I'm not going to lie... when I moved over here I was worried how I would handle the cold rainy weather. Luckily for me I don't have to worry about that too much because lately the weather has been completely gold. The thing is when these amazingly sunny days come around you see the Londoners make the most of it. If these days fall during the week the parks around the city are packed with people lunching and working on their tans and when its lucky enough to fall on the weekend you head to the nearest park for a picnic, beer garden for a brew or a mates place for a BBQ.
A few weekends ago we had a glorious sunny day so we decided to walk from our house at Southfields through the Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park over to a grassy noll next to the Thames River for a picnic. The walk takes about two hours but there is so much to see along the way that it makes for an interesting morning out. The weather was warm enough for t-shirts and shorts but cool enough that when you were walking up hill you didn't get too hot and stinky. We managed to find a tennis ball and a giant stick along the way and had an impromput game of cricket which amused us for awhile but after we got to the other side of Richmond Park we were ready for a drink and some food. With a quick stop at Tesco to pick up picnic food and some ciders we found our spot next to the river and feasted.
We spent the afternoon eating, drinking, chatting and people watching. After awhile we even had a nanna nap. It was such a good way to spend an afternoon and I know i've said it before but Richmond is one of my favourite places in London. Not sure if the photos will do it justice but its just so scenic and chilled out. I'm pretty sure there will be a few more trips there over the summer.
After a few hours we wandered back to the train to go home the quick way (there was no way we were going to walk back!!) and stopped again to pick up some food before hosting a BBQ at our place. Once we arrived home I was gutted to find that I was sunburnt! What a rookie mistake! The sun at home is just so hot that you usually feel a bit of a burn but since its not so hot I just didn't think and was bright red at the end of the day. Oh well! Lesson learnt! Of course the BBQ included a lot more yummy food and heaps of drinks before heading out for a couple of drinks on the high street near by. We went to a bar called the Ink Room which looked pretty much like a tattoo parlour with a bar. It was a pretty cool place with amazing decor and it was a bit out of the way so it wasn't too crowded for a Saturday night which made a nice change.
The next day the sun was out again so I headed off to watch a game of Tag Rugby (Oz Tag for those at home) as I had just recently joined a team but since I am completely unathletic and do not follow sport I thought it would be a good idea to check out what I would be playing. It was fun sitting in the park with Shea having a yarn and watching the game which was North London vs South London (South London won!! Whoop!). We then were met by a few other people on our Tag team before heading back to a park near Shea's house for a BBQ and a bit of a practice round. It was quite funny really because we had to wheel her bbq across the road and into the park before getting it going. I think I heard somewhere that this was illegal so whooooops! Anyways while a couple of people who weren't playing cooked our dinner we had a bit of a kick around with the ball and a quick lesson of the rules. We played three on two so it didn't really work all that well but it was still heaps of fun to have a bit of a run around in the sun. A few cheeky ciders and more BBQ food later we had one last kick around before heading home.
It was such a good weekend and despite my sunburnt and sore muscles from all the walking/exercising I was really happy I had made the most of it. The heat and sunshine is something I took for granted at home so I have made a concious decision to make sure I utilise the sun because before I know it it will be winter again!
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