Chapter 3 - London: The First Few Days

Our driver dropped us off at our hotel, the Thistle Kensington Gardens. Had a few issues with the rooms on the first night, didn't have interconnecting rooms, so Flo and the boys slept in one room and I slept in the other room. They managed to give us connecting rooms on the second night!

On Sunday 11th October we had a free day in London so we went to visit the London Eye and have a wonder around the Westminster area. The London Eye gave great views of the surrounds!

We also found a playground nearby for the boys! They were able to burn a bit of energy while we had a coffee.

On Monday 12th October Craig headed to the Australian High Commission for his march-in meetings. Flo and the boys headed to a playground in Kensington Gardens, where the boys proceeded to find a tap and play with water. This did not end well as the boys got wet and dirty, and mum was not impressed.

At 2pm the hire car (VW Sharan) arrived and we somehow squeezed in all our luggage. We then set of for Salisbury! A couple of hours later and not too many wrong turns were arrived at the Peartree Serviced Apartments, where we'll be staying for the next 2 weeks.

Tuesday 13th October we were collected by HCR to visit some

properties which could potentially be our permanent accommodation. We selected one property which was ideal, nice backyard, good facilities, its own off-street parking - will keep it as a surprise for a bit later! :-) The day was finished off with dinner at Tim McKay's place, was really nice to become acquainted with Tim and his family, and we will definitely return the favour.

Wednesday 14th October we ventured off into Salisbury, first stop is Lloyds Bank to set up an account so that Craig can get paid! We had to get an appointment, which went for an hour! We got shown a couple of videos (basically disclaiming liability), but we got the account set up! We then did a bit of shopping at Tesco and took the boys to a nearby playground - they had fun!

Thursday 15th October we made the journey to Bristol to look at a car, as we had to return the hire car on Monday. We'd initially set a budget of 1,000 pounds, but this was quickly reconsidered when discovered what type of car that budget covered. We looked at a Peugeot 307, was a total piece of CRAP, never thought much of Peugeot's and that feeling was re-confirmed. They are the European version of Hyundai...... We ended up having McDonald's for dinner in Bristol before we headed home.

Friday 16th October we made a visit to Dinton Pre-School, where both Robbie and Erik will attend classes, Robbie in the Rabbit class and Erik in Hedgehog.

Seemed a really nice place, and both Robbie and Erik enjoyed their brief visit. We were told that they could both begin their attendance on Monday for half a day, they are really looking forward to it!

We then went to look at another caryard (in St Leonards) and another Peugeot, but like the first was CRAP! We looked around the yard and found a 2004 Vauxhall Zafira, which seemed to be in good condition, and handled OK in the test drive. We negotiated the price down to 2,000 pounds and got a service, MOT, new battery and brakes. We arranged to pick the car up on Sunday.