London…..Part 1. Heaven in a London Taxi!!

As I boarded the train to London from Devon, I was both excited and apprehensive about what to expect from such a place as London. As many of us love the life within big cities, I am not one of them. And after my seven months in Tuscany and six weeks in Devon, I had well and truly become a country girl; living the simple life, with little stress and hardly any stimulus from the outside world. I was certainly in for a shock when I arrived into Paddington Station at 5:30pm on a Thursday afternoon.

I was staying with Jo, an Australian friend, whom had moved to London and was living in Clapham Junction. She had kindly given me directions on how to get to Clapham Junction station via the tube. So off I went thinking to myself that this cant be that hard to work out, at least everything is in English, how can this be any more difficult than catching trains in Italy or all over Europe. Ill just find a map work out how to get there. But it was!

Can someone please explain to me how on earth so many stations in London don’t have escalators or Lifts! I was desperately trying to carry my 2 suitcases around with me while trying to sort out how to buy tickets, which line I had to be on and which platform I had to find. I headed underground and found the tube system and with it of course a rabbit warren of halls all heading in the direction of too many platforms to choose from. Anyway, after fighting with my luggage along corridors and up and down sets of stairs, I finally made it onto a train which took me to Victoria Station, which is where Jo told me to get off.

On the train, I had stood next to a group of policemen, who were chatting about their superiors rather unprofessionally. On the other side of me, was a man reading a paper, close up to his face and I noticed that he kept glancing over his paper at the policemen and kind of sniggering. I thought it was a bit odd. He kept doing it and then he caught my eye and discreetly pulled out a wallet displaying a secret service badge to me. I still have no idea why he showed me his badge or why on earth a secret service agent would risk getting his badge out on the train in London during peak hour.

When I eventually got off the train I was swept up by the stream of people heading to, well I didn’t know where I was going, I was just going with the flow of people, I had no choice. Then all of a sudden, the secret service guy from the train came up behind me and took one of my bags off me and said he would help me up all the stairs. He didn’t ask where I was going or anything, but just walked next to me and helped. I thanked him and he went off straight away again.

I was disorientated and getting a little agitated by all the people and having no idea how to find my next train. I found a map and stood looking at it for a while trying to match names of places to the directions that Jo had given me, but I couldn’t see any of them, so I went to find another map and then the secret service guy appeared next to me again. This time he asked me where I wanted to go and where I was headed. So I told him Clapham Junction and he looked on the map and said, “Not this one” and pointed in the direction I should head. So I thanked him again and headed for the stairs and looked up to see the torrent of people streaming down the stairs from the street. I just couldn’t believe how many people there were. I stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for a gap to open up or the stream of people to slow down, but it simply never did. By this point, I was getting so sick of carrying my luggage that I was considering risking dumping it for a while and coming back for it later when I had worked out where I needed to go. But I knew it was a huge risk so I persevered. I somehow got to the top of those stairs and found myself completely lost again. I couldn’t see anything that was making sense. Then the secret service guy appeared yet again. At this point I was beginning to think it was a little weird. He just kept popping up all over the place, finding me again and again to try and help me. He must have been watching me the whole time, following me around for some reason. He pointed down towards the end of the station and said to turn left.

At this point I had no idea whether or not I should trust him and was well and truly sick of fighting through all the people, so instead I headed for the daylight and found myself out on the street. I had decided to take refuge in the capabilities of a Taxi driver and promptly plonked myself into a London Taxi and told him “Clapham Junction Please” I sat back and thought to myself, what an ordeal! To this day I still have no idea what on earth the secret service guy was doing trying to help me or if he really was a secret service agent at all. Who knows, but I will never forget my first tube experience in London, that is for sure.

The Lost Chapters.....

Where do I begin to fill in all the missing chapters of the last 6 months? I guess as good a place as any is beautiful Devon, in the south of England.

As most of you know I left Tuscany in October last year and spent 7 weeks in the UK before I embarked on the most recent of my adventures, a ski season in the French Alps. I had originally planned to travel around the UK and make my way up to Scotland, but when I arrived in Devon and saw how beautiful it was, that idea quickly got thrown out the window. I also needed to stay put for a while, while I convinced the Brits that I should be allowed to have all the same rights as them, as I have dual citizenship with the UK and Australia. And I am happy to report that I did a fairly good job of convincing them, as I am now a fully fledged Brit, complete with UK Passport, National Insurance number, Bank Account and Medical stuff, which have all been handy indeed.

As my father is English, I have a strong family link with the UK, but for some reason, it is a place that I hadn’t thought too much about, in terms of what it would be like or what to expect from spending time there. Maybe I can contribute that to the fact that I had been living with an English family for 7 months in Tuscany and felt as if I knew England intimately due to the many conversations that were had. And because Australia is so linked with the UK maybe I didn’t expect it to be any different from Australia in terms of its culture and nature of people. So I arrived into Bristol airport without any expectations of what I might find and experience.

The first major difference I noticed immediately after landing in Bristol was that familiarity of being amongst English speaking people again. It was such a welcome change to walk back into a country which speaks your language. Everything feels and becomes infinitely easier somehow and that little bit of anxiety that you carry around with you all the time while you’re in a foreign speaking country quickly subsided with a little relief on my behalf. Although my Italian gets me by, it is by no means perfect, so it was so nice to be able to slip back into the ease of English again.

From the view of my aeroplane window, as I flew over the UK heading towards Bristol airport I had a birds eye view over its landscape and couldn’t believe how much the landscape looked just like a patchwork quilt. It seemed as if England was completely made up of small fields all divided by lovely stone or bush hedges. I was very confused, considering 60 million people live in England, I couldn’t work out where everyone lived!!! The amount of countryside and beautiful fields is overwhelming, as is how green and lush it is. There is every shade of green you could ever imagine. You can’t help but be immediately impressed by nature, which I was completely surprised by, as it was one of the things I hadn’t expected.

After arriving into Bristol, my destination was Barnstable in the North of Devon. I had been offered a place to stay with friends I had made at the Villa that Summer. I was so welcomed into their home and life that I immediately felt right at home which I am ever so grateful to them for. Sarah and I had quickly become friends after the few days that we had spent at the Villa and in Spain that summer. I was so looking forward to spending time with her and her family again. Unfortunately her Mum had just been diagnosed with Cancer, so my timely arrival also meant that I cold put my Naturopathic skills to good use again. Sarah’s mum, Chris and I spent a lot of time together and she became the perfect tour guide for me. Taking me on loads of day trips through Exmoor and Devon.

Of the little I was told about what to expect from my time in the UK, I had been told to expect beautiful coastlines, amazing fields and countryside but nothing could have prepared me for the beauty that I found in Devon. I felt completely at home there, I was so surprised to experience that feeling of familiarity, as if I had been there before. I felt completely comfortable and I found it easy to navigate around instantly. Maybe I can contribute that to my family heritage or perhaps a past life!!

Being in Devon during Autumn was just so spectacular. The Moors were a splendour of all colours and driving along the narrow laneways and country roads was an experience straight out of a fairytale scene, with the coloured leaves falling from the canopy of trees with the stream running along the side of the road as you drove along. Just amazing! I spent time travelling along the coastline of some of the best surf beaches the UK have to offer. Willacombe and Croid quickly became favourite destinations, as did Saunton. Willacombe reminded me of the seaside town, Lorne in Victoria, Australia. It had a great vibe and the surf was awesome!

While in the UK I also wanted to get a head start on learning how to ski, so I enrolled myself in for 3 dry ski slope lessons in Plymouth, South of Devon. My ski instructor was brilliant and I was pleased to find that I was apparently a natural! I seemed to pick it up very quickly, which gave me some confidence and put my mind at rest a little as my nerves were mounting at the thought at having to actually try it all for real on snow, and be able to ski host for guests within a few weeks. As long as I could stop, snow plough and turn I was happy for the time being!

While in Plymouth I stayed with Sarah’s sister Nikki and her partner Mike and their adorable dog, Max. Mike and I spent a day at one of his favourite beaches called Bantham, which was just beautiful, with some great surf also. I explored the city of Plymouth while finalising my National Insurance number and stocking up on Ski gear.

As the end of November approached I was becoming increasingly more excited about the ski season ahead. But before I could head out to France I wanted to go and explore London. So I sadly left Devon, with emotional goodbyes to all of my new and much beloved friends, and I headed towards the big smoke!

So i have become a "blogger!"

I have given into the world of online blogging and become a so called ‘blogger’! I was once scared of all this online social networking business, but all of a sudden I find myself embracing it whole heartedly. A blog has been described to me as a personal diary, a collaborative space, a place for your thoughts or memos to the world. For me, I prefer to think of it as more than all of those things and as more of a memoir. And to that tone I hope to withhold here on this page.

So where do I start? Where do I begin the huge task of trying to recapture some of the amazing adventures I have had. Do I go back to the start of this adventure, this amazing journey that I embarked on in March 2008? Or do I start from today and start afresh as if it all hadn’t been before? As some of you know, the emails which I composed of my time in Tuscany last summer were affectionately dubbed the ‘the Kimba Chronicles’ by a close friend of mine. But for some season I cant help but want to call this blog page “the Kimba Chronicles Part II” For it feels as if the Kimba Chronicles indeed needs a new chapter as I embark on my second year overseas and I find myself back in Tuscany for a second beautiful summer. But maybe I feel the need to move onto another chapter for more personal reasons than just time and location. For I know that the Kim sitting and writing this to you now, isn’t the same Kim that sat at the same computer last year and started the Kimba Chronicles.

My only dilemma is whether I add the previous Kimba chronicles that have been written and sent to inboxes all around the world should take presence here on this page. For some reason I feel that they should. As a traditionalist, I like to see where I have come from and to learn from what has gone and been before. If nothing else they tell the story of what has been before here in this amazing place that I call home, for these precious months of the year.

The seemingly endless task of trying to keep in contact with all of my friends and family whom I cant be near at the moment is sometimes overwhelming and almost impossible, and with so many friends dotted all over the world now, this blog page seems to make sense; an intimate way for me to keep all of you informed on what is happening in my life and on my day to day journey through this time in my life.

Being back in Tuscany, I seem to have rekindled my love for writing again. Now with the time and patience for it all to pour freely through my fingers onto the keyboard, I once again find myself wanting to write about my day to day happenings and the thoughts that pop into my head. And writing all of these down on this page seems to make my life here feel all the more real; having an audience to write for seems to validate it somehow. I have never been very good at keeping a personal journal; the task of writing into a diary always seemed a chore and the novelty quickly wore off. As life became more familiar and routine, I seemed to rely upon it less and less as a way of documenting my new life here in Tuscany.

So I hope that this page will continue to inspire me to write. But more than anything, I hope that this page can inspire a sense of adventure in all that read it. I hope you can all be inspired to go and find a new place to explore, to find new territory, embrace it and get to understand it intimately like I have been able to. Find the freedom and sense of adventure that comes with travelling and new experiences.

Enjoy…..