January 2015
Wednesday, 1 April 2015 13:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iguana
January started early with a trip to Heathrow to see Emily off to Hawai'i. I kept myself busy working on the dining room, finally getting all the rubbish taken away in a skip, and also found time to sign up for canoeing in Shoreditch.
Heathrow Hamsters
Tim and I saw Emily off on her flight to Hawai'i, where she is being employed as a programmer for a while by one of the observatories on Big Island. Afterwards, we decided to try Heathrow's self-driving electic POD cars, which we felt needed rebranding. Figuring Heathrow probably used EDF for their electicity, we decided that Nuclear Powered Mice might catch people's attention more.
Tim and I saw Emily off on her flight to Hawai'i, where she is being employed as a programmer for a while by one of the observatories on Big Island. Afterwards, we decided to try Heathrow's self-driving electic POD cars, which we felt needed rebranding. Figuring Heathrow probably used EDF for their electicity, we decided that Nuclear Powered Mice might catch people's attention more.
Canoeing in London's canals
I signed up for Secret Adventures last year and when this appeared in my inbox I couldn't resist.
The event was run by Moo Canoes and we met at Limehouse DLR station which is close to the canal. After everyone arrived we split into pairs; I teamed up with a girl called Sarah who had actually lived in one of the properties we canoed alongside.
This was our route. We started off in more industrial-looking canals and ended up canoeing under Bow Roundabout and had a view of the Anish Kapoor olympic park sculpture. It took a while to get steering sorted out (turns out that at the back, it was my fault!) but once we got into the swing of it we did well - we got from the back to right at the front, unknowingly until the instructor told us to hold up to wait for everyone else! Of course after that we had to finish first, though we were pipped at the post by another pair.
I didn't take my camera but someone else did risk their expensive equipment, and they have a photo stream on flickr here. Here's one with me in the blue life jacket:
The highlight of the whole trip was getting everyone into one of the locks as we headed up the canal. It wasn't even a squeeze for all 15 canoes but we held ourselves into one block as the water started bubbling in beneath us. It was like being in a colossal (and frigid) jacuzzi, and took about ten minutes.
We "parked" our canoes outside the Crate Brewery & Pizzeria and went in to dry off and eat pizza (which was rather good). Then I caught the train home from nearby Hackney Wick. A good night!
I signed up for Secret Adventures last year and when this appeared in my inbox I couldn't resist.
The event was run by Moo Canoes and we met at Limehouse DLR station which is close to the canal. After everyone arrived we split into pairs; I teamed up with a girl called Sarah who had actually lived in one of the properties we canoed alongside.
This was our route. We started off in more industrial-looking canals and ended up canoeing under Bow Roundabout and had a view of the Anish Kapoor olympic park sculpture. It took a while to get steering sorted out (turns out that at the back, it was my fault!) but once we got into the swing of it we did well - we got from the back to right at the front, unknowingly until the instructor told us to hold up to wait for everyone else! Of course after that we had to finish first, though we were pipped at the post by another pair.
I didn't take my camera but someone else did risk their expensive equipment, and they have a photo stream on flickr here. Here's one with me in the blue life jacket:
The highlight of the whole trip was getting everyone into one of the locks as we headed up the canal. It wasn't even a squeeze for all 15 canoes but we held ourselves into one block as the water started bubbling in beneath us. It was like being in a colossal (and frigid) jacuzzi, and took about ten minutes.
We "parked" our canoes outside the Crate Brewery & Pizzeria and went in to dry off and eat pizza (which was rather good). Then I caught the train home from nearby Hackney Wick. A good night!
One Art Please
Apart from doing up the living room, which Dad has been helping with a lot (and I now have a table and chairs there!) the main other thing I did this month was a short excursion into London to visit an astrophotography gallery with art by photographer Murray Fredericks.
I expected it to be like the one at the Greenwich observatory, but when I found the place, I had to be buzzed in, and I was the only person in the gallery, which seemed more set up for people looking to buy the wall-sized prints on display. I decided not to give myself an edema by looking at the prices. Oops!
Apart from doing up the living room, which Dad has been helping with a lot (and I now have a table and chairs there!) the main other thing I did this month was a short excursion into London to visit an astrophotography gallery with art by photographer Murray Fredericks.
I expected it to be like the one at the Greenwich observatory, but when I found the place, I had to be buzzed in, and I was the only person in the gallery, which seemed more set up for people looking to buy the wall-sized prints on display. I decided not to give myself an edema by looking at the prices. Oops!
