Flow?
It wasn’t long ago that my partner and I were faced with a big decision: move countries? An opportunity presented itself and we were out for the day talking, enjoying the sunshine, and it was lunch time so we stumbled into Gourmet Burger Kitchen as they have a fine list of Vegetarian burgers. Never having been here before we sat down and continued talking about moving countries then read the menu and realized something. The country in question was my homeland, New Zealand. On the menu was L&P, New Zealand’s iconic drink, along with Peanut Slabs, and many other Kiwi delights. The burger restaurant is a New Zealand burger chain which we had both never been to, or heard of. Coincidence?
Whatever the case we both laughed and enjoyed a can of L&P along with fabulous Vege burgers.
Deep down
“The reason we so often fail to put in the commitment required to realize our ideals is that we have not addressed our underlying doubt and indecision about them.”
- Sangharatshika
A few random photos taken recently
- A shop window
- The street I am living in for a few weeks
- Testing out the f1.4 on my favourite magazine
- Tottenham court road, London
An illusion
“In a hateful mental state we don’t want something pleasant; we actually want something painful.”
- Sangharatshika
The final view of Manchester through my eyes
I am now living in London as Kirsty got a job down here. We are here temporarily, until September when I fly back to Auckland, ending my journey in the UK: for now. It is inevitable we will be back here often, if not to stay again as Kirsty is English. The past 15-months have been amazing. So much has happened it feels like 15-years, not months. One of my reasons for packing my things and heading to the UK was to travel given its accessibility to Europe, and to experience living in another country. On account of random job applications, and my travel agent raving about Manchester I ended up there. I wanted to be in the UK, but not be in a city where I would spend most of my time (and money) on the tube, commuting. I wanted to be able meet people, travel, and see England and get to know it as well as more of Europe.
Manchester was very kind to me. The North West lived up to its reputation as very friendly and I barely met any Kiwi’s and Ozzie’s, mission accomplished! While I didn’t get to Europe as much as I would have liked I have seen a lot of England. Much more than I anticipated I would. It is often easier to go afar than to explore one’s own background, and somehow the backyard enticed me which on reflection I have really enjoyed. And of course I am leaving the Northern hemisphere in exactly the same situation as I did in 2005: wanting more, wanting to come back and see more of Europe. Travel plans have already been made to keep my travel itch scratched for 2011-2012 including the USA (look out Seamus, get that espresso machine ready), Nepal, and India. And to tick the list of places I have not seen in New Zealand and do things I haven’t done before to test the legs for Nepal. I’m also looking forward to showing Kirsty ‘my New Zealand.’ She has spent 3-months touring the country but only as a tourist which of course is different to the local view!
One of my missions was to find my home in the world. I don’t think Manchester is it, and I know London isn’t either. Having been living here for a few weeks I love its opportunities (ie. clothing stores and cafes) but don’t like the pure congestion of people, urban trance train and tube journeys and constant noise, be it audio or visual sensory overload. Perhaps I’m just getting older? A dog and a cat await in Auckland but this is certainly not the end of living abroad, that I know for sure. They say home is where the heart is and she is coming to, so perhaps no matter where I am in the world now, the actual geographical location doesn’t really matter anymore.
Boston Tea Party [coffee chronicles 26]
Sometimes you just know by looking at a place that it will please the coffee snob taste buds. It is almost as if after cafe dwelling for so many years that you get to read the body language of a place, its menu, the smell of the coffee, and the texture of it’s creme covered cups passing over the counter. Kirsty and I scoped out this place in Bath when it was shut the night before and both decided yes, lets try it for lunch tomorrow. We came back and the shrill of the coffee machine wound up my excitement as I smelt the aroma of the grinding beans, making me paw for the ground coffee to buy from the counter. My double shot macchiato pictured, was to die for.
I like cafes with character, and this place had that oozing out of it with second hand chairs, clearly from an old church, and industrial lighting. These features instantly made it feel old, weirdly homely, like it had some sense of depth, matching it’s strong, well-made macchiato. There are a few Boston Tea Party’s cafes dotted around the area, another in Bristol to name one. If you get a chance to visit Bath, be sure to to try it.
An outing
B&B
As I’ve learnt more about photography I’ve been acquiring different lenses and seeing the difference in their quality and usability. My latest acquisition is a 50mm f.14 takumar lens. It’s taken a little getting used to after my stable diet of 35mm, f3.5 but I do adore the aperture! Now I am on the hunt for a 35mm f2 which are quite rare, but I really do enjoy the 35mm angle as opposed to the tighter 50mm. Takumar lenses are lovely. Built to last and heavy unlike today’s plastic versions. With an adaptor they can be used on modern dSLR camera’s which is something I will do sometime soon. In the mean time my 1974 Pentax Spotmatic and array of lenses (28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 55mm, 135mm!) are keeping me entertained and I am still in love with that gorgeous film finish.
Marton
In the North East of England lies a little town called Marton. This section in Marton was the home of Captain Cook. Today it features an animal park, museum, and a cafe with a really good espresso to spark the senses and watch the squirrels dancing around outside the window. The cafe is perfectly placed, and it feels like you are in the trees with them: the greenery is very soothing.
Play time
