tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90345332011-12-13T19:56:22.573-08:00Hi. This is Andrew Drake's blog. This has now moved to <a href="http://toastcrumbs.com">http://toastcrumbs.com</a>.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1156605221112971292006-08-26T08:12:00.000-07:002006-08-26T08:13:41.113-07:00

Hi.I've moved the site to my new domain toastcrumbs.com. This will let me link into flickr a bit more, and make it a bit easier to link to friends and put news up...Cya!

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140878222053007712006-02-24T06:36:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:37:02.053-08:00

Went to another RML social – this time it was Tex-mex theme which turned out well as we had some Americans in the group including a Texan.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140878025747321592006-02-11T06:33:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:33:45.746-08:00

Went to Lizzie's (flatmate from previous flat) house warming party. Saw a lot of people I hadn't seen since another one of Lizzie's party.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875748832496352006-02-02T05:55:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:08:43.973-08:00

Went around the south bank with Rob taking photos. Was very cold, butgot one or two ok photos. This is a photo from Jubilee Bridge lookingtowards the City of London.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140878063263318172006-01-28T06:33:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:34:23.263-08:00

Went to my group's RML social – we had a Chinese new year meal. I bought a roast duck from Chinatown (which was packed full of people). The duck was actually very nice. Other people had brought loads of things and the overall evening was really enjoyable. On Sunday I went to the West Hill / the Ottley's church for their morning service then had lunch at the Ottleys. Had a nice time there.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875666141267322005-12-29T05:54:00.000-08:002006-08-06T05:14:48.320-07:00

Skiing!!! Woohoo!. Well, actually, Snowboarding!!! Was pleased to find that I could still do the basic turns I had learnt last winter. Rob and I shared a tutor for a 3 hour lesson – I was carving by the end of it and by the time I gave it up for snowboarding I was carving :) On the Tuesday we ditched the boards for skiis, which was a good idea, because we hadn't seen half the slopes of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875605791376592005-12-28T05:53:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:29:40.760-08:00

Arrived back in London for another quick unpack and repack in order to get ready for my ski trip the next day. While I had been away, the boiler had packed up – we had had plumbers in at £100/hour but they were unable to fix it. So spent the night wrapped up in multiple layers with no heating! Went out next day to buy Rudy a heater. Also ordered one for myself online so that it was waiting

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875566597324142005-12-27T05:52:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:23:48.976-08:00

On the evening of Boxing Day it snowed. I went out for an early walk in the morning to take some photos. When I arrived back there was a snowball fight going on, so joined in that :) Also pulled Caroline around on Nana's sledge (which L and I used back in Christmas of 1983 I think).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875542435840402005-12-25T05:52:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:30:09.623-08:00

Christmas! Went to church in the morning at Diss then went back to the Trench's and we all opened pressies. Then had a really lovely roast turkey dinner. On Boxing Day we all went to the Leinsters for the day. First time I've seen their new “barn conversion style” house. Very nice place.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875506038546892005-12-24T05:51:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:35:08.103-08:00

Went for a long walk out in the countryside with Alasdair. Saw some deer. We picked some holly to decorate Nana's lounge.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140878216268364242005-12-22T06:36:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:44:19.010-08:00

Crazy day. Arrived back from Moscow on a dodgy old Aeroflop plane dodgy (An Ilyushin II-96. We flew the lowest I have ever flown over central London which was a bit disconcerting – yes, I saw my flat!). Taxi to flat. Unpacked. Packed. Went to work to pick up a few things. L&M had dropped off a sort of Christmas hamper with all sorts of goodies including fresh baked cookies :) Then rushed

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875486282777032005-12-21T05:51:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:32:09.560-08:00

From 20-22 Dec was back in Moscow again for business. Wed 21 Dec went to the The Pushkin Museum of Fine Art which I missed out on seeing last time. Was quite an interesting Museum with an impressive collection of ancient Egyptian and Greek stuff. Also had a big collection of paintings and quite a nice portfolio of impressionist paintings, including a van Gogh (This is a photo of it, tho

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875338743066582005-12-12T05:48:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:18:25.183-08:00

First went to a sculpture park where they put a lot of scultpures they ripped out from the Soviet era. It was covered in snow and was was filled with pre-school kids laughing and playing around the sculptures of the likes of Lenin and Stalin. They had a number of modern scultpures as well. Walked from the park past a massive 94 metre tall (and apparently controversial) Peter the Great

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875256079119992005-12-10T05:47:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:31:41.753-08:00

Stayed on a bit longer in Moscow to do a bit of touristy stuff. On Sat (extremely cold day) went to a craft market that was recommended in my guide book. Spent an hour getting lost in the metro (which is a very grand sight BTW). The book said, “follow the crowds” into the market. I did and by mistake walked past the craft market and walked into a busy and vast (massive – perhaps a hundred

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875229309438332005-12-02T05:47:00.000-08:002006-02-26T00:48:20.966-08:00

Moscow... Not much space here, so a few random ideas jotted down. It was pretty cold (up to -10Deg C) and snowed most of the time. Food was terrible. As a foreigner you are treated as an outsider and are charged excessively for the benefit of being so. The Hotel Ukraina where we stayed at was quite an experience (I think the Economist review is quite apt, though an older review also

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875188532071922005-12-01T05:46:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:30:55.160-08:00

Early wakeup to go to Moscow! This time I took a taxi for Heathrow. Again, I got there way too early :) Found Moscow quite intimidating from the moment I arrived. Not only do the customs officials seem to have a go at every European who walks into the country (apparently as a joke), but when you walk into arrivals, you are bombarded menacingly by taxi drivers. You will be arrested if you

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875174902131522005-11-29T05:46:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:47:40.140-08:00

Day that my new niece, Annalise was born :). H rang me Monday evening while i was playing pool with Rob (i was out of cell phone range so missed her phone call). She left a really happy message though. Managed to speak to R&H the next day though.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140874949931253132005-11-27T05:42:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:09:25.163-08:00

Went to Tate Modern briefly with Rob. There was a new piece at the Turbine Hall. Some sort of thing where the artist had taken casts of a cardboard box to make a mould for plastic boxes, which she then piled into massive structures. Quite a cool effect.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140876533020574952005-11-26T06:08:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:44:05.053-08:00

Went to S&R's place for my Bible Study group's social. We had a pancakeevening. The americans in the group were a bit annoyed that the British"pancake" is actually flat!

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140875323797083962005-11-19T05:48:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:45:44.823-08:00

Had Dinner with L&M at a cafe/bar before watching (King Kong. Wait till it's on TV). V nice to catch up with them.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140874975095836662005-11-19T05:42:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:09:53.776-08:00

Met up with some friends to watch the NZ v England rugby match at the Cambridge Pub near Goodge St. Excellent game to watch and down to the wire. We won! Nuf said ;)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140874769880013812005-11-04T05:39:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:09:01.226-08:00

Off to Helsinki! 4am wakeup. Had organised for work to send me a taxi to take me to paddington (the taxi was a nice new Mercedes), which got me there way to early.Was at Helsinki until the 15th. Didn't really have much a chance to look around much as was working. However, had a wee bit of spare time and managed to go down to the harbour to look around – seemed quite nice. Their main shopping

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1140874628890673932005-11-03T05:37:00.000-08:002006-02-25T06:08:09.970-08:00

Gareth's concert. Blog catchup! Sorry for the wait! It's been a couple of months of madness. Gareth was back for a brief visit and had a recital (see here) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Royal Festival Hall. He played Elgin Burton Sonatina, Sofia Gubaidulina Sounds of the Forest, Elliot Carter Scrivio in Vento and Prokofiev Sonata No. 2, Op. 24. Very good concert. I didn't manage to catch

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130887137770423152005-10-29T15:18:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:40:21.946-08:00

Went to Richmond Park with Rob, Rudy and Basel. Went to take photos of Autumn colours but London hasn't been cold enough!Took a photo of toadstools instead.Nice walk in the park as dusk settled in (saw some deer), and then a massive dinner at GBK (NZ gourmet burger chain).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886987469920012005-10-15T15:16:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:38:31.056-08:00

Andrew and Iris's 40'th Wedding Anniversary. Saw a great photo of Mum (looked for those amazing glasses!). Lovely day - met lots of family (though hand still sore from shaking Andrew *and* Matt's hands ;). This is Great Aunty Dorothy with a second-cousin-once-removed of mine (I think).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886793462539742005-09-20T15:13:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:37:05.886-08:00

New camera to play with :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886719119365772005-08-29T15:11:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:36:47.673-08:00

29 August - Went to Felbrigg Hall with Trenches and Nana. Lovely Woodland walk and tour of Hall. There was a large high-walled orchard as well that was very cool and old-English-sort-of-looking. This is a photo of everyone striding forwards in a field after visiting the Felbrigg Hall family church (Caroline is hidden behind someone I think). Lovely day.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886333503484892005-08-26T15:05:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:34:40.563-08:00

Went back up to Norfolk. 27th August went to Southwold. Lovely day. This is Caroline (and myself in the background) on Southwold Pier.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886198728981272005-08-15T15:03:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:33:07.356-08:00

Snowdonia! We had a lazy start, but eventually got started on the summit in the afternoon. We took the Miner's track (which was a bit of a cheat's start with a bus ride up to a carpark, but was reportedly one of the most scenic route up Snowdonia). Was stunning. Well worth taking time off work for! This is Lyndon and Mim at one of the many viewpoints along the way.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130886100263606042005-08-14T15:01:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:33:18.286-08:00

I think this photo was from 14 August. It was up the hill from our campsite on the beach front. We took a good hour and a half to get to the top of the hill (wading through flowering bright pink heather) I was going to include a photo of the heather, but I like this photo of the stone walls running along the steep ridges :) (yell out if you want to see the heather, and I'll email you a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130885920775576522005-08-13T14:58:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:30:11.783-08:00

Went camping in Snowdonia in Wales with Lyndon and Mim. This is the view outside my tent the first night! (We camped right beside a beautiful lake at the foot of Snowdonia). Such a beautiful area that I'm going to publish a few photos :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130885725338922042005-08-07T14:55:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:29:05.633-08:00

Blackberries in Wimbledon Common. Met up with Bridget and Elmer in Wimbledon (who were looking at the area as a potential place to move to). We went up to Wimbledon Common (after being accosted by a drunkard who warned us it was the biggest dog toilet in London!), and had a nice walk around it. We found some blackberry bushes and managed to pick some that we didn't think would be in "toilet

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1130885475610166202005-07-31T14:51:00.000-07:002005-11-01T15:28:57.386-08:00

Sorry it's been so long! I have a few months to catch up on...July 31- 4 August Visited Nana. Lovely weather. Had a lovely time.Photo is of a wheat field near Banham village (oh, and Nana of course! ;)6th August - I think this was the third and last cricket game of theseason. Great game - 3 wickets (out for a duck though!).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122766004081709512005-07-28T16:26:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:01:12.276-07:00

Went to Prom 18 with Gareth. Enjoyed John Adams, The Chairman Dances - interesting piece ("minimalist" according to Gareth). The John Corigliano piece wasn't brilliant. Really enjoyed Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet - have heard the first movement hundreds of times, but never heard the rest of the piece.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122765757880327442005-07-16T16:22:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:01:51.903-07:00

Went to Ros and Dave's wedding. Really lovely day. This is the photo of them smiling at their car which was vandalised.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122765713083198192005-07-10T16:21:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:02:54.266-07:00

Taken at twilight on 10 July 2005 on way home from church to new flat (note moon in background).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122765590682251712005-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:05:23.966-07:00

Went down to the Mall near Buckingham palace to watch the Queen lead aparade, then watched a flyover by WW2 planes. This was follwed by a poppy drop from a Lancaster bomber flanked by a Hurricane and a Spitfire(the latter is top of photo).Took a funny photo of her Majesty.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122765139571521832005-07-09T16:12:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:04:35.666-07:00

Rob had a car hired for the day, so decided to do a bit of a road trip with me an Elmer (after he had picked up his keyboard from the repair shop).We drove to Portsmouth first, and were going to go to the Isle of Wight, but the ferries were very delayed. Instead we drove around to Weymouth and drove to the end of the peninsula (The Bill of Portland) where portland stone comes from. We had

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1122764672644227162005-07-07T16:04:00.000-07:002005-07-30T17:02:36.313-07:00

Bit of a wierd day at work.Left work at about 3.30pm after people were told they could make their way home. People were walking everywhere (due to a lot of publictransport being suspended).This is a photo of office workers walking down Whitehall - a scene you would not see usually..

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120389747630166872005-07-02T04:19:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:24:41.436-07:00

2'nd July - Went to a pub in the City to have breakfast with Lyndon and a couple of guys from his church. While eating smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, tomatos, mushrooms and toast, we watched the All Blacks whallop the Lions yet again :). In the afternoon I played cricket - We batted first and got a total of 190 for 9 - I got 22 runs - not my best score, but was fairly high run rate, with a 6 to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120389542091524512005-06-28T04:19:00.000-07:002005-07-03T08:42:22.193-07:00

28'th June - Went with Lyndon, Mim, Steve, Rhianon to the Coldplay concert at Crystal Palace. Great evening.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120389056126551952005-06-26T04:10:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:24:19.780-07:00

23'rd - 26'th June - Went to Cannes. Work had a villa there with a pool - lovely weather. Went swimming in the Mediteranean for first time (water was beautiful). Nice restful time.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120388663113097342005-06-22T04:01:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:24:09.566-07:00

22'nd June - Went to Ngati Ranana evening at NZ House with the rest of my Maori class. There we were welcomed into their meeting area (the foyer of NZ House), and we gave our Mihimihi's to the people there. Was very interesting - they did a number of waeata's and haka's which was very entertaining.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120388432642503262005-06-19T04:00:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:24:02.800-07:00

19'th June - Went with Rob, Elmer and Bridget to a St Helen's British Museum tour. Was very interesting - we were shown a number of items that were in the museum that were directly (and some indirectly) related to Biblical accounts.This photo is of Jehu (i think) bringing gifts to an Assyrian king I think (need to check up the handout) - this apparently isn't mentioned in the Bible, but

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120387413931029102005-06-16T03:43:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:55.586-07:00

16'th June - shifted to my new flat. Elmer helped out with this. I had booked a van from Swiss Cottage, but they had overbooked and we had to be driven all the way up to near Wembley to pick one up. Moving the stuff out of the Finchley Rd place was ok, but the new flat had no lift, and no parking, so was a nightmare (thankfully Rudy was there to help carry stuff up!). Photo is view out of old

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120387186893682072005-06-13T03:38:00.000-07:002005-07-03T08:42:55.323-07:00

13'th June - Went to a performance of As You Like It at Wyndham's Theatre with Gareth and Lizzie. Was pretty awful (was trying to be a sort of "60's" rendition of the play) - we left during the interval.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120386702096562882005-06-08T03:31:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:40.266-07:00

8'th June - Went to Gareth's final year performance at Royal Academy. This was work a significant portion of his marks (for his music degree at Royal Academy). Was very enjoyable and impressive.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120386199115832722005-06-04T03:23:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:33.680-07:00

4'th June - Went to the London Sevens with Tom (a friend from work) and Gareth's brother (Gareth couldn't make it). Was pretty interesting watching - because the games are 14 minutes long, it makes for a good variation in action. In the evening we watched a Martin Johnson tribute game (Northern Hemisphere v. Southern Hemisphere - Jonah Lomu was captain of S.H. but retired early due to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120385815453341492005-05-30T03:16:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:25.946-07:00

27'th-30'th May - Went to Berlin with Rob, Elmer, Bridget for the Bank Holiday weekend. Met Rob's dad and Rob's aunt when we arrived. Stayed at a nice hotel near the Tiergarten (a massive central park in Berlin) - the hotel room was enormous and had free internet facilities (which I used to email Robyn once or twice).Really enjoyed seeing Eastern Berlin - one of the days Rob, Elmer,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120384948515382642005-05-25T03:02:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:16.203-07:00

25'th May - Went to see Star Wars Episode 3 with Lyndon and Mim at a cinema at West India Quays (which was very enjoyable). Afterwards I spent a while going around taking photos on my phone of the buildings around Canary Wharf.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1120384489554955692005-05-22T02:54:00.000-07:002005-07-03T04:23:07.933-07:00

20'th-22'nd May. Went on another St Helen's weekend away for the Roman's RML groups. Ben Cooper took an excellent series of talks on the Sovereignty of God. Weather was pretty decent (a few showers during the Saturday - but managed to get outside to play some mini golf with a few friends).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1116284805657799292005-05-16T16:06:00.000-07:002005-05-16T16:08:00.546-07:00

Went to the London Men's Convention on Sat 14 May. Especially enjoyed the seminar by Bernard Palmer on the topic "Hasn't science disproved Christianity?".

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1116284250113001232005-05-16T15:57:00.000-07:002005-05-16T16:01:13.066-07:00

Went to the Tate Britain on Sat 7th May to see the Turner Whister Monet exhibition. Most of the paintings on display compared their London works which was quite interesting. Particularly enjoyed Turner's smog & light paintings (though I had seen many of them before) and Whistler'snocturnes (such as this one).I ended up purchasing a canvas print of a Turner, Sun Setting over a Lake, which I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1116161537184607982005-05-15T05:52:00.000-07:002005-05-16T11:20:01.023-07:00

Went to Norfolk for the bank holiday weekend (April 30 - May 2).Had a lovely time with Nana and the Trench's. On the Saturday we went to Oxburgh Hall which was interesting as well as going on a forest walk where we saw a lot of wildlife (including deer).

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1116161252102239602005-05-15T05:47:00.000-07:002005-05-16T16:14:48.826-07:00

Went to the Brecon Beacons (on the weekend of Feb 26, 27) with Rob, Bridget and Elmer. We stayed at a B&B at Brecon. It was rather cold and was snowing most of the weekend, but had a lovely time.Saw a castle which was perched on a cliftop and had great views of the area (pictured). We also went into the Big Pit which was a working coal mine and saw the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the way back

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113666540668574012005-04-16T08:49:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:54:13.123-07:00

Flew to Norway on Thursday 24th (day before Good Friday) with Rob. On friday we drove from Sandefjord across the Telemark area (where there were lots of telemark skiers!) to Fjordland where we spent the next few days.Saw Bergen, the two biggest fjords in Norway, the biggest road tunnel in the world (25 km!), dolphins in a fjord and Oslo (in Oslo we saw three viking ships that Mum had seen on a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113665456052940722005-04-16T08:30:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:51:34.020-07:00

Was back to work on Monday 17th - not fun.  However on the Saturday, went ice-skating at Somerset House at with Lyndon & Mim, Elmer & Bridget, Rob and Rudy and a friend of Elmer & Bridget. It was good fun, but there were a lot of people packed onto the rink - I think I would have enjoyed it more with someone holding my hand ;-)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113665301354023542005-04-16T08:28:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:52:36.406-07:00

:(I'll be back...This is a photo of the Boeing 747-400 that I flew on back to London.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113665003305497512005-04-16T08:23:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:51:52.813-07:00

Before I left to go back to UK, we went to Ruakaka for a week or so. Had lovely weather and a lovely rest.Hannah and Rick came for a few days before they went back to work - while they were with us we went to the Waipu caves - saw lots of glow-worms.This is a photo of Mum on the beach.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113664695380605422005-04-16T08:18:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:20:59.486-07:00

To celebrate Mum's birthday, went to Karekare with Mum, Dad, and Robyn.The pohutukawa trees were in full flower - the hillsides were stained with patches of crimson. Had a lovely time.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113664587533473012005-04-16T08:16:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:54:05.780-07:00

Had two days back at work, then flew out from Heathrow on Wednesday 22nd to New Zealand. Went with Air NZ via Los Angeles. En route flew over the great lakes in Canada (took a while to realise they were lakes at first as it was a patchwork of water and snowcovered land - and it was at night :) .Arrived in NZ to a shower of rain on Boxing Day in the morning. Weather cleared up and had sunshine

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113664470349229452005-04-16T08:14:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:52:07.263-07:00

Get this... Back to work for two days, then onto the Eurostar en-route to Méribel in the French alps for the annual Méribel Advertising Film Festival which my company, BEAM.TV sponsored (I created their online entry registration system).Anyhow, I took this the Eurostar to Paris (arriving about 3pm). From there I hopped onto a TGV which took me to Moûtiers where I had a hotel booked for the night

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113664281349910952005-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:11:21.350-07:00

To start off my whirlwind month of activities, I went to stay with Nanaand the Trench's for the weekend. Had a lovely time :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1113664165351441452005-04-16T08:09:00.000-07:002005-04-16T08:09:25.350-07:00

Here it is Robyn! It's been a busy 4 and a half months... Time for backpopulating the block entries :-)So lets start with the Regent's Street Christmas lights - these wereswitched on in early December and featured characters from the movie,The Incredibles.This photos was taken with my new Nokia 7610 during the second week ofDecember.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1102287838813219142004-12-05T15:03:00.000-08:002005-04-16T06:00:30.933-07:00

Yesterday I went with Rob to the NZ V Barbarians game at Twickenham (KO 3pm). Really enjoyed it - they played more of an old-school style of rugby - kicking for touch rather than for penalties. Barbars had a really good scrum-pushover try... NZ won 47-19.We then spent ages walking in massive queues to the station. Met up with Bridget and Elmer and their friend at Bayswater where we caught a bus

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1100551617716992182004-11-15T13:46:00.000-08:002004-11-15T12:53:47.573-08:00

Went on a St Helen's Weekend away at Sunningdale. Went for a walk with Bridget and Elma and a few of their friends on Saturday afternoon... Autumn was in full blast - the trees and the ground were covered in gold...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1100551035435175522004-11-15T13:37:00.000-08:002004-12-08T16:44:08.896-08:00

Went to the Finn Brothers concert the other day with Rob and Lyndon and Mim. Pretty good - a lot of songs I hadn't heard before, but a number of SplitEnz songs I had heard and a few favourite Crowded House numbers...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1100550696684692532004-11-15T13:31:00.000-08:002004-11-15T12:41:08.366-08:00

Went to Blackheath on the 6th to see the fireworks (along with Lyndon, Mim, Rob, Bridget and Elmer). Amazing display.... We were quite close to the center of the display and the whole horizon in front of us was filled with fireworks... A lot better than clapham's display :)

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1099746891687491712004-11-06T05:14:00.000-08:002004-11-15T13:01:54.480-08:00

Last night I went to Clapham and met up with Bridget and Elmer. We had pizza at a cool italian restaurant near Clapham Junction... They served our threepizzas all together on one slab! Fireworks were ok but not as impressive as some shows I have seen... Afterwards we took a train to Waterloo and walked around and had a coffee at Covent Garden and then walked on the North Side of the riverto

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9034533.post-1099746367717430722004-11-06T05:06:00.000-08:002004-11-06T05:06:07.716-08:00

Last week I went with Paul, Ros, Pippa and Tom to Legoland.Quite a laugh, but it is very much a kid's theme park. The legominiature land was very interesting however, and really enjoyed it...

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243133653880326006noreply@blogger.com