So here we are just completing our second week back in the UK. We flew into Manchester on 23rd January and hired a car. We picked the cheapest smallest car we could to drive down but when I handed the booking to the hire mob they said "mate, you aint gonna fit in that car". So we upgraded to a larger one and headed off down the road. We spent the night in Buckingham before up early the next day to battle through the London traffic. I missed driving so much and it is just like riding a bike, but it wasnt fun driving right through London. the actually driving wasnt too bad but our stupid b**** GPS kept telling me to turn after we had gone past the street. As a result we did a lot of cirlces but eventually got to where we needed to go. We were meeting a guy we found on the internet who had a place for month to month rent, but unfortunately he had promised it to someone else for February. At least it gave us a month to find something. The place is fanmtastic, a nice big 1 bedroom furnished. It is a little pricey but being a month to month thing we are in a good spot. After meeting us the landlord, Dan, got along with us so well. He was showing the girl he had promised it to later that night so we were hopefully she wouldnt like it. Yeah, fat chance! She loved it but never bought the money as promised but it just wasnt meant to be. However we got a call from the landlord later that night saying he liked us so much so we could stay on. Well we jumped at the chance as to get a place here you need utilty bills, but to get utilty bills you need a place. A real catch 22. Anyway we are sorted and comfy so all is going to plan.

We have been trawling the op shops and clothing stores to build up our wardrobe. As we had limited clothes while backpacking most of them were starting to wear out in places. We have both snagged some bargains and actually feel better about stepping out the door. We will spend more but will have to wait until we get an income. It has been nice just looking for the bargains and trying things on without spending a lot of money. We have plenty of these shops close to us so will visit them from time to time. We have also spent a bit of time in Oxford street and there are a lot of womens clothes but strangely enough not that many mens. This has been the case all over London as we step into huge stores, only to find that there is a small section up the back dedicated to men. Gets a little frustrating.

On Australia day we headed in and caught up with our friend Dan from the Egypt tour. We really dodged a bullet with that tour and got out at just the right time. We celebrated with burgers and beers and brought some Aussie & NZ cheer to a pub. Dan then took us to Marble Arch and introduced to the joys of Primark. Economy shopping at its best. We grabbed some essentials before heading back home and relaxing for the evening.

Today we took the Tube up to Camden and we wandered around. We have had nearly a week of crazy wind here and although it wasnt cold, it just wasnt nice to head outside. Well today was sunshine and beautiful so we had to get out. We didnt buy anything except lunch and a keyring but it was nice just to feel some warmth and be outside for an extended period. It is hopefully a taste of things to come.

We have been putting a fair bit of work into finding jobs with mixed results. Jac is a bit closer than me and we hope she will be working in the next week. Im not having as much luck but it will happen eventually. I guess we've only been here for a few weeks so we cant expect to land employment straight away. The only thing is that it stops us planning some more travels but we still have a huge city to explore in the mean time.

This weekend we are having an Egyptian reunion as Jess comes down from Newcastle. We'll meet everyone in the city somewhere for some dinner and drinks. It will be great to sample some of the nightlife finally and be out amongst friends. We havent really got much else planned for the week apart from a bit more job hunting.

Sorry for the gap in blogs too. I had planned to do 1 a week but have failed so far. I will get my arse in to gear and get back to a schedule. We bought a laptop to help with everything so no excuse now. I can't tell you how happy I am to be using a real keyboard and not typing on the 3.5 inch iPhone screen.

Our address for the next few months are:

74 Corner Fielde, Streatham Hill, London, SW24TJ

So if you're in the area drop on in, we've got some bourbon or tea ready to go. Actually think I might go have a bourbs now.