Days 2-3 North Finchley London

We have been surprisingly ok given the length of flight. Pauline was out babysitting Finn when we arrived so we went for a chilly and drizzly walk with Craig and JenY to the Orange Tree Pub. It was 16C and didn’t feel like summer!

The following day was colder and wetter. After a lateish start Mike and I caught the bus to Brent Cross which is a large mall. I was able to get 2 pairs of blush pink shoes suitable for the civil ceremony and main wedding + bag to match. Also another pair of gold sandals that will be good for evenings. 

We haven’t been able activate my Ubigi data package and Mike spent some time in the Apple Store trying to figure out why. In the end it baffled Mike, Craig, the Apple man and the Ubigi AI bot. We are switching to another provider that sells data even cheaper. I’ll explore trying to get a refund from Ubigi. 

That evening Jen arrived at 8.30 having flown from Wellington to Auckland to Singapore to Istanbul to Heathrow!  She caught the Elizabeth line to Ealing Broadway and we went with Pauline to pick her up there. Finding somewhere to park/wait was a challenge but we met up easily. 

The next day (Friday) Mike and Craig set off at 10.30am for Paddington Station to catch the Eurostar. The stag do is over Friday -Sunday morning in Ghent (Belgium). Hopefully nothing too crazy happens to either of them 🤪. 

 Jen, JenY, Pauline and I had a walk up to a local cafe for lunch and otherwise were on hand to receive the numerous deliveries from much online shopping. 

Jen had lots of computer work to do to edit video interviews with Craig for various Hen party shenanigans. 

The Hen party is today. JenY’s sister, Sarah came early with Finn and the 3 girls got ready and then headed off for the tube.

Pauline and I have been babysitting Finn (mainly Pauline) as Hamish is in Ghent. We have Finn tonight as the girls will be late. He’s a dear little boy. Extremely active and very well coordinated for an 18 month old. We have had a couple of hours down at the park.

It’s been a lovely summer day and it was great to see so many local families out walking and enjoying the playground. 

I think we will both be tired tonight!