'EEE BY GUM

Well the Old Girl has signed up to work in the UK for a year.

She's really enjoyed the Toronto secondment and was expecting to return home to NZ but the opportunity for another secondment in York has come up.
She starts at the end of June and I will go to Canada in late June to help her with the shift.

We've been to York before and like the city. It's a small city by UK standards, about the population of Wellington or less. It's a medieval city with an ancient wall that defines the inner city area.

Richard only knows of York via that nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York" and he's already bored annoyed entertained me on the phone by reciting it (in multi verses).

I'm looking forward to spending time there as it is obviously in Yorkshire which I like. Some of the nicest UK television series have been set in Yorkshire - Last of the Summer Wine, All Creatures Great and Small, Rosie, Emmerdale Farm, Open All Hours, Folly Foot, Downton Abbey amongst many others.

I'll spend time exploring the countryside and the small towns and villages like Holmfirth where LSW was filmed.

It will also be a good base for us to visit parts of the UK that we haven't yet seen like Cornwall, Wales, Liverpool etc along with our favourite Scotland and Ireland.

The Old Girl had the option of working in London or York but we chose York because rental accommodation there is about a quarter the price of London. We'll be able to take the train to London on weekends for Covent Garden, British Museum, art galleries and theatre so we shouldn't really miss anything.

We'll be able to take advantage of any cheap flights to Europe as well so will hopefully see Italy, Spain, France and Germany way cheaper than if we were travelling from New Zealand.

"'Ear all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt. And if ever though does owt fer nowt - allus do it fer thissen."