The Mr X Factor 28: Update on adventures & travels - April-November 2011

Ireland - Royal wedding - New flat in London - Sicily - Greece - All Blacks win RWC! - Prague

Hi all – Long time, no blog!!

Plenty to update you on from our life and travels since April – this blog has more photos than usual - we hope you enjoy it!! We are going well - here’s a summary of what we’ve been up to for most of this year:

Soon after getting back from our eventful honeymoon in Thailand (see Mr X-Factor 27) there was a concentrated period of British bank holidays. We only had to work 3 days in eleven in late April, so we visited Ireland over one of the long weekends, joining a ‘Paddywagon’ tour around the south of the country - http://www.paddywagontours.com/tourView.php?id=157&ca

The route we took from Dublin was west to Connemara, Galway, then south to the Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Blarney, and then back to Dublin, which we enjoyed exploring on our final day.

Particular highlights from Ireland were the lovely countryside and scenery, exploring Galway, visiting the Cliffs of Moher, a horse ride nearby Killarney, Blarney Castle, checking out the gigantic Guinness factory in Dublin, and a tour of Kilmainham Gaol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol), where we learnt about the Irish independence fight – the 1916 Easter Rising - all added to by the stories told to us by our Irish tour guide Joe ‘now the detail is’ man!

When we got back to London, it was 3 days of work and then time for the biggest royal wedding in years – Prince William to Catherine Middleton on 29 April.

London was predictably royal-obsessed leading up to it all. We got into the spirit of things too, watching it on TV in a local pub where we had a ‘Royal brunch’, before jumping on the tube and heading down to the Mall to join the masses and check out the vibe - Buckingham Palace, a Royal kiss, RAF fly-by and the like!

We moved into our first flat in early May – a lovely place at the city end of Kilburn, in NW London. It has been fun and exciting setting up home together and starting afresh. It has also been interesting getting used to each other’s differing habits!! On our first weekend back we viewed four flats - the last one we looked at was heaps better than the rest of them, so we made an offer, which was accepted - and moved in five weeks later, after a spot of fortuitously timed house-sitting.

The best features of our flat is the open-plan layout of the kitchen & lounge area, the two large south-facing windows which let a good amount of light in during the day, a lovely bathroom, and last but not least, the small alcove that I have turned into my (our!) study!!

Finding a flat so easily allowed me to spend time playing golf! This is something I have decided to begin playing again regularly. Despite some initial concerns about becoming a ‘golf-widow’ my (wonderful!) wife has allowed me out to play. During spring and early summer we found an all Kiwi four-some which resulted in some competitive pair’s match-play - great fun. Simon & Nigel have recently headed home to NZ for good, but my mate Marty & have headed out when we can. I have played eight rounds since April, and it has been a lot of fun - though my inconsistency and poor front nines have been pretty frustrating at times. Nonetheless I am optimistic I can improve and will be hoping that happens when I get back into it after the coming winter!

We had two week-long holidays over summer, which were both fantastic! In early July we hired a car and toured around a very dry, sunny and hot Sicily. We flew in and out of Trapani in the west, and headed east as far as Syracuse – driving there via the northern & eastern coast firstly, then back via the inland route and the hilltop town of Enna: (http://www.bestofsicily.com/roadmap.htm).

The amazing motorway network allowed us to get places pretty quickly - though rapidly approaching then disappearing Sicilian drivers in my rear-view mirror didn’t necessarily think so! The highlights were the Segesta amphitheatre and forum/temple, Cefalu, Taormina-Castelmola, views of Mount Etna, Syracuse and exploring the vibrant capital of Palermo.

The two days we spent based at the hilltop town of Castelmola was absolutely superb. We had amazing views from our B&B apartment and the whole place was full of character and charm. We had a lovely beach day on the sun-loungers (very important for Wendy!) beside Mazzaro Bay and did some swimming and also did some snorkelling in the bay!

After a night in Syracuse we drove back to Palermo, having our final day walking around the city’s more (and sometimes less!) glamorous spots.

In September we headed to Greece for a week, with six other friends. We headed to the lovely island of Zakynthos and hired a lovely apartment for the week, having a very relaxing and enjoyable time relaxing pool/beachside and discovering the island. This was extra special as Rose (one of Wendy's bridesmaids at our wedding) came over from NZ for a holiday, mainly to see a certain English friend of mine – Matt (a good mate of mine whom I have known over here since 2006) – whom she has become an item with since they met last June.

We hired a lovely villa not far from Zakynthos town. After a few days unwinding beside the pool in the lovely sun and heat, the highlight of the trip was a relaxing day-long boat cruise around the whole island, visiting a number of coves and bays and stopping off for some swimming, snorkelling and diving off the boat – which looked much like a pirate ship!

Among the stops was an hour spent on the stunningly beautiful Navagio Beach – aka ‘Shipwreck Cove’ – a bit of a story behind that name: http://www.vacationideas.me/mediterranean/navagio-beach-shipwreck-cove-zakynthos-island-greece/

On the cruise we saw the bluest waters I have ever seen – they were simply amazing!

Two other highlights were the traditional final-day ‘pool Olympics’ – the source of much hilarity, and the fantastic local restaurant we found on our first night, and returned to on our final. Overall the time spent relaxing at the apartment and hanging out by the pool was relaxing and rejuvenating.

From July to October I was busy reading, thinking about and writing 3 essays for my latest Theology paper – this one was about interpreting Revelation - the final book of the Bible. Very interesting and challenging to get to grips with – I shall probably continue to think on it for the rest of my life! Wendy has also been pretty busy helping organise a major work conference for early November, so it has been pretty full on.

In the midst of all that the Rugby World Cup was on and the All Blacks finally managed to win it again - after a long, painful and humbling wait since 1987! We smashed the Aussies in the semi-final (always enjoyable!) before winning the final against a France side who played very well – The All Blacks ground out a totally nail-biting, nerve-shredding 8-7 win!

Wendy & I watched it with good friends and equally nervous mates, Marty & Emily, before heading out for a celebratory brunch - totally exhausted from the stress of watching the game. Well done Graham Henry, Richie McCaw & co. A great boost for NZ after a horrible year with the Pike River, Chch earthquake and Rena oil spill disasters. France do seem to choke in RWC Cup finals eh!!?

Our most recent trip was a long weekend in the Czech Republic. We headed to a chilly but sunny Prague in early November and explored this most fabulous of cities – striking architecture (untouched by WWII destruction) and simply enchanting and lovely.

The highlight was the historic and famous Charles Bridge, crossing the lovely Vltava River, closely followed by the Old Town Square (Astronomical Clock) and surrounds (Jewish cemetery): http://www.prague-guide.co.uk/?gclid=CNGKzZWT4awCFQ0OfAodsmAhnA

Historic Wenceslas Square was impressive, and the massive Prague Castle provided some lovely views of the city – bathed in sunshine whilst we were there.

We enjoyed walking everywhere and catching the city’s vibe, discovering its history and doing some shopping. I particularly enjoyed the museum of the Charles Bridge, and we even got to the Opera on the Saturday night, seeing Madame Butterfly.


We also had some lovely Czech meals - a lovely roast goose with dumplings and a hot Czech stew in a hollowed out loaf of bread - all washed down with the local beer – Budvar!


Most recently, on Saturday we saw NZ music legend Dave Dobbyn play at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, which was great. Unfortnately, I finished work at the London Clinic hospital yesterday, as work has dried up there, so have been on the look-out for more healthcare/IT/project management work. Never an ideal time to be out of work, especially with all the bad economic news coming out of Europe/UK – but we shall see what unfolds: you never know what is around the corner!

For Christmas we are off the North Yorkshire coast for 6 nights in a lovely cottage near Robin Hood Bay. We hope to get to the Captain Cook Museum in Whitby and go for some walks, as well as spending time inside beside a roaring hot fire - reading books, watching some DVDs and relaxing!

We look forward to that, and wish you a safe Merry Christmas and happy New Year - wherever you may be!!

Dave & Wendy

PS: Married life is lovely!!