Crazy nights and not being a tourist

I now understand people when they say England's weather is horrible, because we had one nice day where it was warm and sunny, and then two days of awful weather. It's so annoying because you get your hopes up thinking the weather is staring to clear up and then its freezing the next day.. not fun at all..

A prime example of this not being fun was when we got caught in a hail storm while playing rounders on the astro. All the girls and staff had to huddle under the shelter until it passed, but then it came back a couple of minutes later so we called it a day and went in early..

Rainbows, blue skies and storm clouds makes for an interesting day weather wise

And then 3 minutes later.. This weather needs to make up it's blimmin mind!

On Wednesday the boarders had a disco, and as per usual the staff were having more fun than the kids.. it was hilarious how long all the girls took to get ready, but then I remembered when I went to the school dances my friends and I started getting ready at 4pm, and the dance didn't start till 7.30 or something...

after the disco I went down to the pub with a couple of people from work for a few drinks (I know, i'm as shocked as you are...) and to make it even crazier (for me) I didn't get back till like 11.30 on a school night.. I'm living the high life right!

Apparently the late night was too much for me because I had to have a nap on thursday morning because I was so tired... so it seems as wild as I try to be, I cant miss a couple of hours sleep without catching up on it in the form of a nana nap the following morning..

And here we have what has become your weekly forest school photo, but it's just so pretty you can't complain

I think I witnessed the cutest thing ever on friday afternoon. It was junior sports day so there was kids from like 4years old to 8years old doing different activities and all the proud parents with their phones recording their precious darlings failing at what we normal sized humans find to be easy tasks. But it was stupidly cute no matter how many times they failed...

Because friday was the last day of the half term all the kids were gone by 4pm, so the remaning staff went to one of the live-in house parents flat, and had tea and food and just chatted for a couple of hours which was really nice. Then after I left their flat I spent the evening watching netflix and enjoying the quiet of an empty boarding house (which is an amazing thing after 5 weeks of constant noise)

Because it's half term now (yay for a week off) I spent saturday making the ever exciting journey to London. It's always a fun trip when the train you wanted to get is cancelled so you have to wait an hour and a half for the next one.. I don' understand how trains always seem to be delayed or cancelled when I want to use them..

After the effort of getting to London, me and Adele decided to spend the afternoon/evening on the sofa watching Eurovision and eating junk food... it was possibly the best decision of the dayWeather

Sunday, after a morning walk to make ourselves feel better about the amount of junk food we ate the night before, we ventured into the city on the bus (annoyingly some other people took the front seats of the top level so we had to settle for the second row...).

We got off the bus at Tower bridge and spent the morning walking along the river, past St Paul’s and into the city. We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hutt (which is an eat-in resultant here) and we were sat next to a kiwi couple. I swear there are more kiwi's living in England than in New Zealand! They're everywhere!

After lunch we slowly made our way back because it started raining and neither of us wanted to deal with that, so we spent the evening (yet again) watching movies and eating food...

And here we have the tourist, being an obvious tourist, in front of a classic tourist attraction. But I'm not a real tourist tho..

Sneaky advertising there. Well played.

I now realise just how boring my week has been, so I do apologise for that, but it's holidays now and I cant be bothered to do anything interesting so you'll just have to deal with it hahah!

And on that selfless and caring note, that's it for this week!

So until next week then...

Glastonbury Tor and Durdle Door

It seriously worries me how fast the weeks are going! I swear this year is flying by so quickly!!Anyway, this week was actually sort of interesting! On tuesday I went to glastonbury with four kids who weren't sitting the exams, and we walked up the Tor which has such nice views! To make it even better the weather was on point so I was sat at the top in my t-shirt, chilling in the sunshine.

The rest of tuesday was pretty much the same as every other week, so the afteroon was spent playing cricket (girls vs. boys) on the astroturf which was so much fun! And of course the girls won!

Yes, that was the hill that I had to walk up!

Cheeky little selfie, because I'm never in my photos..

I think that with every week as the weather gets nicer, I enjoy forest school so much more! Wednesdays session was spent cooking sausages and baked beans on the fire pit, surrounded by the wild garlic which has come into bloom so the ground is white with its flowers. It felt so much like christmas it was a little bit sad (because it's only May :(

That evening for whole house night we all played Capture the flag, with one member of staff on each of the three teams (Go Green!) and everyone got really into it! There were warrior stripes on the face and strict tactics to give us a good chance of winning (which we did!).

I had to make the rhubarb look pretty so they could tweet a photo.  I think that's some of the best looking rhubarb I've ever seen!

Thursday was a little bit dull, considering I had a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day – because the weather was cold and wet (not like the last two days...) But I can't say that I wasn't entertained because while I was supervising the Wifi, I was treated to the girls singing “Let it Go” from frozen... In 5 different languages... All at the same time. It was painful to say the least..

On Friday I finally learnt the rules of rounders (of which there are so many!) So now I think I actually understand the game, although I do think the way I played it at intermediate was a lot better! I also came to realise just how great the people I work with are, especially when one of them pours freezing water down your back in the dining room.. Thankfully he was being kind and didn't pour too much but god I had to stop myself from swearing in the middle of the dining room..

Friday night was a late one for me, because we went to McDonalds at 10pm so it was probably the latest i've been to bed in weeks!

The weather finally cleared up for the weekend, which was amazing because I spent a couple of hours sitting on the field at Millfield school for the Under 10's game of rounders. While the game was good, the highlight was definitley the match tea, because dear god the english know how to do afternoon tea!

It was hard to stop myself from eating it all.. But I did have some of the chocolate cake, and ohmygod it was amazing!

Saturday evening was another train ride down to Weymouth (yay weekend off!). I literally got off the train (greeted by Lucy) and walked into the resturant for dinner where the rest of the family were waiting. The food was amazing, as was the company because Nany and Grandad were there too :)

I don't think I could ever get bored of looking at the sea. 

Sunday was spent tripping around Dorset in the sunshine, and being tourists (such a rare thing for me to be!) We went to Durdle Door again, but this time in nice weather! Then to Tyneham, which was a village that was evacuated in WW2 so the milatry could use the area for training (or something along those lines...), and then we drove past Corfe Castle, and to The Scott Arms (a pub) for lunch, which was amazing!

I know that's not a very in-depth description of the day, but we all know how I feel about rambling on when I can just show you the photos (of which there are plenty) so here ya go!

Spot the tourist..

Trust me when I say this was Sue's idea. (The walking stick was just for added balance..)

Bit of a difference from last time I was there!

I just liked the name Algernon. And the fact that young people had walking sticks..

Our lunch spot had a pretty great view!

That evening we had another amazing roast dinner, and then merangues and cream and fresh berries for dessert. Then we all crashed on the sofa's and went into a well deserved food coma...

And so we return to monday! This morning I had a wonder around Weymouth with Nany and Grandad and Irene, and then I hopped onto yet another train and went back to school.

I know that's a really dull description, but I didn't do any shopping (other than a quick stop in boots) and we all know train rides are incredibly dull, so that's about as interesting as I can make it!!

And there we have it, another week finished! So until next week then.. 

I mean, we're a pretty good looking family, right!?

Reunions and Exploring

Had a pretty fab week despite the weather not being nice. It was properly windy here for the first time since i've been here, and it reminded me why I left wellington. Everyone was going on about how windy it was, but it was nothing compared to a southerly in wellington..

Pretty much what the weather was like most days...

The week passed and nothing much happened really, just the usual games, duties and routines. On wednesday night for whole house night we played some form of long-ball which was hilarious. Everyone got really into it (especially the staff) and to make it even better, all the kids wanted to be on the team I was on – me and another Gap were the co-captains so obviously it was the team to be on- and we won the game!

After the kids have all had dinner they have activities, and this week, other than one evening when I had to supervise their revision, I've been out on the front field playing different sports with the boarders. This week it's mainly been football, and although I really don't enjoy watching it, playing it isn't half bad! And I think i'm actually improving (I can now kick it to the right person, and I even had a couple of successful tackles!)

However because I worked monday, I had friday off which was amazing!

It was made even better because I got to spend the day with my Nanny and Grandad who I hadn't seen since I left New Zealand in December, and Val and Alan who I hadn't seen in ages! Nanny, Grandad and I spent the morning wondering around Bath and looking at all the attractions – the cathedral, and the Roman baths, and of course my inner nerd had a massive freak out at both of them because the architecture and history was just amazing!

Chloe, this made me think of you ;)

The Roman baths were beautiful too...

Coins that were found near the baths. They're like thousands of years old..

Nanny and Grandad in front of the baths. Trust me, it is them. The lighting just wouldn't play fair..

After we had finished looking at the baths, we stopped in a restaurant for lunch and by coincidence we were seated next to Val and Alan who had spent the morning doing other things. Lunch was so delicious, and we had the coolest waitress who was quite fond of Grandad I think.

Grandad and his huge piece of fish

Grandad and the coolest waitress ever!

After lunch we got on the sightseeing tour bus and spent an hour or so getting all the info on Bath and it's history (of which I cant remember anything, except that there was a corset and bra factory that went bust ;D – you have the guide to thank for that little gem)

Rubbish photo, but those houses cost a cool £4.8 million. And your next-door-neighbour could be John Cleese

I think this could be the best idea for a shop ever. Christmas. Every. Single. Day.

A stained glass window shop, where they make the windows.

                           

After we had finished wondering around Bath we drove to Street and did a little bit of shopping (shock) While I wondered in and out of the shops and got a couple of things in the hour or so we were there, Nanny and Grandad spent the whole time in M&S.... I think they must have looked at every item for sale in that shop..

After we had finished shopping we drove back to the cottage they were staying at (which was very nice!) and had a cup of tea, and then they dropped me back at school where I sorted out my new clothes and watched movies for the rest of the night.

The cottage made me feel pretty tall. The ceilings were so low!

Saturday was a pretty good day because the weather was nearly warm! And the sun was out for the first time this week, so I spent most of the day sitting outside watching the kids play cricket (which I have come to realise is a very boring game to watch)

Sunday I went on the boarders activity, which was to play disc golf (which is essentially throwing a frisbee into a metal basket thing) The guy there was very enthusiastic about the sport, and apparently it could be in the Olympics one day (me and the other teacher started laughing at that point, but then I realised that it wasn't as easy as I thought..)

We played 9 holes on the 10 hole course (because we ran out of time) and I didn't do too bad! On par for every hole except for two when I was one over... But it was a good day out!

Not a bad place to spend your afternoon throwing frisbees!

Because I worked during the day I didn't have to work Sunday night, so I skyped my cousin Sarah whose currently in Argentina! We had a good 2 hour chat, and had a good catch up because we hadn't talked since December last year!

And again we're back to Monday! You will be surprised when I say that i've actually done something today! I drove to Tesco and got some stuff that I was running low on (with a detour to New Look which is right next door to the supermarket), and then I had some difficulty finding my way back to school.. Still haven't quite mastered the route back yet..

This week had marked both 4 months in England, and 5 months out of New Zealand which is quite a scary thought!

So until next week then!