictably saved till last. Thereafter we caught the fast ferry back into central London, arriving home after midnight - pretty knackered, but having had a memorable day out.

On Monday 14th December I flew back to NZ for just under 3 weeks, for a good friend’s wedding - and also my first Christmas spent with my family in five years! This trip home was even better than my past two ones – because Wendy was able to join me for it! We were both heading home separately over the Christmas period anyway, so when we got together it seemed natural to try and combine things - and it worked out brilliantly! It was a much nicer flight home than the usual long haul bore!

We got into Auckland on the morning of Wednesday 16th December, and the fun began at the airport – well perhaps a bit nervously for me initially, as Wendy’s parents had driven up from Tauranga to collect her. Presumably they were looking forward to meeting me, given that Wendy had had an extra big smile on her face since November!! Nice also, to surprise my godmother Cathy, who had also headed to the airport, expecting to meet me and only me. She was thrilled! We all went for a nice brunch together at Eden Gardens in Epsom. It was so lovely to be back in New Zealand and on holiday – those cicada and bird noises are so loud and beautiful!

After a night in Auckland I flew to Christchurch, for the wedding of friends Mark Edgecombe to Sarah Hay over the weekend of 19-20 December. Wendy flew from Tauranga on the Friday, we hired a car and were able to catch up with other friends in Christchurch over the weekend, when we were not at the wedding festivities.

The wedding itself was brilliant. It was a perfect day. The service was held in Sumner, the bride looked lovely and the groom very, very happy! Everything seemed to go perfectly and it was really special seeing a whole lot of various Wellington mates, going back to when I was at Linden primary school with Mark– a pretty tight-knit and special set of friends.

A hilarious reception was held at Governor’s Bay, and it was nice to introduce Wendy to a whole lot of my friends. When I booked my flights home back in June, I had no idea I would be going to the wedding with a lovely girl on my arm – was thinking I might well be one of the most eligible men on the dance floor! Indeed, I did get an honourable mention from Mark before he passed on the ‘bachelor table’ to his brother (a very small table for one - with accompanying coaster - engraved with the names of various single men who have succeeded in getting rid of it upon getting married – hilarious!!).

On the Monday after the wedding we flew to Wellington – home for me. Wendy was a bit nervous as she was about to meet my family. In fact it was to be a big surprise for them as I had managed to keep it a secret that Wendy had come back with me – they thought she was back in London!

When we landed I walked off the plane about ten seconds ahead of Wendy, and up the exit ramp, where I saw Mum and Dad + my sister Wendy (this is where it gets confusing - she has the same name!!) and Murray and their 3 lovely kids - Adam, Amelia and Ben. After greeting them all with a hug I discreetly looked around to see (my) Wendy approaching, and then announced to the family, ‘Oh, and I even managed to bring Wendy with me!’. There was a classic reaction of surprise and joy from everyone, and after introductions we set off towards baggage collection, with big smiles on our faces, chatting away and enjoying a very cool surprise.

During the three days Wendy had in Wellington, we spent a fair bit of time hanging out with family. I had kept the trip home under the radar a fair bit, knowing that we would be only a few days in each place, that I wouldn’t be able to see everyone I wanted to, and that it would be quite wise to actually have a rest as well!

We had a look around Wellington city, shopping on Lambton Quay and having numerous coffee catch-ups and lunches with friends. We did my favourite Wellington walk - around the fabulous waterfront from the railway station to Oriental Bay. Later we headed up to Kelburn on the Cable Car towards dusk, and had a quick look around there – dropping in and surprising my previous landlords on Glasgow Street - I lived in Kelburn for four years – and it is a favourite suburb of mine in the Capital.

A tour of Linden was also mandatory – this being the suburb I grew up in, and remember fondly. Wendy and I checked out my old house and neighbourhood, then walked up Ranui Terrace to Linden School, and to the Linden shops (Soma’s Dairy!), the Scout Den and Kowhai Park, the mecca of Linden backyard cricket in teenage years - the iconic Edgecombe Cricket Ground at the bottom of Kowhai St. Memories of glorious sporting battles and victories came flooding back (particularly cricket, soccer and cross country!!), and witty commentary and anecdotes were naturally provided! We also checked out Tawa Intermediate & College.

I had initially been worried about how I would break the ‘I have a new favourite girl’ news to my lovely eight-year old niece Amelia. So upon arrival at the airport had told her I now had two favourite girls. I was quickly put in my place one morning when my sister picked us up in the car and Amelia promptly announced from the back seat that she wanted Wendy to sit next to her for the car ride!

On Christmas Eve I dropped Wendy at the airport and she flew to Tauranga for Christmas with her family. I would soon join her over the New Year’s Eve period. Prior to that there was a very special Christmas to savour – my first with family in five years! On Christmas morning I headed to the Christmas Day community church service in the Tawa College school hall, with Wendy & Murray and kids. This is always a special service to go to, as all sorts of people from your school days tend to turn up, providing an opportunity to catch up for a chat after singing Christmas carols heartily during the service!

After church we headed over to Mum and Dad’s for a lovely Christmas lunch – preceded by a mass present opening session. The much anticipated Christmas dinner was lovely – up to Mum’s usual delicious quality, including the most amazing and delicious pavlova to devour! After lunch it was the usual family wash-up of dishes, some playing with the kids and their various presents, before they headed home. Thereafter it was Christmas afternoon nap time. Nice!

Between Christmas day and December 29th things went quickly. I mainly hung around home with family and sorted a few things that needed sorting. We also headed to Masterton for a family day-trip. I was able to fit in my ‘compulsory when back home’ walk up Mount Kaukau, for stunning 360◦ views of Wellington city, harbour and the wider region.

Soon though, I was Tauranga-bound. On December 29th I said goodbye to family and jumped on a plane to Tauranga to join my girl in her home town for a few days, before flying back to the UK. Whilst there Wendy gave me the equivalent tour of where she grew up – houses, schools, favourite hangout spots, the dairy she worked in – it was cool. We spent the rest of the time with Wendy’s parents and family. Our good friend (and matchmaker/chaperone!) Rose also came up from Christchurch over New Year’s, so it was great spending time with her again – she had been based in London until November.

New Year’s Eve was a really great day. Wendy and I went for a walk up Mount Maunganui, before being met by her parents and Rose in their boat, in Tauranga harbour. Then we headed over to Matakana Island for the afternoon.

We also had some fun being towed behind the boat on the ‘sea biscuit’ – something akin to an inflatable tractor tire. I think Wendy’s father saw it as a good chance to see what I was made of as he gave me a fast and bouncy tow through the boat’s wake - I hung on for dear life (and more importantly to ensure a chance for the relationship with Wendy to continue!!).

Mid-afternoon we headed home via a lovely ice cream from ‘Copenhagen Cones’ at the base of the Mount and a walk around the town as it geared up for New Year’s celebrations.

We had a lovely fish’n’chips meal for dinner and then headed to Wendy’s sister’s place where we all got stuck into a game of Cranium for a while before heading back to Wendy’s parent’s place to see in 2010!

After a while we headed home, and to sleep. I had an important appointment in the morning – a round of golf at 9am. What better way is there to start the year than a round of golf!!? It was a lovely hot and clear blue sky day morning. Four of us – Wendy’s Dad and sons-in-law Matt + Grant headed out and had an enjoyable nine holes at Otumoetai Golf Club, though after a useful start I faded a bit to finish third – I realised it was a important to show I am a good loser!!

Mid-afternoon I said goodbye to Wendy’s parents as Wendy, Rose and I drove to Auckland. I was catching my plane back to the UK the following day. We stopped in Paeroa for some food and got some photos beside the iconic and ‘world famous in New Zealand’ L&P bottle. Eventually we reached Auckland and headed to my godmother Cathy’s place near St Helier’s.

After the four of us went out for a lovely meal, we said our goodbyes before Wendy and Rose departed back to Tauranga. I had a nice evening with Cathy (she also has a spa pool, so that was lovely to jump in that too!). On Saturday 2nd January I flew out of Auckland, and back to London! Planes and flight really is amazing aren’t they!! Another trip home was over – with a lovely girl to share it with, it had been a special one!!

Getting back to London in winter is always a bit depressing! Once you know you are leaving soon, you just want to on the way, or preferably to have the flight over with. My return to London and the reality of winter, work and starting again was bad enough – not to mention being Wendy-less for three whole weeks! It coincided with the biggest amount of snowfall and cold temperatures I’ve seen whilst I’ve lived over here, and apparently the worst in 30 years.

Wendy had two more weeks in NZ, then went to Thailand for a week (for Rose’s 30th – happy birthday Rose!!) en route to London. We exchanged a lot of texts!! On Sunday 24th January I excitedly took the tube out to Heathrow to meet her off her flight back from Thailand. It was a lovely moment when she walked out of the terminal and we were back together again!

Since then its lots of catching up with each other, going for walks in Gladstone Park, enjoying London again – all of which has been lovely.

We headed to Brighton for Valentine’s weekend which was lovely – walking on the waterfront, exchanging some meaningful and lovely gifts, and enjoying a champagne brunch on the 14th was pretty special.

After a pretty chilly and seemingly endless winter over here the clocks go back in Britain at the end of March, and hopefully spring will follow soon after. So we are looking forward to lots of adventures over spring and summer. My parents also arrive over here for a holiday at the end of April so it will be great to spend time with them over here.

Finally, some cool news – my sister Nicola, who also lives in London has just got engaged to her special man, Serge!! Big congratulations guys, and all the best for getting married!! Great to be able to hang with you over here!

All for now - Big love, Dave

Go the Wellington Phoenix!!