France for Camp

heya all no pics this week but i have some awesome news...i've been asked to go on schoolcamp with year 8...yeah yeah, what eva but....over here Yr 8 camp is a week in a french Château ...hour terrible...kinda craps all over the 'great aussie bush camp' deal from last year hey!
any hoo...long week end comming up, should have some good pics of something from then.
went to a pub in Balham with Naomi, Chris, Fiona, Troy, Ally, Mel and Simon (one of mels old house mates) on Friday night... had a blast great to always catch up with them all.
more to come hopefully.

till next time...as they say overhere...
Cheers

Ministry of Sound

Mel and i hit 'Ministry of Sound' at Elephant and Castle on Friday night in an attempt to avoid 'Infernos' (Clapham's local cheesy club) that we seem to frequent a little too often...it was pretty cool, but not like WOW, like i was expecting.

Bluebells and BBQ's

On Thursday i got to go to see the Bluebells out in the country like Surrey region...near where the duke hikes are.

Pete Fuller and his wife took me out in the afternoon with another teacher couple...we had little picnic of chicken and salmon rolls, apple juice, fruit and cake in amongst all the natually occuring the flowers that are like a huge purple carpet on the woodland floor...it's really quite amazing...it was an awesome day for it too, the weather was perfect. even these photos don't do the expereinec justice.

Then we had our first English BBQ on the Saturday...all you have to do to get it going, is light a bag of coals and wait for the fire to go out...easy peesy. But we did find out we have stinging nettles in our back garden too. Food was good tho... even had steak!

Cardiff

Well Cardiff is a city like any other, but it has a huge Norman castle in the centre of the city. apart from that 4 days is probably 1 day too many to spend there, esspecially when it's Paul H...we tried to get to Swansea but the trains weren't working on that line...
so we went to BARRY ISLAND... it was a nice day but not boiling hot...but that didn't stop the masses from invading the beach...which DID have sand. It was all very old and quaint sort of like The Entrance 15 yrs ago.

and for those of you who can read my shirt it says ROCK is dead...thank you.

Wales is funny...they have their own other language and although i probably heard only one person actually using it, it is written everywhere English appears.

We went to Cardiff Bay too...which was lovely to look at cause it just has all this awesome architecture that is like nothing else i've seen used in the UK (really modern) but has jack all there appart from resturants and Water port stuff...bit boring. i think the brown building was like an entertainment centre.

Edinburgh Easter Weekend

Naomi and i at the Scottish Boarder...thats our little car in the background too.

Naomi and i with that bloke outside the tartan weaving place on the Royal Mile...had to have the pic taken cause my dad had one as well.

Troy and Ally took us to the 'Elephant Room' coffee shop where JK Rowling came up with the idea for Harry Potter. The whole place is filled with Elephant toys and statues...quite unique.

This bus would take me home i guess...and at £1 a ride, it's cheaper then a flight home. (slightly longer i'd imagine)
and finally us girls in Newcastle read for a night on the town...

We stayed in the Old part of Edniburgh in a St Christophers Hostel (well known chain)...it had a cool pub with it, i think it was Troy and Ally's Local.

Went to the Castle and had a bit of a look around...nearly got blown away in the wind on that day...but generally the weather was pretty good.
The trip up and back was cool...Fi did an Awesome job!! and i don't think i've ever consumed as much chocoate as i did in that car...i know that may be hard to believe for some.
i also got my navel pierced at a place on the Royal Mile...i really think thats my last one...i don't have anywhere else i want it done now.

It was a fantastic Easter break...i hope we get to do it again sometime...it was great!

i have lots of pics to put on, but the school won't let me upload anymore so i have to do it at home ...don't worry it won't be long :)

Leah Tours London

well last Tuesday i had all intention of going to Warwick castle however while on the bus to the train station i was cold, it was drizling, and i didn't fancy a 2 hr train ride there and then one back so i though i'd postpone the day out and perhaps make it a weekend that Mel can come on...Ed went to Uni up there so he said he'd come up too...so it should fun when we get around to it.

Anyway i got off at Trafalger Square and walked to Southbank where i strolled around until i got to Shakespeares Globe...so i went and did a tour. it's a complete replica of the original that they have tried to get correct right down to the building techniques and materials used in Shakespeares time...it's all pretty impressive...i really want to go back when they have a performance on...it's £5 to stand in the yard :)

Then i wandered around a little more and came to 'the Clink' which was a small museum built on the site of the original 'Clink' or prision...full of history and it got me out of the weather for 45min. Then i decided i'd go to the Tower of London, but i got side tracked when i got to Tower Bridge and went on a tour that let me walk up on the two pedestrian walkways up the top and then go into the old Engine rooms that drove the bridge mechanisms when it was run by steam.

That was pretty cool... After that i made my way to the Tower of London but i was so exhausted that i gave up on that idea and figured i'd leave it for another time and made my way back home.

all in all a very eventful day!

HouseParty

A fantastic night...it was an 80's theme, hence our fab outfits

First we have ED (AKA Rocky) having his hems fixed by mel

DEREK (AKA 80's Aussie bogan) going for the double denim look.

Then there is Mel (AKA shoulder pads are us )and i (AKA Viven from the Young Ones)

MICHELLE didn't dress up cause she had quite a hard night out on the town the night before and i think she put in a good effort to make it back downstairs for the party

Paul piked as far as i'm concerned...he took the jacket over tshirt look

Naomi and Fiona went all out in Fluro 80's gear...a very good effort! (and they behaved Aunty Gayle...promise)

And now for some of the nights random pics

Teachers

We have had a student from Maldova come to our school for 14 or so weeks while he is in England for an operation to replace a third of his skull. when he was younger he was walking through a field and due to a very poor electricity grid set up he was hit by an electic arc from overhead wires when a flock of birds near him flew off...freaky hey...but it blew a third of his skull off and he wasn't expected to live and he did...now thats freaky. He has been sponsored by a charity that our food tech teacher, Sue, has a friend who is part of it and they all organied to get him sent over to fix him up. Where he lives in Maldova is apparently extremly impoverished, I was told Maldova was one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe. His interpeter Irina (lady in the middle in grey) saya she gets paid £66 a month and has to live in a two bedroom place with her parents and brothers family of 4 so that they can live, since the electicity bill itself is £100 a month. Andrei, is in yr 7 and lives in a dodgy room with his mother and sister... they are all so nice. Irina had to go back home at the end of the term because her visa would only let her stay a little while, Andrei will have a new interpreter next term, tho he is eagerly picking up English. Irina has told me that i have to come over and see her when i get the chance to go to Eastern Europe...i think that is a tops idea, i got along with her very well! i'm sad to see her go so soon!

In the bottom picture from left to Right is Christina (French) Sue (Food Tech) Irina (Interpreter) Pipper (ICT) and ME. in the top picture Andrei got an award for Chess..his new favourite game along with snooker, he tells me.

The Tate Modern Weekend

Last Saturday i went to the Tate Modern...which is a huge modern art museum on the Thames southbank...it used to be a huge powerstation in the old days. i got to see Picaso, Andy Warhol, Renouir?, and lots of other crazy stuff...one of the art installments are 3 slipperyslides...one is 5 stories high and you can ride them, though the crowds put me off lining up.
I met up with Kerri Lucisano...a friend from back home and previous fellow workmate too! we strolled around the museum and since she is an art teacher, she was like my own personal guide around the place...it was awesome!! we met up with mel at lunch and then headed to Borough markets for a stroll and afternoon tea. Borough markets is a big fresh food market for gormet food from all over the place.
Sunday, Mel and i went into London and got involved in a bit of St Patricks day celebrations (watched some irish dancing and stuff) then cause it was soooo cold we went and watched a movie 'Becoming Jane' loosley based on the life of Jane Austin. I actually enjoyed it.
School holidays in less then 2 weeks...going to Edinburgh with Naomi and Fiona for Easter...yeah!

here are some pictures of the Surrey countryside and little towns Shere and Peaslake

this is a World War relic... a soldiers (piquet?) look out post over the rolling Surrey hills...don't know if the kids knew the significance, but they decided to eat their lunch on top of it.

Duke of Edinburgh Weekend

The weather was great but a little cool...no rain for once AND how civilised is this...the teachers had lunch at a little pub and a cooked breakfast in 'Shere' the village where apparently movie 'the holiday' was filmed, AND we didn't have to walk with the kids...we got around in the school buses checking up on their progress!! it was great!! and the campsite had flushing toilets and running hot water!!!....luxury plus! some beautiful veiws of the hills of Surrey.

it was very muddy tho...it reminded me of 'monty python's search for the holy grail'...the line...'must be a king'...'whys that'...'cause he's not covered in shit'...we were not kings.

i slept well because i only had two hours sleep before the hike...went out friday night...started off at a nice club and ended up at the kitsch retro club that ever graced this earth...only plus was that it was walking distance from home.

there are more pics but i'm having real trouble posting them this week....so i'll keep you all posted :)

Front of the house

Here is a lovely pic of the front of our little Victorian terrace in Clapham North...the one in the middle of course

my Bevis and Butthead moment

I know this is completely unPC and really childish and imature...but...

This one is for Ben and Linda who i know will appreciate it's humour...(insert Bevis and Butthead laugh here)...heh heh heh

Well i moved into my new house on the weekend, it's a Victorian Terrace cit of close to Clapham North and Brixton Tube stations...Brixton has a bit of a Newtown/Enmore type of feel to it...very vibrant, alternative and busy. it's home to the Brixton Academy (a venue that attracts alot of good bands and acts)and it's stumbling distance from our place.

Clapham North is a little more sophisticated and joins up with the Common (a huge park area) that leads to Clapham South (where my cousin Naomi lives.Lots of bars and nice resturants on Clapham High Street.Now you can see my bedroom from a number of different angles...how exciting and then a bit of the house...

i still need to take one of the lounge room though.The bed is comfy and the storage is good, and my window looks down on out little courtyard of a backyard. i'm going to put flowers on my window sill to make it look pretty too. I have fresh flowers on my dresser at the moment, nice yellow tulips.