We had a slow start to the day after our travel time last night. Kim went out for a dog walk and then we both went and took the train to Basingstoke, like old times!
We saw Curtis’ cousin and his wife and child for the first time! We had some Nandos, lots of conversations and just a really fun time overall!
We took the train back to Kim’s parent’s place and continued to sort out remaining items to keep/not keep.
We had veggie meatballs for dinner and then after dinner Curtis watched the final Great Britain hockey game.
Day 2
We went out for breakfast and then Kim went out to Thorpe Park (the theme park) with Abbie! Curtis had a chill day and did very little.
When she got back, Kim walked the dog again and then Curtis met his friends Ben & Josh for dinner! They went to a Nepalese place in the town, which Curtis didn’t know even existed.
Day 3
This day was another relaxed one, with a baguette being purchased and eaten from the same place as before, of course.
We visited Curtis’ family and when the kids got home from school, we went to the shop with Curtis’ sister, Evie, to buy a few supplies and just hang out a bit.
We went to visit Kim’s family friend Debbie at her house and there were quite a few people there to say hi to us! Kim got to see a lot of people she hadn’t gotten to see yet, which was lovely, and we had some drinks and snacks too.
Day 4
This day was spent packing and getting everyting sorted out, as well as a few remaining items left to sort from when we lived there.
We took the dog out for one final walk and then had a really lovely final dinner with the family at Wagamama, our favourite Japanese food chain in the UK. This was great as a lot of our family were there so we had a great little last time!
We had a drink or two at a pub down the road after and then headed back home to sleep before having to fly the next day.
Day 5
We got a lift to the airport and said our goodbyes, with a few tears from Kim.
We had breakfast at a bakery in the airport which was surprisingly nice and then we went to get a coffee and relax.
We decided to book extra legroom seats for the way home and that was much better! This flight was super easy and we were able to be more comfortable and get a bit of sleep on the 9 hour flight, too.
When we got home, the airport took FOREVER but we finally got through it and onto the train home.
We arrived back home and did very little. It was great to be back at home but we did miss everyone back in the UK!
It’s been 5 years or so since we’ve been in the UK so we thought it was time to visit the family and friends in our home land.
We arrived around 11:00, got picked up from the airport by Kim’s dad and then we went back to Kim’s parents’ place to stay.
We showered and went right out to get our first food item that we’ve been wanting to get for a while…A baguette!
There’s a baguette shop in our hometown (Andover) that sells terrific baguettes, so we walked down to get that and have some lunch.
We relaxed for a bit but stopping ourselves from sleeping after the long travel.
We went to see Curtis’ mum and then we both went with her to meet Curtis’ siblings from school and surprise them! They were surprised, as expected, and they both cried!
After picking up the kids from school, we stayed at Curtis’ family’s house for a bit and hung out with them until we got picked up by Kim’s sister, Abbie, and driven back to Kim’s parents’ for some Chinese food!
That was the end of the first day, which was mostly just getting acquainted with the timezone again and eating food.
Day 2 – Andover, UK
We finally got to take the dog out for a walk with Kim’s family. It was nice to see the doggo again too and be able to take a walk around places we used to walk around a lot.
We needed to go to the bank to get some boring admin stuff sorted but it was good to get that done. We had to visit 2 banks in total but we did it all in a day!
There was a bunch of stuff that we had left in the UK that we really needed to sort out. There was a large pile at each of our parents’ houses so we each had a bunch of stuff to sort. We spent a lot of this day sorting Kim’s items and deciding what to keep (which wasn’t much!).
We had some leftover Chinese for dinner and watched a movie.
Day 3 – Andover, UK
It was time for another dog walk! We took the dog out for another nice long walk and had some decent weather too.
We then went out for brunch with Curtis’ parents at a ‘new’ garden centre, which was really tasty and nice to hang out with them.
Before heading out, we stopped in at our first UK shop on our trip so we had a great time walking around there finding all the great snacks and seeing how cheap everything is!
We had to get ourselves a UK SIM card for whilst we’re visiting which we can also use in other countries, so we went into the town to buy one of those.
Curtis then went back to his family home and cleared out his items that he left 5 years ago and mostly just got rid of everything!
In the evening, there was a really lovely family BBQ at Curtis’ family’s house with a lot of his family as well as Kim’s family so it was a really great gathering with great weather.
Day 4 – Andover, UK
We went out for breakfast with Kim’s family down at a local pub and then went out to Basingstoke for some shopping and wandering around! We used to love going there for shopping and a few other things so it was good to see what was there and Kim was able to take a look at a few shoe shops, too, to see if she could find something she needed.
Once the evening came, we met with a bunch of friends and had some drinks and pizza! We hadn’t seen most of them for many, many years so it was a lot of catching up, chatting and having a really good time!
We found it easier to stay in Basingstoke, so we booked in to a Premier Inn, which is one of our favourite chain hotel brands in the UK so we wanted to stay there too!
Day 5 – Andover, UK
We had breakfast out at the pub again on this morning and then we went over to visit Kim’s sister at her house and see the house for the first time which was amazing to see!
We then had a really nice picnic in the garden as it was Kim’s mum’s birthday! This one was of our more relaxed days which was really nice to have.
Day 6 – Andover, UK
This was a day of meeting with our friends!
Kim met with 2 friends separately, Ashleigh & Eloise, and she had a bunch of really great conversations with them!
Whilst Kim did that, Curtis met with Shane, who was his best man at his wedding. He had lunch with him, and some drinks which was great to catch up. There was a lot to talk about.
We went out to Curtis’ auntie’s house to see her and her family and it was very, very nice to see them.
Dinner was at Curtis’ family’s house which was really nice to get some time with them and Curtis got some home cooking from mum!
Day 7 – London, UK
We took the train to London in the morning which was exciting! We love taking the train and it was super easy from where we used to live.
We did some walking around/shopping, as you do in London, before we went to meet Kim’s cousin, Bethany, in Camden!
Kim used to love going to Camden so we went there to go to the food market with her cousin, who is super lovely and we had a great time chatting and wandering around with her.
Once we finished up with Bethany, we took a train to a place we’d never been to before called Kingston. We met with a friend who lives there and had some dinner with her as well as a nice walk along the river.
We had to take a couple of trains to get back to Andover but we were close to the final train so we had to get a move on and do that! It took a while but we were able to get back home for some sleep after a really busy but amazing day!
We were away for a long time, so this is just part one, but it’s been a while since there were any blogs, but enjoy!
We woke up and Curtis went to get croissants for breakfast. We ate those and then had a chat with Curtis’ family. It was his little sister’s birthday today, so we chatted with her for a while and then Curtis’ parents after.
We then got ourselves ready and went out to do a bit of shopping!
We both needed new shoes and Kim needed to exchange some clothes and get some new ones.
Curtis managed to get 2 pairs of shoes as well as some flip flops, which was a huge win! Curtis got a pair for daily use and a pair to be worn occasionally, if he’s going out or something, so he’s set to go now!
Kim got herself some new daily shoes and managed to get herself some really good clothes.
Whilst we were out, we went to Waves and got a coffee and a Thai chicken wrap to share which was phenomenal!
Once we got home, we were very tired so we relaxed for a bit (and had a little nap) before we heated up some leftovers from yesterday for dinner and watched a little TV.
We then managed to start booking a fun trip for late August, which is VERY exciting! We should be fully vaccinated for about a month by then, so we’re hoping we can explore BC a little and visit some awesome people!
We woke up and Curtis went out to get some croissants and coffee for breakfast.
We ate those, watched the F1 race and then got ourselves showered.
We chatted with Kim’s family for a bit and then Kim did some work for a few hours whilst Curtis played games. The weather was gross, so we couldn’t really go out anywhere and Kim needed to get a bit of work done.
After Kim was done, we went out to the supermarket to do our weekly shop.
We did that and then came home and had potatoes, peas, mushrooms, egg and cheese for dinner, something Kim has made a few times from her cookbook. Very delicious, quick and easy!
We watched a bit of TV and then it was time for Kim to have her nice Sunday night relaxing bath.
After Kim’s bath, we watched a bit more TV and then headed to bed.
Curtis stayed awake until 04:30 and watched Great Britain lose pretty heavily to Czech Republic. Great Britain were tired and it was very obvious.
After waking up this morning, Kim had a chat with her family and Curtis went out to get his haircut.
Curtis’ barber, who has done a great job, is heading back to live in his home country, Australia, so it was the final cut before he leaves.
Kim spoke with her family the entire time Curtis was at his haircut and then once she was done, we went for a walk.
We got Vietnamese coffee and a duck banh mi which was alright.
We had our walk and once we got back home, Curtis watched hockey. The leafs lost, yet again, so they have just the one game remaining to get into the next round of the playoffs.
Kim watched a bit of TV whilst Curtis watched hockey and she did some admin.
We had leftover pasta for dinner an then we went out to get a couple of side tables that Kim found on Facebook. These are much nicer for our living room!
We then went to get a milkshake from McDonald’s and came to to relax for the evening, but then we had a long night walk!
We woke up at 09:45 and Curtis had to go and meet our landlord outside quick to give them their mail that was delivered here.
We were pretty awake after that, so we got up and had some breakfast. We had some scrambled eggs on toast and relaxed until we spoke with Kim’s family for a while.
After we spoke with Kim’s family, we got ourselves ready and went out to Homesense, grabbing a coffee on the way.
We got ourselves a few more items for the apartment, most notably a large canvas of a nice art piece! We will need to hang it, then we will show a picture then, but we think it’s going to look great.
Kim then went out to a few more shops to get a few other items and well as return a few things.
Whilst Kim was our doing this, Curtis watched hockey.
We ordered Thai food for dinner as we really fancied it after we saw it in a TV show yesterday. The food was pretty good!
We ate dinner and then for the remainder of the evening we watched TV.
Today is Curtis’ Nan’s birthday, so we woke up and chatted with her and Curtis’ family whilst they celebrated!
After chatting with them for a while, we got ourselves ready and headed out to get a Vietnamese coffee and have a nice walk.
New Vietnamese Coffee Place?
We got a Vietnamese coffee from a place just down the street. We’d seen the place for a while and thought we should try it.
It turns out they also sell the right Vietnamese coffee, so we can buy some! We enjoyed the coffee and we will need to go there and try their Bhan Mi, too.
We had a nice long walk after getting our coffee. It was sunny and started warm, but was certainly cold in the shade.
Clock Is Up!
We put up the new clock when we got back home and Curtis then watched hockey whilst Kim relaxed and got some admin done.
We went back out to get some things from the supermarket nearby and then had some chicken wraps for dinner with homemade potato salad.
We watched some TV and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.
We had a nice lay in and slept very well laat night.
We had some breakfast and got ourselves ready, then had a chat with Kim’s family.
After this, we went out for a walk.
We stopped to get a fancy coffee Kim had seen online, which was honey comb and cream coffee. It was sweet but pretty nice! Kim also got a cheese tart to go with it, which was delightful.
We got that and walked for a couple of hours, down to the beaches. The beaches and around the beaches was VERY busy (you can be in a group of up to 10 outside here, at the moment, for some reason) so it was a little stressful walking around, but the weather was beautiful and hot!
We got pretty hungry and thirsty, so we got a lemonade each from a place near the beach and then we headed back home.
Once we got home, we ordered some McDonald’s because we really fancied it and we stuffed our faces with that.
We then, after rolling off the sofa, very full, went to the supermarket to do an actual shop as we’re basically out of everything now!
We got that shop done and on the way back we picked up a storage rack to put in our walk in closet for our clothes.
We got back home and were going to unpack, but it was 10pm so we just wanted to chill and will tackle that tomorrow.
Kim’s family wanted a chat, so after breakfast we got ready and had a chat with them for an hour and a bit before we had to head out.
Another Desk
We picked up a desk we had seen a while ago which we are going to use for Curtis’ office in the new apartment.
We got that and it wasn’t too far from our new apartment so we walked over to pick it up and walked it to the new place.
We dropped it off and then went for a nice long walk.
Beautiful Day
The weather was beautiful today, nice and sunny but not too hot, so perfect to be outside, which clearly everyone else thought the same as it was busy outside!
We got a coffee for Curtis and then went to get Kim and ice cream. Whilst we waited in the queue for that, we saw subway had ‘potato bun’ snack sandwiches, so we got one those each, too.
We had a really nice long walk to the beach, keeping out of the way of everyone and just really enjoyed the weather.
Hockey & More Furniture Shopping
We got back home and Curtis watched the Leafs game and during that, Kim went out to Homesense to take a look at some other bits of furniture we may need for the new place.
She managed to find a small stool which also has storage that we can use at the entrance to store shoes and to sit on, because why not.
Kim took that over to the new apartment and also a chair from home as she will be at the new apartment tomorrow for some of the day waiting for the new sofa to be delivered!
Sweet Chicken Thighs
We had sweet chicken thighs for dinner along with some more potato salad.
We then relaxed for a bit together and Kim had a nice relaxing bath before heading to bed.
We woke up at a good time and Curtis went out to our favourite breakfast place to get us the same as what we had (twice!) last weekend.
We ate that and then got ourselves ready for having a chat with Kim’s family. We had planned to have it as a games ‘night’, but we didn’t end up playing games, just chatting, which was nice. We actually started this an hour later than we thought it would be as the time changed to daylight savings here.
Once that call was done, we walked to the liquor store so Kim could get a wine for a virtual wine tasting she was having with some friends.
We got back home and Kim joined the call for the virtual wine tasting. She had a really good time and some really nice wine.
We used that wine to have with cheese for dinner, once Curtis was finished watching dinner and Kim got back from buying some things she needed.
Kim had a relaxing bath in the evening and then we watched some TV together as well as getting some laundry done.
Mr & Mrs Hale 