Gwen Stefani

Millie and I tubed up to Wembley Arena on Friday night to see the legend, Gwen Stefani! She is amazing!! She looks fantastic, performed really well, singing from her Sweet Escape & Love.Angel.Music.Baby records, as well as a more recent No Doubt song. She was so entertaining, talking to the crowd, even running from the stage and diving into the crowd, joining us all with a big sing-along. She's the best performer I've seen so far!! I totally rate her concert and would recommend her to everyone!! (Photos & vids coming soon as Millie emails them to me).

Rugby World Cup 2007

Saturday was a LONG day, myself, Millie, and her friend Amy, waiting around central London until 3am when our coach finally left Victoria Station heading for Edinburgh to see the 2007 Rugby World Cup match between Scotland and New Zealand. With a coach full of Kiwis, the excitement was building for the match. After getting about 3hrs sleep that night, we finally arrived at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh at 11.30am Sunday morning.

As soon as we arrived we kitted ouselves out in New Zealand gear; NZ shirts (I had mine printed the day before), silver ferns in our hair (which went down a treat with everyone), face paint, and NZ scarves. Then we spent the rest of the morning through to the start of the match exploring the stadium side of the city and getting acquainted with the thousands of other Kiwis there for the game.

We got time to see the castle on the hill in the middle of the city, which seems quite surreal, along with some other beautiful buildings and old pubs, including a school for deaf children. Just beautiful!!

The match was a huge success for us Kiwis with a 40 - 0 win and a 65,000-strong crowd. The atmosphere was electric, everyone just having the time of their lives. The Scots were fantastic hosts and great sports, everyone getting on so well before and after the match. It was great seeing all the Scottish men in their kilts... And as we later found out, they really DON'T wear anything under them...

When the match had finished and everyone left the stadium, thousands of us walked through the main streets back into the city centre, playing mini matches and kicks all through the streets, much to the dismay of motorists caught in the middle...a few finding themselves with dented roofs.

At 9.30 Sunday night we had to be back on th coach and set off back to London. With plenty more sleep to be had, we left the drivers to it and ended up back in London at 6am Monday morning... Not without getting loston the way and the drivers having to turn around to get back on the M1!! Then another 3hrs on th train for me, as I managed to take one stopping at every possible stop on the way back to Portsmouth... All in time for me to finally shower (ohh, the relief), and be back at work by lunch time.

Edinburgh and the locals were amazing and I'll be back soon, for sure!! Click here to see the rest of my photos. The game was awesome!! GO ALL BLACKS!!!

Prince

Prince is a legend! We took ourselves back up to London on Sunday for Prince's Earth tour. He certainly lived up to his status! What an absolute legend!! He played a bunch of covers and some of his new stuff. He also played some of his most famous oldies, but shorter versions of them, including Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain, Alphabet Street, and my favourite, When Doves Cry! The funniest part was him getting people from the crowd on stage to dance, and one guy having the time of his life, despite not being the greatest dancer. They put the spotlight on him and he got to sing a couple of lines with Prince, whose stage was the shape of his symbol...

An awesome show!!

Calling Pompey Home

We've been in our new house in Portsmouth for two weeks now. Russ is getting back into study mode with his journalism course and I'm getting settled into my new job, working in planning for Hampshire Cosmetics, who make things for the Body Shop, among other things. The first week was a bit stressful, but now I'm starting on my own projects, things are settling down slowly. This is the lounge...

Our new house is a two bedroom flat on the second floor. There's no outside space which has made it feel like a bit closed in, but I guess we'll get used to that. It's nice having the extra space for ourselves here, but the house was VERY VERY dirty when we moved in, so spent the whole first week cleaning. Not impressed! It's just courtesy to clean for new people about to move in!!

The spare room...

It's going to take some getting used to... Our house in London was really nice and we both miss it. We've been pretty spoiled in London, so now we have to be a bit more realistic about wha we can afford, etc as Russ isn't working while he studies his full-time course.

The bathroom...

We have found homes for all our things now and looking after our chilli plants has made it feel more homely. Still really miss London...it's very different down here... But it's only for six months, and it's not that bad, really! :o)

The kitchen and our bedroom...

Guinness World Record

On Friday (Aug 31st) Russell, some friends and a bunch of other people set out to break the world record of playing indoor hockey. They started at 2.30pm Friday, playing through the night to finish at 4.52pm Saturday. They broke the world record by 22 minutes, playing for 26hrs 22mins.

The boys were lacking players for their team, expecting around 25 players, but ending up with only 11. This meant they played around 13hrs each.

I watched them for a couple of hours at the beginning and a couple at the end... They struggled through but made it in the end, smelling pretty horrible, but still made it!

Congrats guys!! x