The Adventures of Bear and Butterfly

Bodra is all snuggled up in bed with Perriwinkle keeping watch. He came back last night from Italy with a cold as a souvenir & I’ve been doing what I can to speed his recovery. Pretty stink to have a cold over the weekend as we were hoping to do something together besides the usual movie viewing. We just watched ‘The Last King of Scotland’- I didn’t realise it was based on fact, but it didn’t surprise me. The usual corrupted, crazy, paranoid Ugandan President story- nothing new. Not tempted to visit those lands!

I had a lovely send off from Ayurveda Retreat, the staff really made me feel cared for & missed. I did one last treatment with Agnes on the lovely Andrew Pooley- http://www.yogaheart.co.uk/index.html a Yoga Teacher. Afterwards he came back to see me & give me his well wishes, made me feel really special & blessed! For lunch, Agnes & I went to ‘Wagamamas’ with a friend I had made through Ayurveda Retreat- Andrew Gelly- & his friend, I think Dwight was his name. We had an uplifting chat & gigantic meals, hopefully I’ll be seeing those guys soon.

At the end of the day we had a little gathering in the reception & Parit gave a wee speech about my time with them. He mentioned how at my interview I had laughed pretty much all the way through which had made an impression on them! I must remember that for my next interview! I hope to keep in touch with everyone from there.

That evening I met up with Petra & her friend Emily for a non-alcoholic drink & a chat at ‘Chan Cham’a bar/cafe place near Ayurveda Retreat. The walls were all decorated with canvases where the artist had depicted the female form using a steady stream of acrylic paint, just drizzling the paint onto the canvas. Quite stunning artwork! Emily was impressed with them also- she is a TRUE artist (check out her amazing artwork here: http://www.emilyhare.co.uk/ & here http://www.boudiccaillustrations.moonfruit.com/ ). Hopefully one day Bodra & I will be able to ask Emily to do a portrait of us- exciting!

We woke incredibly early on Saturday morning (an absolute sin if you ask me) to catch a train out to Paul & Rachaels. I was very disgruntled until we started walking along Kenavon Drive in the pink & purple skyed morning with the Full Moon just above the cityscape. I can appreciate early mornings if we get a view like that!

I had some breakfast with Paul (Pam’s Jam & toast- yum!) then we headed back to Gunnersbury station to begin the Waitangi Day Pub Crawl. This is where NZ’ers gather in London to demonstrate our anti- ‘Be a Tidy Kiwi’ aptitude, in celebration of Waitangi Day. Yes, that’s something worth celebrating… not! I will explain what I mean by that later…
Celebrated on the first Saturday of February, NZ’ers & their friends jump on the Circle line http://cache.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.pdf at Paddington Station at 10am, & stop at every station, dashing to the closest pub & enjoying a beer, until we reach Westminster, where the days parade culminates with a Haka at Parliament Square at 4pm, 9 beers or more later.

Whilst on the tube, one must obey the rules of not sitting down or holding on, not using the District line & berating those who do. There are also rules regarding which hand to drink from & not being able to say ‘Drink’ or extend the pinky I think…

Kiwi’s turned up in all sorts of attire, from Netball Skirts & bibs, Black Trousers & Blazers with NZ logos chalked on the back, full-bodied Gorrilla Suits, Borat impersonators with black afros, fluro clown wigs, bogan wear, ‘Pepelo Pepelo’ from bro’Town, The Wizard, sheep, all sorts of slinging Kiwi slogans like ‘Shore Girl, Sure Thing’… & a kazillion All Blacks shirts & NZ Flags! There was even a group dressed in ‘The Warehouse’ uniforms & Ross’s cluster of friends had acquired themselves scrubs outfits & ID badges for Shortland Street characters. Ross was a very handsome Dr Ropata, complete with chocolate sauce on his face to convert his race. 584458385922585360605820

It was quite a thrill when the Circle tube approached at Earl’s Court & the merriment really began. Paul & Bodra had already opened their can of beer. 5816 The group beside us had a little trolley packed with Chilly Bins & Fosters (My first thought was ‘Traitors! That’s not NZ beer!’ but it is rather hard to find Lion Red or Export Gold or sweet Mac’s Gold… mmmmmmm Summer Ale!). Everyone cheered when the Circle tube arrived & we all piled on- seated passengers looked at us bemused.

We journeyed to Bayswater station & headed for the closest pub which happened to be closed. 5826Doh! Nevermind, the supermarket across from the station had beer, so Bodra purchased his stock of Kronenburg (none of that filthy Fosters for him!) & Ribena & Coke for me. I was opting not to drink as I didn’t want to be fuzzy for my Psychic Art Course the next day, or have any extra substance to detox from. We waited patiently for Ezra & Kim to turn up, caught up with Matt & Dave, & enjoyed Kiwi watching. So many people gathered outside the Bayswater Station, the road became very hazardous for drivers. Regular pedestrains were really confused, had no idea what was going on & a few brave people questioned us. “It’s for Waitangi Day!” Confusion- “New Zealand Day!” Accepted answer. Ignorance! I tried to explain it more in depth later on but it was lost. 582958325835 The day really got started when a guy climbed up onto a telephone box with his friend & started drinking a funnel of beer. The crowd began cheering & I really felt like I was at the hugest party.

Once our group had come together (soon to be scattered, as is the way with huge crowds) we pounced through the crowd back to the station. The platform was packed & the police were present. What a horrible day to be working- having to manage a boisterous crowd of Kiwis! 5841

Next station was Notting Hill Gate. There were so many people, we ended up waiting on a median strip in the middle of the road- in the sun no less & able to harrass panic-stricken drivers as they cautiously made their way through us. Beers were drank then back to the station, 5856 only to find it had been closed. We found a map to direct us to the next station & began the parade through London- streams of NZ’ers rollicking along the streets. This became a common theme as High Street Kensington station was closed, as was Gloucester Road. I felt sorry for the drinkers as their bladders became full & the availability of loos was short- most cafes had their toilets locked. The guys managed to find covered walls (yuck! Never lean against the walls of London!). 58475865
We reached South Kensington station (where I go for my ‘Sensing Energy’ course at The College of Psychic Studies) & thankfully the station was still open. We hopped on the Circle line & headed for the next station Sloane Square, but Kimmy’s instincts told her we should stay on until the next station- Victoria. It made for perfect timing really.

I think we wandered to the next station, St James’s Park, & I caught up with Chantal & Marieanne at the pub there. I waited for an extremely long time to use the loo- a dozen girls queued up & only one toilet- & had to endure listening to very un-lady-like talk. It really shocks me the sort of things some girls say when they are inebriated, so vicious & filthy!

We began the final walk to Westminster & Parliament Square, a place I haven’t visited yet. AMAZING architecture! More people viewing & much excitement as 4pm approached.

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Thousands of Kiwi’s (and their friends) gathered at Parliament Square. I wasn’t sure where the haka was going to happen, but it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to view it as the masses of drunken Kiwi’s congreagated. A few monkey-like guys started scaling light poles to entertain themselves & us during the wait.5961

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& we waited & watched Big Ben as the arms got closer to 4pm. I gave up on seeing anything as the crowd was so ginormous, & felt pretty grumpy that I would be missing the supposed main event. Kim scurried off to see if she could capture the Haka. Anti-climax. Apparently it was just a few guys, no organisation, no megaphone to count down to 4pm so we could all join in. Ah well, a lot of drinking had been done!6024 Can you spot Paul? 6030 There he is!!!

Now for my explanation. I was really appalled at the lack of ‘Be A Tidy Kiwi’ -ness. Bottles, cans & plastic bags lay scattered everywhere- I barely touched the concrete path. Why is it people can’t take home what they bring with them? I was really embarrassed. Drunkeness leads to laziness- boo! The friendly police came in & began to clear the crowd off the road. Ross got really friendly with one of the officers- couldn’t tempt him to lick his face though! 60516042

Our bellies were grumbling ferociously by this stage so we made our way back to Ez, Kim, Cam & Nik’s home for a yummy falafel & some old school music. 60576063 6066

Back to Paul & Rachael’s for a lovely bath (yahoo!) & sleep. The next day I went for my Introduction to Psychic Art course… not really what I was after but it was fun nonetheless.

We went to La Tasca for a dinner of Spanish Tapas with Paul & Rachael- I was nearly tempted by the San Gria, isn’t it hard when you tell yourself “No more alcohol/chocolate/dairy” etc. Then the cravings come!

I have had a lovely week off from working. On Tuesday I went to the Gym with Agnes & we did an Iyengar Yoga class, then exercycled while England bet NZ in the cricket. I also did some thigh weights- my thighs are still tender! We had a lovely sauna then went back to Agnes’s home for sweet potato soup. I showed Agnes & her boyfriend Jan footage of NZ & NZ music from YouTube which made me feel a bit homesick & proud. I’m more proud of our beautiful Waitakeres than the lazy Waitangi Day litterers! Bodra & I had our Yoga class with Maria that evening which was much more relaxing.
I went for my third ‘Sensing Energy’ session on Wednesday evening & for one of our activities I paired up with a lovely Japanese lady, Eriene, & we practiced giving out energy from our palms & being able to feel it. She blasted me with her energy which was really exciting! We also did an activity where we changed seats (we have been sitting in the same seats throughout the course) then perceived the energy of the chair. It was pretty interesting.

I met Ezra at Paddington Station & he came home with me. On Thursday we woke to a heavier snowfall & Ez & I went to Forbury Gardens to make a snow man called Reginald Gerald the First. My first one! I went back to the garden today & there is still a wee patch from where we created him.

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Bodra left for Italy Thursday morning, just to meet Symantecs Italian clients & to see what they needed as far as support was concerned. Everyone spoke Italian so there wasn’t much that Bodra understood. He was really relieved to have someone to talk to once he got back to Heathrow, & he jabbered away to his driver about Indian food. Hopefully we’ll be visiting the Hare Krsna Temple soon.

Sonia came over for lunch & to give me a lovely massage. Phew! With all this typing I’ll be needing another one!

I start work for David on Monday. Apparently he is having trouble with the programme he put on my laptop for creating the database of his clients info, so it may be a while before I really get into that.

Our nephews (Kowhai, Te Aue & Hemi) began at their new school, Dilworth, on Wednesday. I’ll be giving them a call tonight to hear all about it!

Righto! Time to feed fluey Bodra!