29 April – 16 June 2023

We can’t believe it has only been 2 months in London. I had to double check my maths just one more time… yes 2 months. Or 62 sleeps to be exact…..not sure how this is possible. It feels like a lifetime or maybe even 3.  So much has happened yet nothing has really moved. So very strange… like a Perth to London flight or 2 weeks in hotel quarantine… time just doesn’t really seem to exist in the same way. 

When we last left off we had just moved into our Airbnb in Balham and the girls started school. Bonnie had arrived and Anthony was starting work. We were off and running… we have now started making new friends, have sourced an orthodontist, joined cricket teams, found preferred grocery stores and favourite emergency rooms for suspected broken arms, settled on train times and bedtime routines.

We had the coronation! Which brought great intrigue and new outfits and not to mention the piloting of coronation chicken (never to be spoken of again), scotch egg and Victoria sponge. 

And of course an early introduction to Eurovision

and proper Indian food.

We have walked around some parts of London and showed the girls where we lived over 20 years ago!

Bonnie also learned how to navigate London transport on a seniors card. 

So definitely feet first on the British experiences.

What we don’t have is a home, the rest of our stuff and a sense of normality (just yet). 

We were very lucky part way through our house search to meet a lovely lady who was moving overseas and offered us her home to rent (part furnished/part camping) for 2 months to buy us some time.

It is in Honor Oak right near the station (maybe a bit too near as we can see the trains go by while we eat dinner in the kitchen). This has its benefits as we can now label both the direction and destination of any train that goes by (and that can happen every 4-6 minutes depending the time of day) with a fair amount of certainty. We have ample space for us and for when the cousins come for sleepovers (generally every second weekend).

It takes 4 minutes to walk from our front door onto a train. And that is gold! Ellie and Sienna can travel together to school and be home at the end of the day within 15-20 minutes.

Jessie and Liz on the other hand are still schlepping it across London each morning and afternoon to get to Broomwood. Only another 3 weeks of that.

We knew settling in would have its bumps and scratches and so far the girls have been amazing. In fact we have been surrounded by such generosity from other families and the schools that we can’t believe how lucky we have been. We were so relieved that the girls were eager to talk about their days and people they had sat with at lunch. The same names were starting to be repeated at the dinner table until finally we have friend groups. Big tick! Social element taking form. 

Next was actual schooling – would they be ok academically given they had all jumped a year of school and would the Australian education system hold up against the UK and allow them a smooth entry. As expected we had some gaps here and the girls have been working hard to close those. What we didn’t anticipate was that within 3 weeks of starting this new (and last) term of school was that we would be presented with final year exam timetables. Reality kicked in that the poor kids would need to try (in part) to pass the year end exams with 3-4 weeks of UK schooling under their belt. I am a pretty modest human I like to think and I don’t normally gush (too much) about my kids…. But I have been absolutely blown away with their resilience through this. We have tried to raise them to take pride in their work and always try their best. We have not looked to focus on marks and actively praise their effort and behaviours over the exam outcome. But that doesn’t mean they do the same and of course they are all looking at the final grade. So we are going through this exam period at the moment. Liz and Anthony have revisited Tudor England, the Reformation, literary devices, the make-up of cells, acids and alkalis, Hookes law and algebra. We have drunk our weight in tea and eaten through all the biscuits England can offer.

I am pleased to say the exams are done and the results are dribbling in. As a parent I am as proud as punch. The kids are less impressed and not recognising all the effort and challenge of getting to this place. We will come out the other side and I see them already adjusting their thinking and learning to be kinder to themselves and less critical. What a great outcome!

So 3 weeks left of the school year. Jess had her 11th birthday (Rogan Josh the now requested birthday meal) and circus arts with some new mates.

We caught up with family from Australia and Israel at Hampstead Heath- Aunty Jan, Aunty Shellie and cousins where we got to revisit the area Liz’s dad lived just after the war. We even found the apartment they lived in which was really special. 

We have school fetes and farewell parties. Lots of school excursions to musicals and theme parks and of course this is all happening in lovely 25-28 degree weather. Cricket as always is all consuming. Over the last 2 week period we had 14 training sessions and 12 games. This is across 6 different teams (we had to drop one just because it felt a bit ridiculous). Oh and netball trials start this week…. So I suspect the feeling of time being warped may have something to do with the above and not quite finding any downtime just yet. 

We did have a sneaky weekend in Bath. Liz, Jess and Sienna caught the train and Anthony and Ellie followed behind after a day of cricket (bet you didn’t see that coming). Liz and the girls got to do a bit of early sightseeing including a visit to a Georgian ‘AirBnb’ for its day. Wandered the streets and had a picnic.

When Anthony arrived we managed a sneaky dinner sans kids (and dog). Bonus! Being right in the centre of town had its privileges. 

We did the day trip to Stonehenge via a picturesque (though panting if you’re Bonnie) walk through some fields (with cows!).

We forced a podcast on the kids to give them some context. But regardless its always impressive when you finally see it.

Sienna however announced it was a bunch of rocks. So we made our way to The Barge Inn in Melksham for lunch. Recommend it if you are in town – https://www.bargeinnseend.co.uk/ 

A not to be missed trip to the Roman Baths and then the all important cinema experience – including table service with cocktails and popcorn. Was actually rejuvenating being out in the country and away from to do lists!

We are now starting to profit from London summer with outdoor pub sessions and “pub in the park” in Dulwich with a glass of Aperol dancing to Ministry of Sound with all the other ‘mature’ adults.

We are super excited for July to September. We have so many visitors and catch up with friends. We may have finally only just found somewhere to live long term (not signed yet and so not jinxing!)… But it may not be available for a while (and our short term let ends mid July) so we are looking forward to sharpening our survival instincts and finding excuses to travel for a while to where the accommodation is cheap.