Swiss Cottage - A Photo Essay

My new digital camera finally arrived today. As a quick test run I've taken some picture of Swiss Cottage's more famous locations including:

• the shelf from hell
• the sunny nook and
• the sofas that locked our neighbour out on his landing.

So, welcome to Swiss Cottage. The first photo you see here is taken from our living room fireplace looking towards the dining area. Here you can see the famous sofas (complete with cushions from Peru), the cozy reading corner and the dining areas with its sunny bay window.

The second photo is taken from our kitchen looking towards the dining area. Here you can see some of the wonderful IKEA storage that kept Garry busy for days when I was last in New York. You can also see the "bargain" coffee table on the far right side.

The third photo gives you a better feel for the reading corner complete with CD racks. It's one of my favourite areas for kicking back and reading a good book. With a heater along the wall it's a very cosy place in winter.

Photo number four shows you the kitchen with a fridge and stove on the left and the sink with dishwasher on the right. Plenty of cooking space here by London standards.

Swiss Cottage has several stunning feature points. The first is a bank of windows two-floors high offering a green, leafy view across neighbouring yards. The second is a wonderful display fireplace. The third, and perhaps most novel feature, is the minstrels’ balcony overlooking the main living area. It opens out from the top floor next to our main bedroom and utility room. The next photo show an aerial view of the fireplace from this quirky location.

Below is a photo of the new sunny nook we've created in our main bedroom. You can see why we went to such lengths to create this wonderful feature corner. The new tub chair is unbelieveably comfortable.

Next we have a quick snap of the home office, complete with the new shelf that refused to fit. To the left you can see a large wall map of central London that I recently had laminated. The idea is to progressively familarise ourselves with the layout of the city. The window you can see look South, giving this room plenty of sunlight during the day.

Below is the handy utility room with linen storage and the laundry. The louvre doors in the background house the hot water and supplementary water pressure pump. It's here that the Great Flood of 2006 started.

And finally, a look at the spare bedroom with its homely wall of books and aging teddy bear collection.

More photos coming soon!

I can also report that we've found an excellent cleaner. She starts next week, just in the nick of time. I'm not sure we have an ironed shirt left in the house! These shirts have been carefully hidden from view in each photo!

Mana from heaven

I finally made it to the SANZA store in Convent Garden last week. SANZA stands for South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. This is a little slice of antipodean heaven in London, selling all manner of foodstuff and memorabilia from home.

I managed to secure an enormous jar of Marmite. My toast tastes so much better. I also grabbed a few treats for Garry including Double-coated Tim Tams and Arnotts Pizza-flavour Shapes. I saw L&P from New Zealand, along with plenty of stuffed kiwis and All Black jumpers. With such a large expat population in London this store struck me as a licence to print money. My jar of Marmite set me back £5.



Beyond SANZA, there are some home pleasures freely available. Every supermarket is stocked to the rafters with a broad range of great Australian wine, and there's plenty of New Zealand wine also going begging. There is one simple pleasure from Down Under that Garry and I really miss. We've yet to find anyone selling Turkish pide bread in London.

A tube honeymoon

When we first arrived in London one of the first questions everyone seemed to ask was, "so, what do you think of the tube?" At first I assumed this was simply a demonstration of London pride. It wasn't. In fact the opposite is true.

The oldest line on the London Underground system (part of the circle line from Paddington to Liverpool Street) is more than 100 years old. Upon opening it was the world's first metropolitan underground rail system. A century later, the system is showing it age. Signal failures are a daily occurrence. As a result at least one of the tube's lines is part suspended or experiences delays every day. You come to expect delays and inevitably start to factor in extra travel time to accommodate them.

This week I worked three days (Easter made this a short week). I experienced a delay on all three days. One was caused by a signal failure, another because people were trespassing on the tracks and sadly, a suspension caused by "a person under a train." Since arriving I've heard at least three "under a train" announcements. Apparently more than 50 people commit suicide on the underground every year. The most common time for such event is 11.00am.

With all of this going on, it’s no wonder people anticipate a complaint when they ask your opinion of the tube. However, despite these delays, I'm still in awe of the tube system. It makes travel around London incredibly easy. I've been told that my positive impression will wear off within twelve months. It seems that every new arrival has a similar honeymoon period with tube. I guess the day I start complaining will mark another milestone of our time in London.

Project Sunny Nook completed

Another furnishing milestone was reached today. Our sunny nook in the main bedroom was completed by the arrival of a new low-profile, brown leather, tub chair. We ordered the chair more than two months ago in a moment of winter sale madness. I discovered the reason for its delayed arrival this morning, thanks to a small tag on its base. It seems that the chair was imported from Italy, making it a close cousin of our living room sofas.

With new chair in place, the window alcove looks simply stunning. Everything we've cobbled together is working perfectly. The new curtains and matching cushion compliment the new chair, while Garry's old brown side table comfortably completes the picture. Finally, as if on cue, the sun emerged this morning, filling the space with dazzling sunlight. I'm sure Vogue Living will be over shortly to plan it centre-page spread.

"Thank you Easter Bunny!"

The Easter Bunny successfully found us in London this year. When I came down from the bedroom on Sunday morning, a large wicker basket of chocolate eggs was waiting for me. Today, two days later, the basket is looking rather spartan. Easter Bunny also visited Garry, delivering a large Lindor egg and a truly enormous foot-high egg covered in colourful swirls that sits on its own chocolate stand. Time for the CSIRO diet I think.

The Great Outdoors

It's wonderful to be outdoors again. Today, Garry and I spent an afternoon in the sun (well, partly cloudy sun) hanging out with two mates, Mike and Chris. Mike recently returned from two months studying in Paris so this was our first chance to catch-up again. We started with coffee at Earling, accompanied by Bondi, Mike's 70kg Alaskan Malamute dog.

Bondi attracts a crowd wherever he goes, resulting in a common set of questions. Mike and Chris have an established Q&A response that goes something like this; Malamute, Malamute, seven, no, Malamute. Typically the first question is, "What is he?" Followed by, "Say that again? "How old is he?" "Will he grow any larger?" Finally, the enquirer asks, "What is he again?"

After coffee we dropped Bondi at home and took a pleasant walk across the Thames to Kew Gardens. The grounds are ablaze with Spring flowers; daffodils, tulips, magnolias, crocus and other assorted blooms. Other highlights included a photo stop at the posing plinth (otherwise masquerading as a Victorian drinking fountain), a 20-minute queue for ice-cream at the rather dysfunctional cafe and a rather hearty plumber's crack on full display at the Easter petting zoo (not nearly as tempting as the lambs and ducklings). Oh, there were the regular sights as well, the Temperate House (the world's largest surviving Victorian glasshouse), the Palm House and Kew Palace.

We're getting outdoors more and more now. Good Friday was spent wandering around the local Stables Markets in nearby Camden, before taking a leisurely stroll home along the Regent's Canal and through Primrose Hill park. The hill gives you a great skyline view of London, including St Pauls and the London Eye. It was here that the first Martians landed in H.G. Wells' classic novel, War of the Worlds. These days camera-toting tourists are the only noticeable invaders.

Globetrotting in Greenwich

We crossed the globe today, stopping in the Eastern and Western Hemisphere, before briefly leaving the planet. All it cost us was a ticket on the tube and a 15 minute walk through Greenwich to the Royal Observatory. Here we stood astride the Greenwich Meridian marking the border between East and West. Garry, underwhelmed by the experience, when on to comment that a short jump would also see him briefly depart the planet.

Our Greenwich tour today also included a late-lunch of traditional English fish and chips (sheltering from a sudden rain shower), a walk under the Thames river (courtesy of the Greenwich foot tunnel) and a wander through the local markets. Learn more about the foot tunnel here.

Aside from globe-trotting, we took time out to install some shelves this morning. One in our ensuite and one in the home office. However, it seems that our shelf curse is back with vengence. You'll recall last month my failed attempt to cut the shelf board. Today I managed to drill two holes in the wrong location while Garry found his wall tile tough going, requiring several drill bit changes before the job was finally done.

Wanted: One Domestic Cleaner

Some wonderful news to share! Garry was offered his first UK contract today. He's secured the three-month business analyst contract he interviewed for on Tuesday. The job is at West Hampstead, only three stops north on the tube. Garry will probably have London's shortest commute when he starts on Wednesday. It takes me at least 45-50 minutes door-to-door. He'll be home in 15 minutes or so.

I know Garry's glad to finally have work. Until now he's been managing the household, cleaning, washing and ironing. He's definitely ready for a change of scenery. It's time for a new domestic cleaner!

HAPPY EASTER..!

The sound of music

On Tuesday, Garry was finally able to attend the interview he cancelled after the Great Flood of 2006. This is a three-month contract as a business analyst at a digital music distribution company that's literally ten minutes up the road. Garry felt that the interview went well. Fingers crossed that he might have his first UK job in the bag. I'll looking forward to all those free concert tickets, private parties with the stars and, of course, limos that take us home to Swiss Cottage afterwards.

BBQ, snow and ice

I've just returned from a two-day business trip to Munich. I took the opportunity to catch up with my brother Hamish in Austria for a day on Sunday. I flew out early on Sunday morning, arriving in time to catch the 11:03 train from Munchen Flughufen to Kitzbühel. Hamish, Nicole and Steffie were waiting for me at Worgl station 90 minutes later. Steffie greeted me with an enormous hug, while Nicole was more reserved (she made up for it later with an endless stream of hugs throughout the day).

The weather was rainy in Munich, but the alps were enjoying blue skies and fabulous sunshine. The sun was warm enough for Hamish, Karin and I to spend much of the afternoon sitting in the sun. We even went as far as lighting the BBQ for the first grill of the season. Karin also managed to spread out the last vestiges of melting snow on the lawn. By dinner time the last of the winter snow had melted. So much for the metre of snow that Garry and I saw on the ground over Christmas. Winter was officially banished.

I caught the train just before 8am the following morning, arriving at the office in Munich soon after 10.00am. After a successful day of meetings, I was talked into dinner at a local Bavarian pub with plenty of home brewed beer, seated at long bench tables and a live Bavarian brass band. The band soon caught wind of my Australian accent and promptly broke into a lively rendition of 'Waltzing Matilda'. This wasn't the only surprise in store for me in Munich.

After such a sunny weekend, it was surprising to wake this morning to two inches of snow covering the city. Snow continued to fall steadily for most of the day. In least than 12 hours, a snow-free city was back in the grip of winter with snow covering everything and ice forming on the pavements. I was happy to fly home to far warmer conditions. I heard that half a metre of snow fell in the alps today. Karin will be out on the lawn soon removing the last of the winter snow for a second time.

We're signed up members of the NHS

Under the UK's national health service (NHS) you have to register with a local doctor before you can access most forms of health care. The system is rather rigid. You can only register with a GP that's assigned to your "catchment area". Ours is a new catchment, established last month when a shiny, new council leisure centre opened at the end of our street. The doctor's surgery is located in the centre and supports a catchment area about ten city blocks wide. We're located about 20 metres from the eastern boundary. This week Garry and I signed up, after successfully proving we really were long-term residents. It's seems that passing tourists aren't so welcome.

The new leisure centre is incredible. It has a glass fronted atrium filled with climbing walls that glow at night, a heated swimming pool, squash courts, all-weather football pitch and workout gym. It backs onto a new park with landscaped hillocks, an enormous water feature and trees covered in spring blossom. The local library, attractive apartments and a first-run live theatre complete the surrounding development. All in all the entire scheme is a wonderful addition to our neighbourhood. Learn more here.

Good news. We'll soon have plenty of photos to share. I've purchased a new digital camera to replace the one almost destroyed on the shores of the Mediterranean last year. (See February's post titled 'In the footsteps of Moses'.) It's another Panasonic with lots of clever functions. Click here for details.

The Great Flood of 2006

When you're living on the top floor of a Victorian house, water pressure isn't the best. To ensure that our fourth floor ensuite has a suitably luxurious shower, the landlord installed a supplementary water pump in the utility room. It's the size of a compact vaccuum cleaner and, when in operation, makes a similar loud, high-pitched whine . To be honest, the poor machine sounds like its going to blow a valve at any moment. Today, our pump actually did destroy itself in spectacular style.

While Garry was in the shower this morning, one of the pump's water outlets shattered. Within mintues our utility room was flooded. Water continued to flow across the floor, pouring through gaps in the walls and cascading into the kitchen below. By the time Garry discovered the disaster unfolding, the kitchen was awash, along with the contents of every cupboards. The pump subsequently shorted out as the flood finally penetrated the electrical system.

Poor Garry was forced to spent the rest of the day organising plumbers and electricians, while struggling to release our kitchen from its watery grave. Worse still, he had to cancel a job interview, his first with an actual employer since arriving in London. The interview was with a digital music company, 15 minutes walk from Swiss Cottage. They were looking for a business analyst on three months contract.

Because the company was so close to home Garry found himself canceling his interview a mere 45 minutes before the scheduled time. Travel time in London is typically an hour or more so I'm sure the company thought Garry was blowing them off. In a final twist of irony, Garry received a call late today for another job interview - one that's seems better suited to his skills and experience. Perhaps fate isn't so cruel after all?

I'm working in Munich again next week. I've decided to fly in early on Sunday morning so that I can spend a day with Hamish and the family in Austria. I've catch a train to work on Monday, arriving about the same time I do when flying directly from London. There's more travel coming, with a trip to Paris and a three-day meeting in New York all scheduled before the end of the month.

In search of a flat white paradise

I miss ordering a simple ‘long black’ coffee. I'm no connoisseur, but I have to say that the English have some odd caffeine habits. Take your standard Americano, a weak imitation of the long black coffee you’d typically order in Sydney. Every café here asks me if I want milk in it. It seems that there’s no such thing as a flat white in England, and a latte isn’t considered an appropriate substitute. I just cant’ get use to the extra question, “do you want milk with that” every time I order my Americano. They’d never ask me in Europe, the US or Australia.

Of course, my order is further complicated by the assistant’s accent. I’ve noticed that the question is usually delivered in a cacophony of East European syllables, or asked so rapidly in a local dialect, that the words simply make no sense to me. An uncomfortable silence ensures while the assistant waits for my response. The question is eventually repeated. I inevitably fail to understand the accent and suggest they try the question again. Of course it never occurs to me that I’m being asked for milk. I was asked three times today before I suddenly remembered that an Americano order automatically attracts a 'milk' question. I’m now on a mission to evangelize the term 'flat white'.

Spring has finally arrived in London. We've been enjoying temperatures in double-digits for more than a week now, with regular periods of sunshine almost every day. It's also getting dark later and later. When we first arrived it was getting dark around 4pm, now it's light until after 7pm. The garden at the front of Swiss Cottage has also transformed itself into a sea of yellow daffodils, while fruit trees in the back garden are awash with blossom. I even saw someone in a pair of shorts this week. Rather brave I thought, as we're not experiencing temperatures in the lower teens yet. My hayfever has also struck with vengence. Garry's taken to complaining about my heavy breathing as I struggle to overcome congestion in my sleep.

With Easter only weeks away we've started planning a few day trips. At the moment we're thinking of visiting Windsor, Greenwich and possibly a trip to the coast to see the famous sand-free beaches of Brighton.

Finally, we had three friends over for dinner on Saturday night. We went the whole hog, with a real table cloth, the ubiquitous oak barrel cheeseboard and plenty of our recently imported Australian wine. Garry cooked a roast provided by our mate Chris. His family owns a farm up north. He picked up a side of beef last time he was home and has been looking for the right opportunity to use ever since.

We had a great evening, including several interuptions from the neighbours. They weren't knocking to complain, instead one was seeking tools to assemble her IKEA furniture while another was after a strapping lad to help move furniture - we sent Garry down to help. It seems Garry's efforts were much appreciated. While leaving for work this morning I tripped over a "thank you" bottle wine left for him on the top step. That will go a little way to plugging the new holes in our wine rack.

Here comes the sun

Today a total eclipse passed over Africa, the Middle East and parts of Turkey. The following photo was from the International Space Station. It shows the moon's shadow moving across the face of the planet. Spectacular! Meanwhile in London, we had our usual grey, overcast sky.

Pow Wow Events has moved

When is a bargain not a bargain? The new (heavily discounted) coffee table has arrived. Unfortunately it's far more damaged than we expected with marks and scrapes on almost every surface. It's not the bargain we expected. Fortunately, the store agreed to take it back and subsitute it for a new one, provided we pay the difference. Some bargains really are too good to be true.

Garry's also discovered another little piece of Swiss Cottage history. At least one of the previous tenants worked for an event management company. That's goes a way to explaining the endless limos filled with party girls that came and went at all hours. Click here for more details.

We've also got a new neighbour downstairs. A Japanese girl called Mi. She's a PR/production house specialist from Tokyo. She cornered me this morning as I was leaving for work to complain about the noise from our flat. I was stunned. We're quieter these days than we were in Sydney. However, it seems that our wooden floor is passing low frequency pressure waves through the ceiling which she finds unsettling. There's no real noise to speak of. She begged me to get a rug in an effort to dampen sound coming through the floor. I told her that Garry and I were shopping for a rug but she seemed unconvinced by my commitment

This evening Mi came up to our flat with a bottle of wine and half apologised for her morning outburst. It seems that she's had a few nasty experiences living in London. Earlier this year her handbag was stolen by a professional thief from a smart inner city restaurant. The bag contained her company laptop, mobile phone and purse with more than $300 cash. A guy later called her at home claiming that he knew where she lived. He threatened to break in and steal again while she was out. When Mii contacted the police they simply recommended that she relocate. Now she lives downstairs.

Mii has promised to come back soon and cook us an authentic Japanese meal.

No one can ever say I didn't sing

London weekends are finally starting to feel like regular days in the city. Saturday was spent roaming the local supermarket, stocking up on all sorts of odds and ends. With the car on the road we're able to transport everything home with ease. As a result the shopping trolley seems more and more heavily laiden.

Saturday night we caught a hilarious show in town called Glorious! It's a biographical comedy about the life of Florence Foster Jenkins (b.1868 - d.1944), known infamously as the "the first lady of the sliding scale." She was a well-off, slightly eccentric, society woman from Philadelphia who created singing career for herself, despite having little sense of pitch or rhythm and being barely able sustain a note. Ms. Jenkins was once quoted responding to her critics by simply stating that, "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing." Maureen Lipmann (above) performed the lead role brilliantly, singing out of tune with great skill and conviction, generating more than one good belly laugh. All in all a fun evening.

During our walk to the tube station afterwards we wandered past the SANZA store. It sells all manner of goodies for Australian, South African and Kiwi expats seeking a taste of home. Garry spied some tempting chocolate Moro bars in the window so I think we'll be back during opening hours. I'll be looking for Sanitarium Marmite. Learn more here: www.sanza.co.uk

Sunday we caught up for lunch with friend before hitting the stores on Oxford street. We found a coffee table that we both liked in John Lewis (their Tokyo range). Even better, the shop assistant found one in stock previously returned to have some minor damage repaired. It was marked down almost 50%. We agreed to take it, after being given the option to return it if we weren't satisfied with its condition. It arrives on Wednesday. The store even offered to deliver free of charge. What a bargain!

Next weekend we're having a group of friends over for a roast dinner. It's become an unofficial house-warming now that we've pretty much got the flat in order. The table will be here just in time.

22 hours in Holland

More than 15 years after my first trip to the Netherlands, I've finally made it to Amsterdam. I was in town for a day on Friday visiting our office for the first time. The city is incredibly picturesque. Each house is unique, sitting along side gently curving tree-lined canals and adorable bridges. Many of the simple bridges can be raised, allowing barges to pass.

My company put me up in a hotel by the Central Railway Station, an architectural masterpiece of its own. The station is bounded by a large canal, filled with colourful low-profile barges. All in all, Amsterdam is a lovely city. I'll definitely be back for a long weekend in summer.

I also spent two days in Munich earlier this week. Spring has definitely arrived there. The snow has almost melted, the trees are budding and the sun is actually warm. I even enjoyed lunch with a staff member at a sunny outdoor cafe. Sadly, the weather in London remains bitterly cold. However, the Met Office is promising temperatures in double figures this weekend. This'll be the first time we've moved beyond single digits since arriving in London.

Always pack a hedgehog

Last Sunday Garry and I enjoyed our first family day in the UK. We took the SAAB for a spin down to Fernhurst, a small village 40 miles south of London. My Aunt Shirley lives here, along with my cousin Hilary, her husband David and their daughter, Ellen. I last saw them three years ago during a holiday stop-over in Sydney.

Garry and I joined the family for a Sunday lunch. My cousin Nicholas and his wife, Carolyn, also joined us for a mini-reunion as they were in the area looking at property. They're hoping to move into the area when the right house presents itself.

We enjoyed a delightful afternoon, sharing stories and catching up. Garry and Carolyn were amused by moaning from the rest of us as we lamented turning 40. Garry also got to hear a few of the family's war stories, including tales about a family crest on my father's side. Rather than the usual falcon, boar or other fearsome animal, the crest includes a hedgehog. Apparently, one of my forbearers was returning from the Crusades when his horse tripped on a hedgehog. As the horse stumbled, an enemy arrow whizzed harmlessly by. The hedgehog had saved the returning knight from a fatal arrow.

As a result of our travels, we now know how long it really takes to wind your way through London. It took us almost an hour to get from our house to the motorway south. I'm sure we took the scenic route, driving past Kensington, Earl's Court station and the centre of Putney. Not an easy task with a pocket-size A-to-Z street directory. Narrow London streets tend to blend into a blur of confusing lines and squiggles when reduced to handy pocket size. No guessing what we'll be shopping for next week.

However, once out of town the drive was effortless. We're now planning day trips around the area, including Bath, Salisbury and Stonehenge.

A cut above the rest

Last week Garry and I paid another visit to IKEA. This time we came away with three new CD racks and a host of handy bits and pieces. Our aim was to finish off the main living room which , until now, a had few minor matters outstanding. First, hundreds of CDs and DVDs were given a permenant home, enabling our last remaining removalist box to enter recycling heaven. We also brought a beautiful plant and rustic pot for the room's bay window, and hung the final picture who's glass had been damaged in the move.

Finally, our living room is finished. It looks grand! The only items still outstanding are a rug by the fireplace and a new coffee table. Neither is particular urgent. We think we've already found promising candidates so the wait won't be long.

Our display curtains also arrived for the main bedroom, giving our sunny picture window a homely touch. We're still waiting for our armchair to make an appearance. It was ordered almost two months ago. The spare bedroom also sports a new set of coat hooks - another handy IKEA purchase.

This whirlwind of home decorating means that only one room is remains incomplete. Our home office still has a small piles of goods waiting for a final resting place. i wouldn't hold your breath. You might recall that ,18 months after we moved into our Sydney apartment, we still had a desk made from packing boxes and melamine. Given that we've already brought a new home office suite for Swiss Cottage, I'd say we're already ahead of the game.

Time for another amusing story
As part of the new home office suite, I purchased a shelving unit. The shelf has to be cut to fit the available space. London homes never have a simple, flat wall. You have no idea how many odd shapes, angles and small indentation found on every wall! Our home office at least eight different nooks, crannies and quirky alcoves - and its the smallest room in the house.

I've been waiting until the SAAB was on the road before taking the shelf up the street to the local mega-hardware store. Here they have a giant saw that cut boards into custom sizes. So, the SAAB is on the road. It's time to get the board cut.

Picture this. It's 8pm on a Saturday evening and I'm walking in the door with a 2-metre board. The security guard stops me. "Are you returning that sir?" "No. I brought it from MFI." " You can't bring that in here if you didn't buy it from us." A discussion ensues, during which I explain that staff on a previous visit had agreed to cut this board for me. First hurdle passed.

I reach the board cutting counter. No attendant is on duty. However, a handy 'press-me' button is waiting. I press the button. It doesn't light up. The button is broken. I abandon my giant board and walk to the other end of the store. Security guard eyes me suspiciously as I pass by as I'm now sans-board. I find a store clerk and beg for assistance. He can't help as he's not trained, but he'll look for someone who can. Second hurdle passed.

After a five minutes wait at the counter, a qualified board cutting specialist arrives. "I'm sorry to keep you. How can I help?" "Please can you cut this board into three parts. I have the measurements with me." "I can't cut this board. It's not from our store." A debate follows for the next few minutes as I explain once again that staff have agreed to cut this board on a previous visit. "OK I will cut it." A closer examination of the board follows.

"Actually, I can't cut this particular board. This is a solid board. We can only cut laminated boards." "No it's not. Trust me. The rest of the furniture that goes with this is laminated chipboard." A five-minute debate over the composition of the board now starts. I finally give up and ask to be shown the electric saws. I will buy a saw, a sawing brace and cut the jolly thing myself. The clerk takes me to the opposite side of the store shows me a grand selection of saws. However, he cannot find a mitre box to safely guide the saw cut. No sale!

We return to the board-cutting area. My friendly store clerk taps the board. He pauses. "Maybe you're right. Perhaps this is laminated chipboard. I'll give it a go but I can't guarantee that it'll work." "Please, please, please try! The board is useless to me in its current state. I'd rather ruin it than abandon it to the rubbish truck."

The troublesome board is duely sliced without problems. Then, while returning it to the service counter, the clerk drops it, damaging the laminate surface. He offers to forgo the cutting fee. I accept. Finally, 30 minutes after I've walked in with a 2-metre board, I walk out with an ulcer and three smaller boards, one of which is now damaged. The final hurdle is behind me!

I arrived home and positioned first board in the home office. Guess what? It's the wrong size! So is the next one. After all the drama, I'd given the store clerk cutting measures in the wrong order...! I'm now back to square one. The boards have to go back to the store to be cut again next weekend.

Springtime in Norway

I've just returned from my first tour of our three offices in Scandinavia. I spent a day in Copenhagen, two in Stockholm and a day in Oslo. It seems that my visit coincided with an unseasonal cold snap. All three cities had plenty of snow on the ground and falls occured most days I was travelling. Oslo had almost a metre of snow on the ground.

The cold snap has thrown Copenhagen airport into choas. When I arrived late on Tuesday I found myself in a baggage hall stacked high with piles of unclaimed luggage. It seems that cancelled and delayed flights had resulted in passengers departing without their bags in tow. The choas seemed to have grown worse when I passed through the following day enroute to Stockholm.

I managed to join the fray as my bags missed the flight from Heathrow. The SAS representative in the baggage hall was wonderful, promising profusely that my luggage would make it to Stockholm the following day. She even disappeared for several minutes, returning with an emergency toiletry kit that included a smart T-shirt along side the more regular soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Quite a contrast to our experience in Egypt last December.

This hitch seemed to set the tone for the rest of my journey, where flights were delayed for hours at a time. However, this did play to my advance on the last day when I found myself trapped in traffic as hoardes of Oslo folks headed to the mountains for a bumper ski weekend. I arrived at the airport 15 minutes before my flight was scheduled to depart, only to find that it had been delayed 40 minutes. Even better, I was home by 8:00pm, just in time for dinner. These short-haul flights are such a novelty after five years of red-eyes in Asia.

On a lighter note, our office in Copenhagen is situation above a popular micro-brewery. It's also located on the top floor of a old building, effectively built into the loft area. You enter via a large communal kitchen that has a sloping roofline, sunlight pouring through the windows and simple wooden floors. I felt as if Anne Frank was about to wander into the room. It's as if time has stood still. You have a wonderful sense of history coming alive and enveloping you, most unlike anything I've ever experienced in Australia.

Tying up loose ends (and odd boxes)

Swiss Cottage is finally looking and feeling like a regular home in the burbs. The last week has been one of several relocation milestones.

First, our car is finally on the road:

• Our new UK car licence plates arrived on March 9
• Our car registration papers arrived on March 11 (taking only six days to process, not the six weeks we were originally told)
• We secured a resident's parking permit on March 11.
• Today, we attached our new plates to the car, applied registration stickers and finally parked it outside the house.

Second, the last major house moving chores were completed. In particular, dozens of large moving boxes were collected on March 12, along with our old matress and an old fax machine. I installed shelving in the storage cupboard in our utility room over the weekend, giving yet more items a permenant home. At last, the spare bedroom no longer looks like a storage cubicle.

We're now making a few decorator touches to give the house a personal feel. Our latest project is a sunny nook in the main bedroom, by the attic-style window. This window faces south and receives regular sunlight throughout the day. We've ordered a new curtain to frame it and a cosy leather chair to relax in while grabbing a dose of Vitamin D. Both items should arrive this week.

Garry has also been contacted by several recruiters, including one woman who seems far more switched on than others he's spoken with so far. He has an interview with her tomorrow, plus another one with Sony. Fingers crossed that Garry will soon have a job.

Where do cucumbers come from?

A trip to the Supermarket quickly becomes a lesson on the global economy. Most stores label their fresh produce with the country of origin. You'd be amazed where everyday items come from. In Australia almost every fresh item is Australian grown, not so in the UK. Many items travel a great distance to reach us. Today I saw white-flesh nectarines from Australia (only £2.99 for a tub of four), or regular nectarines from Argentina (half price).

The origin of some items is unexpected. Asparagus comes from Peru. Medium chillies come from Tanzania, while small ones come from Kenya. Cucumbers from the Canary Islands. Strawberries from Morocco. Avocados from Mexico. Seedless grapes from India (see the photo above).

Other items are a little less surprising. Mushrooms come from Germany. Capsicums and Iceberg lettuce from Spain (bags of mixed leaves come from 'various locations'). Where, I hear you ask, do Olives comes from? Greece of course! It seems that only milk and cheese are produced in the UK.

It seems incredible that a green, fertile island like the UK finds it cheaper to import so much produce from the opposite side of the globe, rather than grow and sell it locally. I can't help but wonder if an international trade backlash is behind the numerous farmer's markets you find scattered across London. These weekly markets pop up in local suburban pedestrian malls, selling everything from fresh muffins (baked with organic eggs and flour) to whole pigs roasting on a portable gas rotisserie.

Photos, photos, photos!

After a week of battling with dodgy internet connections, wading through 5000 digital images and near permenant RSI, I've finally managed to post photos from last year's sabbatical tour. Begin your photo essay experience by reading again my travel posts - start from Two decades of American Memories listed in the February Archive - then scroll downwards.

I've also updated some of these earlier posts with more stories from our travels. It's amazing what you suddenly remember when you start scrolling through old photos. Enjoy!

Snow, snot and speedometers

It snowed this afternoon. Large, white, fluffy flakes fluttered down from the sky for more than 30 minutes. It also snowed yesterday afternoon, and again in the evening as I was walking through Soho to a business function. The ground isn't cold enough for the snow to remain, but the experience of snow in the city is magical.

Along with colder weather has come ineviable winter aliments. I've had a shocking head cold for the last four days, while Garry has just recovered from a nasty cough and sore throat. I can't recall feeling so congested in my head and sinuses for years.

On the home front, Garry took the SAAB to the dealer today. It now has a sexy new speedometer faceplate. With luck we'll have the car certified by the VOSA next week and the registration papers submitted for processing.

Next week I fly to the Nordics for a four-day whirlwind tour of my company's offices in Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The week after that I'll be visiting Amsterdam for a day and possibly dashing down to Johannesburg, South Africa for two or three days. Once I've completed thIS last trip, I'll have visited almost every office in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) network over a ten-week period. Phew!

A Very English Drought

Parts of southern England have had the driest two consecutive winters since 1920-22. Incredibly, the water authorities are considering garden hose bans in some areas. This sort of decree is certainly something we've become use to in Sydney, but to have same experience in damp, eternally green England is unexpected.

Figures released by the Met Office today show that South-east and central southern England have had:

• the driest November 2004-January 2006 in over 80 years, with just 724 mm of rain;
• November 2004 to January 2006 was the second driest 15-month period on record;
• 13 of the last 15 months have recorded below the 1961-1990 long-term average, having only 72% of the average which is 1001 mm.

The map below shows that London's average rainfall compared with averages of the last thirty years. You can see that rainfall is 60-70% below normal (that's the blue bits, while the white bits are normal and the brown, higher than normal).

These reports certainly explain why our first winter in the UK has been surprising free of rain. While the sky overhead is almost permenantly grey, we've had very little rain since arriving. In fact, in the last two months, I can only think of three days where we really received a good soaking. There's certainly been the occassional damp day where you wonder if rain will break-out, but in general, other than a light misting we've rarely seen a serious downpour.

Sadly, we bought plenty of umbrellas and expensive rain gear but have yet to give these items a serious workout. No doubt next winter will be a rather brutal shock to the system!