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hi everyone, we are now in London. it is not raining here, but has been overcast and today is no different. we have had one day of sunshine, that was on saturday - it was quite warm, but not hot! since last writing, we have visited Mrs lee (chris and barry lee) on a farm in oxford, it was great to catch up. isabel was very excited to see her former school teacher, and we were treated to a lovely tea of bacon and egg pie! the first we had had since leaving nz! and buns and cakes. then we had a walk around the estate they were working on. Chris is working in the house, and barry is the maintenance man. he was building a crow's trap - which could catch up to a hundred birds over time. a huge pen....we saw the phesants, deer and a wild mumpjack deer, which has a face like a pig. The kids really enjoyed talking to chris and telling her all about their travels. however, after a game of Chase the Ace, (cards) we left, the time went too quickly. however we were soon to be thrilled again. I met up with my cousin Charles and his wife Anglela, and their son max. Charlie is not a suit and tie man, he is a fighter pilot for the British airforce. We had a barbecue tea with them one night and the next day went to an airshow at Clacton on sea to see Charlie zoom in on his typhoon jet - the latest equipment to the force and do his loops and twirls! very loud, very impressive and stunning! (they also had the red arrows at the airshow) the airshow was free, only had to drive for two hours and pay 15 dollars for parking! so we were happy. (actually paying 6 pounds, sounds better! - we are trying not to convert everything here, because if you do, its very painful!) we are lucky we have had people to stay with, as accommodation is horrendously expensive, and we would not have been able to see or do as much. we buy our food at the supermarket and eat in, and make our lunches, so we spend money on events .yesterday we went on the London eye, which is like a big ferries wheel, only with big enclosed platforms on it which hold about 20 people in each , it takes 45 minutes to go around and you can see all of london from the air!we have seen big ben, westminster and buckingham palace and today we are going on an open bus tour around the city to get a good overview of the place. we are staying in a friend's attached house, which as a little garden out the back. they are away on holiday, so it is great for us to have the place to ourselves, as we take up every room! my mum arrived yesterday at heathrow, and i met her there! fantastic to see her, and she looked very well, We are getting used to the underground and have bought osyter cards whcih means you can use them all week without having to buy any bus or underground passes. the only hassal is nicola! she can't get one, but still has to pay! tim and isabel are free. we also went to kenningston carnival in the weekend, the first day, as the second day was going to be packed. read in the paper, there were nearly a million people there! the kids got a first hand look at london crowd control! there were police everywehre, even on horseback and rubbish piled high - mostly cans and food platters, from all the food stalls! the music was all rap and boom boom stuff! so loud it hurt our ears! i am sure a lot of people are going to be going to be going deaf in their later years!!the carnival covers a mile in area and we walked around for two hours, looking and waiting to make contact with isabelle, stu's cousins daughter. we finally located her! and got back to Alan's place for a late tea and then left our car at his place. Alan has a place in london too, and has allowed us to leave our car there. he has been wonderful. we managed to get a tube back to here in hemingford, which is nr kings cross! at midnight! Isabel was dead on her feet! poor thing, but we had a good sleep in the next day.
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