nicolette kaponis

In 2009, I returned to Australia after my first time living in the UK. I was ready to leave London, ready to be back home in my beloved Melbourne. The pain of being parted from my parents and sister had been too much to bear. As had the woeful weather, the life-crippling salary and the constant battle with eight million other people. As much as I had enjoyed most of my time in Bath and London, February of 2009 was bitterly cold with a snow blizzard blanketing the city the day before I was due to fly out. I went to bed that night hoping my flight would not be cancelled. I was done with England. Or, at least, I thought I was. See how it's a photo of Melbourne AND London? It would be some years before I felt ready to return to the UK. Which I did, in 2013, on a three-week holiday. As soon as I touched down after that exhausting flight, I knew I had been wrong to stay away for so long. As I rode the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, I revelled in how familiar everything wa...

Sporting events and me? Not so much. Sporting events, me and a jug of PIMM’s? Sounding a bit better. Sporting events, me, a jug of PIMM’s and Roger Federer? I’m listening. Sporting events, me, a jug of PIMM’s, Roger Federer and an announcement for the new Doctor? SOLD!   Tennis! An excuse to drink PIMM's during the day! Sporting events, me, a jug of PIMM’s, Roger Federer, an announcement for the new Doctor and finding out the new Doctor will be played by a woman? GET. OUT. SIGN ME UP. AM I IN HEAVEN?!?! Big cities and big-ticket events go hand-in-hand. Melbourne in summer is all about the tennis and Grand Prix and music festivals, night markets and I can go on. But I must admit, the events during winter always made me more excited. Winter in Melbourne is the time when you spend hours going through the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) guide, promising yourself you’ll only see five films and end up seeing at least ten. It’s the time when the NGV p...

There was a time, in what feels like another life, when I strapped a 15-kilo pack to my back and hiked across the Victorian rangers, ending at beach with glistening water and blinding white sand. It lasted thirty-three days and I took exactly two showers.   <pause for a shout-out to any fellow trekkers reading and remembering> It was a time that I had no desire to recreate. Why be in the outdoors when you can be indoors? Why put all your belongings in a bag on your back when you can keep them in a house? Why eat dehydrated food when you can eat ANYTHING ELSE?! But then ahem years went by and I began to think that the outdoors wasn’t so bad after all. And besides, if you can keep your backpack to a respectable size and weight, it’s almost an enjoyable way to carry around one’s personal effects. And so I turned my sights to investigating rambling walks in the UK. As regular readers will know, it was barely two weeks after landing that I embarked on my first such w...

Since beginning my blog, I’ve tried to keep my postings to a regular schedule. I wanted my readers to have a routine, to know that Wednesday was THE DAY to catch up on the goings on in London town as seen through the eyes of this Melbourne writer.  Why Wednesday? Why not.  But as I near my first anniversary of life in England's capital (don't worry, that will be a WHOLE OTHER BLOG POST EXTRAVAGANZA!), I've decided that Wednesday is not longer the day for me.  Why (not) Wednesday? Well, it would seem I've gone and gotten myself another job. It's part-time and will see me in an office from Wednesday to Friday each week for the foreseeable future. I know! Exciting! The pull of publishing was once again too strong for me to swim against and I've found myself wrapped in the loving arms of a terrific press that publishes adult non-fiction titles. Super, super exciting! The view from my desk is a pub... this is gonna be rough Now, I kn...

Never has a blog post title been more literally accurate. I am in fact, sitting on a train that is headed to Scotland. More specifically, Edinburgh. I decided to forgo posting on my usual blog-post posting day of Wednesday so I could experience what I hoped would be the joys of writing while being whisked through the English countryside, headed for a whole other part of the United Kingdom. Edinburgh! (Apologies in advance if you hate your life right now.) So here I am, facing backwards, in a first-class carriage (because I’m worth it), sipping on my complimentary ginger ale (because it’s 11.36 AM and I didn’t want to be a complete cliché and hit the booze closer to the breakfast hour while clacking on my laptop), looking ahead to a six-day mini-break in one of my absolute favourite cities. (Apologies again, if you hate your life right now.)   First Class Life

There aren't many events that would have be out of bed and in town by 8am.

My weather app tells me the current temperature in London is twenty-six degrees. If I don’t go outside right now, despite the freelance work I have to finish, my right to complain about the British weather for the rest of the year will be revoked. I have errands to run and a step count to improve so a walk to the shops is the ideal excursion for this amazingly warm summer’s day. It will also give me a chance to think about ideas for this week’s blog post.   I know! Anyone would think I was back in Greece. As I stare longingly at my short denim skirt, I put on my jeans as I’ve learned my lesson about walking in skirts during summer . I step out onto the baking streets of Stoke Newington and while a few blog post ideas begin to blossom, they’re soon forgotten, replaced instead with the need to listen to music – sunshine like this deserves a soundtrack.