Canalway Cavalcade 2015

Canalway Cavalcade, organised by the Inland Waterways Association, is a waterways festival running along Little Venice in London. It runs over the May Bank Holiday this year from Saturday 2 May to Monday 4 May 2015.

Along the canal in Little Venice, there are over 100 boats lined up on the mooring decks for viewing pleasures in all glory and colours.

Apart from the main attraction are stalls selling food, drinks and gifts. There are a range of children’s activities to do ranging from carousal rides to face painting.

 

 #CanalwayCavalcade

The Feast of St George 2015

The Feast of St George celebrates the day with food inspired by the feast of the national day of St George which was on 23 April 2015. The event was held on Saturday 26 April 2015 and in the vicinity of Trafalgar Square from 12:00 to 18:00.

The event holds live cookery demos from celebrity chefs in Cook’s Corner as well as talks and demonstrations of making different teas. There are also banqueting area located between the tables, where you can join the views of the decorations of bunting and flags.

There are a range of activities for the family to enjoy with games, such as hoopla and hook a duck, as well as swings and a carousal. Marquees hold workshops for family where the children can create their very own knight helmet and sword as well as be adorned with a knight’s name on a knight’s medallion. There were opportunities for taking pictures with Knights Lance and his Queen.

In the tiltyard, there is a bandstand with a range of music and dance taking place, such as music from Let It Be, Hammersmith Morris Men and Crystal Palace Brass Band.

#StGeorgesDayLDN

UP&GO Bounce Off

UP&GO is an Australian breakfast drink and in promoting their new drink in the UK, they have sent over an inflatable assault course in the shape of Sydney Bridge. The assault course is in London situated at Bernie Spain Gardens from Thursday 23 April to Sunday 26 April 2015.

Registration takes place in an inflatable Sydney Opera House tent where you give your name, e-mail/phone number and date of birth. If you have more people in your party, you can form a team and come up with a team name. Initially, I came up with the Edwardians named after my partner-in-crime Edward. The lady registering us came up with The Strange Doctors playing upon my e-mail name to which we thought it we were better opted for instead. All registered up, the UP&GO lady exclaimed “may the force be with you” along with a fist pump in which I duly returned.

The waiting area included beany bags where we can relax while we wait for the groups before us to finish. Beforehand, we were given tips and tricks to get through the course with things of what not do. The first section of the course had these inflatable jutting liners which were pretty easy to get through. Next bit were the hoops which you had to jump and pull yourself through before you start jumping the hurdles. Heading up a climbing frame of sorts, you get to the top level where you have to wade yourself to the other side before jumping into the foam pit.

I made it with a time of 00:4022 seconds, beating Edward’s 00:4885, bringing the team’s average to 00:4453.

It was extremely fun and it’s only here for 2 more days in London so catch it while you can. You can find out more about where they’ll be heading to next on their website.

#UpandGoBounceOff

London Aquatics Centre

London Aquatics Centre, situated in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, was built in 2012 for the Olympics and Paralympics. During this time it was used for diving, swimming and synchronised swimming. It was reopened for public use on 1 March 2014.

The centre was designed by Dame Zaha Hadid giving swirls to the structure reminiscent of the building’s sporting legacy in water sports. The structure itself holds 628 panels of glass to bring in natural light from the outside into the centre. The building is 45 metre high and the roof 160 metre long and up 80 metres wide.

London Aquatics Centre now brings different activities for adults and families with different levels of competency sorted to the users’ abilities:

• The Competition Pool has as 10 lanes at 50 metres long and 3 metres deep, which are used for competent swimmers who should be able to swim 100 metres in a recognised stroke.
• The Training Pool has 8 lanes at 50 metres long which is a safe environment for swimmers of all levels.
• The Diving Pool has platforms of 1 metre, 3 metre, 5 metre, 7.5 metre and 10 metre.

Diving facilities include trampoline, springboards, foam pits and harness with courses for sign up. The centre also provides swimming lessons for all skill levels and families. The centre has 2,800 seats with an optional addition of seats that can bring it up to 3,500 to spectate the main Competition and Diving Pool. The centre has a 50-station gym with equipment provided by Technogym. There is a café in the facilities near the main entrance with additional ones in the seating areas around the pools.

#LondonAquaticsCentre