Shepherds Bush

Saturday was an opportunity to visit our old haunt, check out our neighbourhood and remember some good times. We walked from our apartment in West Kensington to Hammersmith, where Sarah and I had enjoyed lock ins, being crowned King and Queen of the Wildcat Ball, theatre, music shows, garlic mussels and Primark. We trod our familiar path on the Hammersmith and City line, two stops north to Shepherd's Bush.

The Walky is no longer there but we wandered passed and said things like "remember when you..." and "where was it that I..." and "look, isn't that where we..."

It was a nice trip down memory lane. We crossed the Green and down passed Belushi's (still up and running, and probably serving Snakies) down the footpath onto Richmond Way. The boys were not overly excited at seeing our old house, but it was a day for us.

We then started to make our way to Goldhawk Rd where we were to meet a host of friends. We arrived a little early so took some time to play at Ravenscourt Park where Fred conquered the playground at about 20ft high. Jack and Cam again found some local friends to play soccer with. It's a real skill they've picked up along the way, the ability to introduce themselves, fight their nervousness and make a new friend. It's a skill that will be very beneficial through life. Their foot skills have improved too!

Back across the road to the Eagle. Rowan had his 21st birthday dinner with good friends nearly 20 years ago, so it was nice to walk through the doors again. We had booked a table out the back and had fingers crossed for a warm spring afternoon. It didn't start that way, but by the end the beer garden was packed and full of sun.

A number of people had been invited, and first to arrive was Rowan's cousin Glenn. He has been living in London for around 10 years and manages a pub in Pimlico. He needs to call his mum more often.

Next was Rowan's workmate Ant, who had made the trek to Sydney for our wedding. It was great to see Ant, who's been having a bit of a tough time of late. It was a shame not to have his two girls with him, but his brother Chris was able to come along as well with his wife and their one year old daughter as well. Chris admitted to being intimidated by Sarah back in the day. It must have been her tequila drinking ability...

Zoe also headed down for the afternoon. It's been great being able to spend this time with Zoe, the boys have a wonderful relationship with her and she was able to provide great advice on where to go, what to see. We can't wait for her to come back to Australia again, but hope she has an amazing time on her future travels!

Lastly, we were waiting for Merro, our Irish mate from the Wildcats to arrive. He couldn't bring his family along but arrived at around 5pm looking very dapper. He was on his way to dinner with a friend for his birthday. It turns out his friend was Gerode, a one-time acquaintance of ours. He turned up to Rowan's 21st birthday party and drank the pub out of champagne.

It was a wonderful afternoon catching up with old friends and family. The boys managed to make some friends with the other kids in the beer garden and experience a traditional London family day out!Read more