Notting Hill Carnival

Right, before we get to this weekend’s adventure, let’s just finish off last weekend...

Monday being a bank (read: public) holiday meant the usual thing a public holiday does, and with the Notting Hill Carnival on, what better way to spend the day!
Notting Hill Carnival is Europe’s largest street party and parade. The papers estimated that there were 600,000 of us there on the Monday, and I’m not going to argue that figure in the slightest, as you’ll no doubt work out as you see some of the pics!
The carnival itself celebrates all things Caribbean and in many different ways. The main event is the street parade that basically circles the area. Inside that area, down pretty much every street you will find forty different stages with all sorts of Caribbean music, as well as food and souvenir type stalls. Many of the locals had their own stalls selling everything from a range of drinks to their particular country’s flags and other paraphernalia. Whistles were especially popular (not to mention annoying by the end of the day!).

Anyway, the day started out casually enough as I chose to ride there and back simply because the snarl of public transport to such an event would be nuts - especially when you’re trying to leave! As I got closer to Notting Hill, I encountered one of the groups who were a part of the street parade, so I whipped out the camera and attempted to take some snaps as I rode past - not much of a result as you can see on the right...
I had a bit of a problem finding a spot to lock the bike up, and was a little worried when an official came past letting me know that “this is a bad area for dat, man”. Great.
Onto the event itself, and the crowds were growing the closer I got. That was until we reached a police line that wasn’t letting us go any further. At first I thought that we were just bordering the parade route as what looked like a float of some sort moved along the road ahead on the other side of the police line. I was about six rows back from the cops and having a little difficulty seeing what was ahead. I wasn’t the only one, as the several hundred that had gathered behind me had more of the same problem. The longer we were held there the more tempers frayed down the back, and those of us towards the front were jammed in. Still, the cops didn’t budge even though the road ahead was empty.
Time went by until there was an attempt to get past the cops by a small group in front of me. That brief surge set it off, and the surge from behind was just too big for both us and the cops to prevent. Through we went as the cops were powerless to stop us. Not much we could do either, except just go with the crowd along the road.
Because of this, I ended up passing Marty n Karyn so doubling back was interesting, but eventually I got there, and again, found myself behind another police line. No major issue this time, as it was basically a human gate in fluoro yellow that stopped the crowd so that the floats and performers for the parade could enter from a side road. All good as we stood to watch them. Once past, we followed on down that same road with the rest of the crowd to eventually venture onto a side road and into the festivities.
We learnt very quickly that no matter where we went there were just masses of people everywhere, but thankfully there were spaces that were a little more spread out. With it now being early afternoon, we decided that some form of lunch was in order and what better way to do it than to try the Jerk Chicken - not bad at all really. And I did see somewhere that there were several tonnes of chicken consumed over the weekend...

That done, we headed on down the street we were in towards what turned out to be a very busy T junction.
Attracted by the sounds of one of the nearby stages, we attempted to head down that street and get amongst it. This street was pumping and the DJ’s were getting everyone going. The closer we got to the stage, the more packed the street became so we moved back and encountered the fellows you see below in the video. These guys were good, but unfortunately I can only load up this small clip of them, but you get the idea. The three of us gained a good bit of entertainment from them before just grooving on ourselves for a bit.

Eventually we decided to explore the region and some of the other streets. Again, people everywhere - truly organised chaos at times! And such a plethora of people too!
Marty led the way and after seeing some of the sights, we finally came out onto Ladbroke Grove which is the main road that the parade goes down. We ventured along this for a while until we saw that the parade was headed our way and so took up a good vantage point on the edge of the road to watch it come past.
This one was quite different to the part of it that we’d seen earlier in the day, which was on the other side of the carnival ‘area’. Being towards the end of the actual route, you could tell that those in the parade itself were getting a bit weary. Still, the music pumped and some were still getting right into it. Some of the participant’s costuming had us wondering as to their significance, as you can see in the pics here, but no matter, as we were right amongst it.
Shortly afterwards we were literally right amongst it as we joined in the procession itself. We may have looked far from inconspicuous, but what the hell. Kind of cool to have folks lining the street looking at you and taking your pic or videoing you under the impression that you’re part of the show.
I must admit that it didn’t take too long to grow tired of it though, so we bid a hasty exit under the rope and into another side street.
From here we headed up a series of side streets before coming back to the main event, and after grabbing some samples at the Supermalt caravan, eventually making our way out of the carnival area towards Harrow Rd and what we were hoping would be a pub were we could get a chance to sit. No such luck and we eventually ended up in a Moroccan cafe.
Yours truly decided to try the Moroccan tea that they offered us. All three of us didn’t know what to make of it when this glass turned up full of large green leaves. Mint leaves to be precise. It truly looked like someone had just scooped up a glass of creek water and caught some of the plants with it. That’s pretty much where the similarity to creek water finished. The mint was strong, but was also countered with a sugar to create a really nice drink - once it cooled down a bit!
With the sun now low in the sky, we headed to the main bus stops, which thankfully was nearby to wear I left my bike. It was still there and in one piece when we got there, so I headed home on that while Karyn n Marty hopped one of the dozens of buses nearby. And that was Notting Hill Carnival for us.
I discovered the next day that we’d managed to miss some of the action - later that evening it kicked off between some gangs of youths and the police. Nice to have missed that really!!

The rest of the week since has been pretty much just a regular week.
I checked out Kung Fu Panda - what a crack up! A classic that he has the same name as a tellytubbie too!!
Also filled in again for Marty’s 5-a-side football team, although this week wasn’t exactly a stellar performance on my part. I still have much rust to remove to get anywhere near what I used to be on a 5-a-side court!
Wednesday night finished on a bit of a high note when I caught up with Bernie, who was over from Melbourne. Nice to see a familiar face and just have a cruisey evening and chat. Seems funny though, as it’s now the second friend that has spent the last night of their London visit by going to see Phantom of the Opera. Both of which I’ve caught up with between work and showtime... Anyone else coming over for such a night out?? I can recommend them!
Other than that, I’ve been having some interesting chat’s with Lisa (of Scoop and Stonehenge fame) where my usual description of a conversation as ‘solving the world’s problems’ has pretty much been it.

So with Govinda rocking it out on the iTunes on the laptop, it’s time to post this and the pics before gearing up for this weekend’s jaunt. Gotta love the cheap airfares!!

Just a Quiet Week

So back to Tuesday we go, and after work it was off to Shepherd’s Bush (cut that out!) to meet Marty n Paul before going to see Australia vs South Africa at the Loftus Road Football ground.
Paul was late, so Marty and myself decided to grab a couple of beers and some dinner in the nearby Walkabout Pub. Walkabouts are basically Aussie pubs, and they do tend to overdo it a bit with the Aussie-ness of the place, despite not having any Coopers. I’ve steered clear of them simply because if I’d wanted to mix with other Aussies I’d have stayed home.
Must admit that it was kinda cool to be listening to a heap of Australian 80’s music again. It must be said that they didn’t need Khe Sanh so early in the evening - well before midnight which is just plain wrong. The place was full of Australians all geared up for the upcoming game.
We met Paul on the way to the ground before settling in for the match. All up the game see-sawed a bit with each side taking turns in scoring until it finished at 2-2. It wasn’t the greatest displays of football, but then again this was only a ‘friendly’, and it’s not like either nation is noted for its footballing prowress. The highlight of the game was probably the nutter with the beachball. Naturally it ended up on the pitch only for a security guy to hurl it back into the crowd, only it got stuck in the wedge of the I-beam pylon holding the stands roof up!

Wednesday was the first day with the new seat on the bike - don’t you love summer sales!! A much nicer seat and far more comfortable ride to work!
Anyway, lunchtime and it was to be my second game of 5-a-side with Marty’s workmates. Looks like I could be a more regular fill-in... A quick bit of internet mail order and I had a pair of boots and some shin guard s this week. Quite good for £20 and they did the job as I scored again for them. Far less rust this time and still enjoyable, so all good.
That night while Marty had diving, Karyn and myself caught up for a few drinks and a chat about this and that. Always a good night and a fun natter. We discussed a few things from the Friday before deciding what we already really knew about a certain toxicity level and how the removal of it was the best thing I’ve done. Thankfully that didn’t take too long so we could talk about far more interesting and frivolous topics.

With two staff members leaving our floor at work, Friday night became a bit of a work do. All good when there are cards on the bars! A free night out and a fun one at that, even if I did end up with half a glass of someone’s red wine splashed on my jeans when they struggled to grasp hold of their glass when picking it up. But that’s what washing machines are for I guess...

Saturday and it was a quiet morning before heading off down to White Hart Lane to catch up with a few folks before the game between Tottenham and Sunderland. I hadn’t bought a ticket and the match was sold out, so I was only going along for the social side of it all in the nearby Bricklayers Hotel. On the way there I ran into a guy selling a spare ticket, so bought it and sat with him for the game - his son was not coming today.
“So you’re from Australia?” he says, “I have a mate in Perth who runs the supporters club.”
“That’s not Lawrence K*** is it?” says I.
“You know Lawrence?!!”
Small world this one.
A top day out in the sunshine for the game sitting amongst Adam’s group of friends - such a funny bunch! A good thing as the game, while entertaining was another loss. But at least I have a new contact should I ever need a ticket to a game with no fear of getting ripped off.
Afterwards it was back to the Bricklayers for the evening and to catch up with Husky n Kelly (who you may remember from last week), as well as Wil n Sue and several others.

Sunday - sloth day and much needed. Still managed to get through plenty of stuff that was either domestic or going through a certain guidebook to work out things to do around next weekend’s main event. Chilling out with either a book, movie or TV (Olympic closing ceremony) also filled in the day. I kinda missed the Olympics really - just switched off from all the British media carry-on and you don’t hear anything about anyone else really.

Today and it’s off to the Notting Hill Carnival...

'Boro Away

Well, it’s Monday again, and it’s raining again. Looks like London’s summer is basically Australia’s winter, except with more rain! I’ve now not had a summer for well over a year - talk about depressing!! No wonder the poms are all doom n gloom at times...

Anyway, last Tuesday night I headed back to the IndigO2, and this time it was to see Henry Rollins’ Spoken Word. Rather an interesting fellow with a unique take on the world and while he was on for nearly three hours, he never really slowed up. His experiences in places like Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma to Northern Ireland were quite interesting to say the least. His take on the usual guff on George W was also what you wouldn’t expect from an American either. Tales of life in airports and guest DJ’ing on radio shows were also very amusing. Not sure about his take on Aussies being weird creatures with massive mullets and driving utes while wearing super short stubbies and elastic-siders though... still, the predominantly English audience thought it was funny.
All up he was both interesting, very funny and quite poignant - very entertaining as it was all delivered in his own unique style as he literally just talked to you. Sometimes getting quite animated or wound up as he went through his topics, which really just had a direction of their own. A unique individual and one that I’d gladly go see again. If I ever did one of those “5 people to invite to dinner” lists, then he’d definitely be on it. Great Stuff!
I also had a good chat with the girl in the seat next to me before the show, which helped to fill in the time before Henry came on. Always little surprises there are.

The rest of the week was pretty quiet as the weather was pretty dismal, and so the urge to head out into it to go anywhere died pretty quickly. I did, however, accept Marty’s invite to fill in on his 5-a-side football team for a lunch time game on Wednesday. Not having played for a few years showed that there was a fair amount of rust to get through, but I still managed to score one goal in a rather entertaining game!
Just a few pints after work on Thursday night is hardly worth noting though...
Twas nice to get an email from Conway Crescent too, and the compliment that my blog is ‘better than any travel show’ brought a “smile to me dial”. Good to hear that you’re both well too!!

Friday night came and it was with a great relief to make the train by the 2 minutes that I did. Up north again, but not as far as Edinburgh this time. Despite having wanted to do the Edinburgh Festival since I first heard about it on the Big Gig while in the last years of school, it’s unfortunately not somewhere I can go right now.
So Newcastle it was. My ‘Rough Guide to England’ guidebook has a list of 35 ‘must do’ things for England. One of them being the Newcastle night-life. I can now mark off the 6th thing out of the 35.
I met Jool’s husband, Andy, at the train station where he drove me round to Shearer’s Bar where everyone else was. For those of you who have a footballing mind, you’d be correct. The bar is none other than Alan Shearer’s and is at the base of St James Park - Newcastle Football Club’s home stadium. After Husky and Kelly introduced me to the rest of the group it wasn’t long before we moved on to the next pub. That's Lucy, John, Kelly n Husky in the pic.
Over the course of the night we visited several bars, pubs n clubs and had a great night out. The area we were in had an absolute plethora of places to go and each one had good numbers of folks in them. A top way to finish off a bit of a dismal week, which included ignoring a text message from a certain someone, which I’ve now remedied not to happen again... But back to Jools n Andy’s place we ventured in the wee hours to round out the remainder of the night.

Saturday had a bit of a slow start, but one that had to be made as the real reason we’d travelled up from London meant that we needed to be on the 10am train to Middlesbrough. A quick changeover at Darlington, a phone call from Mum, and it didn’t take long for us to pass the Teeside Airport and be in Middlesbrough.
Now for a Saturday morning, you’d expect the main mall to be bustling, but for some reason as Husky, Kelly, Jools, Michael and I walked down it towards the Barracuda hotel at around 11ish it was more like Rundle Mall at 7am on a Sunday morning... It did seem strangely quiet.
Anyway, we eventually made it to the Barracuda, where many other Spurs fans were congregating. As the numbers grew, so did the buzz in the place. Expectations are high for this season considering last season’s cup win and the addition of some impressive new players, although for me, I feel it might take some time for the team to gel with all the changes. Time will tell, but I digress...
Meeting up with others that knew all added to the atmosphere of the day. It turned out that there were nearly 5,000 Spurs fans in Middlesbrough for the first game of the season - obviously not all in this one bar, despite it being nearly full.
Lunch, pints, meeting folks, talking football and watching the early game on the screens before it was time to head on down to the Riverside Stadium for the game. Along the way the ‘Smoggies’, as the Middlesbroughians are known, were happy to give us some stick. All good natured and a part of it all. Thankfully it was nothing like we’d heard that had kicked off near the train station earlier in the day...
The game itself was rather ordinary, but the usual entertainment in the stands prevailed as we taunted them and they taunted back. I did have to laugh when the song of “We pay your benefits” kicked off only to be greeted by the usual round of two finger salutes and other gestures from the Middlesbrough fans. Unfortunately, the red buggars had the last laugh winning the game 2-1, so they got to laud it over ‘us cockneys’. Funnily enough, only one member of our group was - Husky. Jools and Kelly are ‘Geordies’, Michael is a ‘Mackem’ and yours truly being an Aussie.
I learnt all about the differences between Geordies, Mackems and Smoggies. They’re all Northerners, but the Geordies are from Newcastle, the Mackems from Sunderland and the Smoggies are from Middlesbrough. And all dislike each other. We did have some fun with the smoggies, as it confused several of them when they discovered that whoever answered back had either a northern accent or a foreign one.
Back to Barracuda to ‘lick our wounds’ so to speak, with many of the others and several pints while the late game was on the tv’s. The usual armchair team management also prevailed.
And this is what the away games are all about. A bit of a fun trip away with those that travel who are up for a good time of it.
The evening was a rather subdued one as the desire to kick up our heals after a rather disappointing loss just wasn’t there. That, and we were pretty knackered from the night before, so chinese takeaway back in Durham at Jools n Andys’ place it was.

Sunday was a rather cruisey day, and the rain made it rather uninteresting for exploring, although I did get shown the Willmott Skeleton. Perhaps next time I’ll get a chance to explore Durham and Newcastle a bit more. There’s still Newcastle and Sunderland yet to play up there so they’re already on the list to do.
The train ride home was quite pleasant in what became a bit of a sunny day - same gig with the countryside though. It is very nice, but just too many man made interruptions. It does conjure up the desire to explore it on horseback though - well, some regions do...

Okay, so I realise that it’s no longer Monday that I’ve posted this, and it is in fact Thursday, but I’ll leave the last few days for the next post. Stay tuned...

One for the Soul

Only a few days now since the last entry, and it’s been a fairly quiet time, but still a bit of interest.

Not that a Friday evening of pints and video golf with the work crew is particularly interesting, and neither is a casual Saturday doing mostly domestic stuff, like gardening in our “garden” (see pic) before the wind and rain did it’s thing outside. Although, sliced banana in wild berry yogurt is something that I can now recommend...

Sunday, however, was a little different. With the weather coming good for the day, it was onto the tredley (as usual) and off into central London. The destination was Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery for the Radical Light exhibition - an exhibition of the Italian Divisionist masters. Whilst I studied the Impressionists of France and Holland, I had heard about the Divisionists as they followed the Impressionists through the later parts of the 1800’s. Their use of light is rather unique, and is what they are most noted for.
Now, for those who know my camera work, I’ve always enjoyed playing with light. It didn’t take long to notice that what I’ve been trying to capture on cameras, these artists have captured with paint. I’ve tried to sneak a pic of one of the pieces that I was particularly taken with, but unfortunately it hasn’t come out - as you can see... Basically, it is a standard enough scene of someone going into a doorway, with the sunrise on the other side of the building. Effectively, their ability to capture detail in shadows is the standout, although the way that the light of the sunrise is caught on the edges of the leaves is what caught my attention of this particular piece. It’s funny, there weren’t too many pieces that I liked in their entirety, but more just certain parts of them. Hard to explain really, but well worth the trip to check out this exhibition.

After basking in the light of the Divisionists (sorry for the pun) it was time to go and visit ‘an old friend’. For those of you who recall my writings from my last trip to London several years ago, you will remember my adulation for Serat’s ‘Bathers at Asnieres’. I’ll not go back into the tale now, but email me and I can fill you in if you like.
Each time I’ve been to the National Gallery, I’ve had quite an experience. This time however, it was not with the same painting. This time, it was with a painting that I was checking out along the way to ‘Bathers at Asnieres’. You may recall from a few posts back when I was in Salisbury that I mentioned feeling like I was walking through some of John Constable’s paintings. On my way to see Serat’s masterpiece, I passed some of Constable’s pieces. One of which struck quite a chord simply because I recognised exactly the scene painted. It is a view across the River Avón looking at the Salisbury Cathedral, which you can sort of make out in my sneak shot on the right. To look at a piece such as this and not only have been in the location that it was painted, but to realise that I had also walked down the path in the painting was something rather... umm... well, I really don’t know how to describe the feelings that it evoked.
Even so, it was still good to visit Serat’s piece shortly afterward.

Back into the sunshine of Trafalgar Square and it was time for some lunch in a nearby coffee shop before a brief trip into Chinatown. It was then time to cycle my way up to White Hart Lane and to the Bricklayers Hotel for both the aftermatch celebrations (from a Spurs pre-season match) and Husky’s birthday. A good afternoon that kicked on into the early evening to round out quite a day.

Happy to have had a fairly quiet weekend as the next few weekends are looking to be quite busy. My next two weekends away are booked and locked in, with the Notting Hill carnival on the weekend in between...

A Week And Then Some...

Okay, been a bit of a struggle to put this one up, but you'll see why as you read on...

A bit of a slide in the summery weather now, as August arrives, but still with several nice roof-top lunches in the sun. You do have to like the beer garden next door thing, especially for those nice warm sunny days - makes for a great break from work, even if it means puting off today what you really should do today... Thursday was time to have an alternative lunch by rejoining the work running group for cruisey run along the Thames and surrounding areas.

Spent a balmy summer’s evening on Tuesday in east London to watch Spurs take on Leyton Orient in a pre-season friendly with Sue n Wil. Great little ground in Leyton that they’re almost finished renovating. Good atmosphere from this small local club, and a great bar to boot. All well within riding distance from both work and home. It also looks like kissing the Blarney Stone paid off, with a bit of ‘gift-o-tha-gab’ allowing me to score a ticket from the nice girl at the ticketing window when the game was ‘sold out’.
The match itself was entertaining enough with the scoreline finishing up at 1-5 to Spurs. A good chance to show off some of their newest signings for the season ahead. One of which came on at half time to turn the game completely by creating 3 goals in just on 10minutes - impressive stuff even if it was against a lower league side.
The ride home also had its own little adventure, with a fire by Blackhorse Road Tube station. It meant that I wasn’t allowed to use the main road link across the local reservoirs from Tottenham to Walthamstow. “No pedestrians or cyclists allowed through” due to the smoke covering the nearby area (see pic). I asked why that’s so considering that the car that just went through had its windows down, and also if it changed things if I wore my pollution mask. “I never saw or spoke to you then” was the reply as the fireman walked off with a wink. Problem solved, although I stank of smoke after riding through it...

Friday evening kicked off (literally) by hooking up with the celtic supporting Marty and hitting a pub to watch the friendly match between Spurs and Celtic. A few beers and some friendly banter while watching the match made for a good unwind to the working week.
This was followed later by joining Matt and Bubs, as well as Kaijsa & Mita for a night out in Putney at a riverside pub called the Kings Head. Yes, a rather common pub name, and while there was nothing uncommon about the pub, you have to love outdoor areas on summer nights. We were joined a bit later by some friends of Bubs - Gemma, Katrina & Paul. Later we headed back to Matt’s place to kick on with a bit of some Guitar Hero (the x-box game) til we all crashed out in the wee morning hours.

Saturday morning saw me have to get up early to head home before making my way to Regents Park to meet up with Marty n Karyn for the Innocent Village Fete. Innocent being the sponsors, who just happen to be the same drink company that go by the name ‘nudie’ back home in Australia.
The Fete was exactly that, but on a far larger scale and with something for everyone. A good portion of the Borough Market folks had their own market set up, there were dog trials, ferret races, side shows and rides for the kiddies, square dancing, poetry readings, bars & food stalls, several music tents, a ‘well being’ section (which I’ll get back to), plenty of craft stalls and other displays. It was certainly well attended as you’ll notice in the pics.
We took in pretty much everything as we toured the fete, which included the dog trials in both rain and sunshine. Some classic dogs too. If you’re thinking Pal Super Dogs then you’d be mistaken - this was Mad about Mutts and most of the dogs had only been doing agility trials for several months. Very entertaining. See the pic of Albert as he goes over his altered hurdles...
Having checked out one of the music tents with an entertaining ‘Jive’(?) band, we finished off the tour of the Innocent samples, checked out the square dancing, before Marty had a go at the ring toss, and eventually we watched the last of the ferret races.
I rounded out the day in the Well Being area by getting a neck, shoulder n back massage that turned out to be rather interesting to say the least. It took Sue no time at all to determine my star sign just from feeling the knots in my shoulders, before she started to get a little too accurate with regard to some of the turmoil of the last few months. Not only was she far better at the massage than the person who created much of that turmoil, but she also had some interesting advice. Needless to say that she had far more work to do on my shoulders and back than could be done in just 15minutes, so I now have a card and will be making an appointment very soon.
From here I took a bit of a tour of Regents Park on the bike, after finding it with a thank you note from the fete organisers for cycling to their event. Nice in the sunset to then ride home past Camden Market.

Sunday’s weather pretty much put the kybosh on the plans to go down to Greenwich for both the markets, the ride and the chance to check out the Redbull Air Race. So, after a cruisey domestic morning I checked out the new batman movie, Dark Knight. Impressive and entertaining. I can see why there’s such a fuss about Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker - phenomenal character that he’s created.

Monday was...well... it was Monday. A quiet evening with a dvd and stir fried Huku, which is a rather tasty antelope that I tried as an alternative to the wildebeest from Borough Market’s African meat seller. As for the dvd, well that was courtesy of one of the guys from work after a long conversation about the movies Alien and its sequel, Aliens. All I can remember of the first Alien movie was up until ‘that’ scene. I’m sure you all know it, where the alien itself first ‘appears’ via John Hurt’s chest. When I first saw this scene at the age of about 7 or 8, you can imagine the result. You have to love a friend’s older sister for that one!! Time to watch the rest of the movie now, and happily no nightmares! Funny how it didn’t look as real as it did back then...

Tuesday night, and it was Bub’s last night in London. After a casual catch up in Soho with Belinda and Tim as well, we headed down towards Leicester Square to go and see Avenue Q. If you google it, you will discover that this is pretty much Sesame Street for adults. Very cleverly done with the puppets and mirroring twenty-thirtysomething life. Not particularly politically correct with songs like ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist’ or ‘The Internet is for Porn’, and one particular scene that I won’t go into despite it being extremely funny. A great show all up, and one I’d not only happily recommend, but go again to see. Dinner and a few drinks afterwards finished the night off on a good note.

Which brings us back to today. As I sit here typing and watching the lightening flash outside the window, it’s time to give the legs a bit of a stretch considering that I again joined the runners group at work for a ‘trot’ through London. Enjoying the sun along the Thames down Embankment before passing Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, then returning back along Embankment past both St Pauls and the Tate Modern, under London Bridge and eventually up Fenchurch St to work... Running back in Adelaide or Melbourne really doesn’t seem all that appealing at the moment. Nah-fence to my home towns, but there you go...