London Life

The hustle and bustle of this city is something you never tire of but it makes us really appreciate the life we have at Te Akau Stud even more!  Space, green pastures, our animals, the peace and quiet, the quality of life.

Nonetheless, being on holiday we enjoy being somewhere quite different - and this is a town that never sleeps.  The thing we love most about London is the history.  It is so easy to walk down old streets steeped in the past - looking at buildings such as Westminister Abbey or St Pauls or even a local inn dating back to the 1700's ... and reflect on centuries and centuries of the rich tapestry of history that these streets and buildings represent.

Times of war, of peace, of culture, of crime.  The Great Plague, the foreign land discoveries during the time of Elizabeth I, the homes and writing fields of Shakespeare and Conan Doyle, the composition inspiration of The Beatles and Elton John.  A city that has been home to so many famous contributors to society and a city that has played host to so many significant events over that time.

It makes us remember too what a young whippersnapper of a nation New Zealand really is.

Since we last wrote we have been busy spending time with Lydia and Julia Rose and also catching up with a number of Kiwi and other friends who happen to also be visiting old London town.  Karyn took Julia to Madam Tussaud's today (grappling with the hoardes and hoardes of tourists) and then did a four hour tour of the city taking in all of the landmarks as this is Julia's first visit for many, many years.

Lydia has had to work this week but she has a bevvy of relatives keeping her busy as her partner Mitch's parents also arrived from New Zealand on Sunday.  Never rains but it pours with relations!

Lydia works in the communications' area of the Battersea Dogs' and Cats' Home so we are going to have the grand tour of the home tomorrow (can't wait for my "dog fix" says Karyn - missing my three canines enormously)!  David is also catching up with another of our very special Te Akau owners who lives part of the year in London and they will be having a lunch on Tuesday.

Tuesday is our final night together as a family in London - on Wednesday Karyn, Lydia and Mitch head to Florence and Montepulciano for a week while Julia is off to Spain to stay with friends and David heads to Deauville and Baden Baden for horse sales over the next fortnight.

Our family actually won't see each other again until about 8 September when we all are back in New Zealand having all headed home separately!

We are keeping a close eye on racing though while we are away and are excited about the new season ahead for Jason and our team in New Zealand.  We were just thrilled to listen to Mark saddle up yet another Singapore winner over the weekend and Dr Octopus' win keeps Mark ahead on the Trainers' Premiership albeit it by a narrow margin.   It has been a remarkable accomplishment by Mark and his team to have led that Premiership throughout almost all of 2013.