Why hello there, Yes indeed I have made it to the land of tea, scones, the queen and a bunch of really really old stuff, No honestly stuff so old that it puts poor old(young) New Zealand to shame.

Since gracing the UK with my presence (lucky them) I've managed to have a rather splended time, First on the map was a night out in ye old London where I managed to spend far to much money(figures can not and will not be disclosed), ride in a black cab and go an entire night without speaking to one single british person....ok thats a lie I think the cab driver was british but apart from that the are we visited was infested by australians.

I've visited castles dating back to the 12th century and gawked in amazment not only at the history of the castles but the arcitecture, The buildings are so amazingingly constructed that you can't help but feel sory for the poor b***** who was probably slaved into heaving tones of brick every day and then hung for breaking one....I don't know If that really happened i'm just making assumptions.

Probably my favourite thing I've done since coming to the Uk was a visit to Audley end, a statley home just outside of Bourn. As you wonder through this gigantic mansion dating back to the 15th century you begin to gain an understanding for what life was like back then, For the rich it was a life of grand supers, reading in the mansions library, dressing in elaborate clothes and flaunting other aspects of your extreme wealth...For example at Audley end the gardens have huge statues with very close resemblence to those you would find in Greece built high up on the hills simply so that the familys in the house had something to look at. Mum can we build a mini effiel tower in the back yard? just so we have something to look at.

For the poor life consisted of pathetic wages and horrific tasks, at Audley end the servants had to get up before the sun rose, gather the swans of the front lawn, heard them to the river that raps infront of the mansion and hold them in one place so that when the master of the house got his lazy bum out of bed he could do a big belly laugh and say"would you look at that martha, there are some swans on the river"

In amongst these adventures I have divided my time staying with aunty England and Bernard in Bourne and the Korns in Alfriston. Both Bourne and Alfriston are very much the English country side where days have consisted of going for runs, talking to sheep, going for coffee, exploring cambride, talking to cows, Visiting the seven sisters cliffs, a trip to the british seaside, picking blackberries and making black berry and apple loaf mmmmmmmmmm and thinking long and hard about what i'm going to do with myself next year (but not to hard that would make my brain hurt and we don't want that).

So I hope this brief update provides some kind of insight into my travels, apologies for the lack of photos....as you may have heard from my mother I am technologically disadvantaged and well that pretty much explains the lack of photos. Next week i am off to Europe for an exciting, yet slightly terrifying journey. My travels begin with a very long train ride to Madrid and then four days later a train ride to Barcelona...Will try and update as often as possible.

Lots of love

Lauren