Early in 2012 we made the decision (based on Jeroen's job) to live fulltime in Angola, Western Africa. In order to begin this process we made the move to live in the UK for an unknown period of time.
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| The van Dijks |
This choice followed with many months of sorting house, and endless paperwork required for entry to UK and Angola.
A painful decision was what to do with Jed, our 10 year old foxy and the thought of him being rehoused was something I didn't want to think about.
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| Jed and Mam |
The answer came in the form of my parents who calmly announced at dinner, 'we'll have him!'
Jed has become the beloved boy to Mam and Dad at their home in Wanganui.
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| Jed and Dad, obedience training |
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| Settling into his new home |
At the end of July we had our farewells (indefinitely for Jeroen and a holiday/pre-move for me).
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| New Plymouth coastal walkway |
We had two great summer months living in Richmond, along the River Thames, Greater London.
Richmond is a town in south west London, England, 8.2 miles (13.2 km) west-southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Surrey, it is now part of the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.
The town was founded following Henry VII's building of Richmond Palace in the 16th century from which the town derives its name.
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| Richmond on River Thames |
Our first day in the UK coincided with the opening of the London Olympics. Flags flying, patriotic and rightly proud, the Brits were buzzing! Millions of happy faces in perfect sunshine.
We saw the men's cycle race fly past near our hotel and I managed to watch some of the men's triathlon at Hyde Park.
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| Kiwi's find each other at the Games |
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| Sarastro's of London |
Sarastro's in Drury lane, London...Enter a world of drama, passion and excitement where exuberant colour, glittering display and joyous music meet exotic cuisine to create a truly unforgettable dining experience. Met there with Jeroen's new work colleagues for an entertaining evening, complete with Opera singers and crazy dancing. Also a bit of food and drink.
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| The White Cross Pub |
The 'High Tide' entrance at the White Cross pub.
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| Deer at Richmond Park |
A beautiful long walk through Richmond Park, complete with deer spotting and the 10 mile protected view of St. Pauls Cathedral.
Richmond Park has recently been made more famous from the escapades of 'Fenton' the black Labrador dog who took off from his owner and chased the deer across the fields.
Fenton now even has his own book,
See Mam and Dad, FENTON is the worlds most disobedient dog, not Jed!
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| The Sun Inn |
The Sun Inn pub where I spotted Zin Zan Brookes (ex All Black).
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| My favourite walk up from the river |
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| Richmond Green |
Richmond Green, has a long history of hosting sporting events; from the 16th century onwards tournaments and archery contests have taken place on the green, while cricket matches have occurred since the mid 18th century,
continuing to the present day.
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| Richmond Theatre |
Richmond Theatre, a Victorian structure where we saw 'Great Expectations', in Dickens' bicentenary year.
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| A new 'Bond'? |
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| A meal at Planet Hollywood |
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Piccadilly shop window display |
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| Calling home |
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| Piccadilly Circus |
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| On the Piccadilly line home |
A night in London to see 'Spamalot' (monty python take-off) on stage with tea at Planet Hollywood and a late night stroll around Piccadilly Circus.
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| Richmond Bridge |
While in Richmond we travelled around the UK and visited with:
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| Sharon and Moesbauer girls' |
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| Mam's sister Mavis, with husband Peter, daughter Suzanne and her husband, Paul. |
Enjoying a meal at The Carvery, Leigh, Greater Manchester.
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A nice afternoon at the Coach and Horses pub, Kew Green with New Plymouth friends, Karen and Lew Sutton.
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| Paul and Delia with friends at Virginia Waters |
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| The James family - Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire |
We had a lovely few days with our old friends - Helen and Guto, with Lewys and Lydia at their home in Carmarthen. Helen and I trained together as midwives in Chertsey, Surrey, UK and was one of my dear support people for the birth of Liam. (Annelise and later, Melanie also).
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| Trip to The Cotswolds to meet Melanie |
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| Malcolm, Diane and I heading to the V & A |
Having a day together in London visiting the Florence Nightingale Museum and climbing to see the view from the V & A museum, opened for a limited time for the publics viewing.
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| Diane and Malc checking out the history of nursing |
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| Art installations at the V & A museum |
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| The Great River Race - London's river marathon |
' Less po-faced than the Oxford-race and much more colourful (Timeout London). The race came via Richmond so it was a nice afternoon watching the boats go by.
In August, Liam was able to join us in Holland for a week.
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| Arriving at Shiphol after first solo travel |
Together with family in Hengelo, The Netherlands.
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| Jeroen with Pap and Mam.. |
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| ...and sissy, Anouk |
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| Day out at Dutch Open Air Museum at Arnhem |
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| Sylvia and Saskia |
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| Adventure up in the trees at Avatarz |
..really great for my fear of heights. But I did what I could. The other monkeys had a ball...
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| Getting ready to swing |
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| Jelle, so keen to go to the higher levels |
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| Englebert, natural monkey |
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| Tinka, great in balancing |
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| Family van Dijk/Brinkman |
Jeroen, Liam and I headed back to London for a few days together mid September. It was nice to be together and for Liam to see where we were living.
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| Roebuck pub |
We had a fun time exploring London sights, shopping on Oxford street, and seeing a raccoon one night when we were walking home from a traditional English pub, the Roebuck.
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| Big boy and Big Ben |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| On The London Eye..fantastic views of London |
By early October I was back at home ready to finalise the move. Piles began growing around the house...this pile for Angola, another for UK and another for storage, while Liam also sorted his own belongings. Slowly things came together and the packers arrived mid December. Then time for farewells with family and friends.
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| Mary, Joseph and Jesus, AKA the Hatch's |
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| My young friends |
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| Besties on holiday in Tauranga |
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| 9 Prudence backyard |
Final farewells included a Satherley family pot-luck dinner.
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| The whole clan, minus Mam and Jeroen who were working |
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| Our boy leaving home |
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| New Plymouth airport farewell |
With a stopover in Auckland before my big flight, I took the opportunity to meet up at the airport with the Hillmer family who were on that day returning for a visit to NZ.
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| Hillmer family |
18 December 2012...Bye for now Aoteoroa!
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| On board Emirates airlines |
Back to Richmond where it was a bit chillier than when I left! Christmas-time, which saw our first visitors, Pap and Mam who stayed 10 days. Pap and I enjoyed attending midnight mass at St Mary Magdalene church on Christmas eve.
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| On the District Line into London |
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| The girls happy together again |
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| Outside St Mary Magdalene church |
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| Winter Wonderland |
Farewell 2012!
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