Hello again Well after my luxurious and relaxing 10 nights in Doha staying with Trude and her family it was a bit of an effort to pack up my bag again and catch my flight to Dubai. Luckily it was only about 45 minutes of flying so it wasn't too taxing. So I made it to Dubai...arrived in the rush hour apparently but didn't get stuck in traffic....the only hiccup getting to my hotel was that it was so new that the taxi driver had never heard of it and tried to take me to another one further down the road....after [View Full Entry]

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I woke when the hot sun leapt the balcony and splayed over the floor of my hotel room. I opened the glass door and for a while watched this part of Dubai - Deira, the markety, bustling part - wake up. My priority for the day, as it is most days, was to arrange my next travelling leg. After some quick research on the web I caught an airconditioned bus to find the main Emirates Airlines building, where Sri Lankan Airlines also had an office. My revised plan, since I decided to pass on Pakistan, had been to (regretfully) fly to [View Full Entry]

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Good-morning, good-evening and goodnight....... RIGHT!, so currently sitting in a large part of the Dubai international airport, the food lounge to be precise. But there is a significant lack of food around. However the actual building itself is rather impressive. Oil does buy some pretty cool things. including reclined tacky leather chairs for me to lie about in whilst i wait for my connection. Yeh, about that, got off the first stint of this trip, to find out that i am in-fact flying via Singapore, before getting off at Brisbane. Just checked online, and i dont even get off the plane, [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to our first travel blog.. We cant promise it will be the most entertaining read but we will try our best to keep it up to date. After too many goodbyes (and tears from me!) we are eventually away! Flight was OK, shorter than 7 hours although tv was rubbish, we both wanted to watch ice age as it was the only decent film on but the sound wouldnt work, so we entertained ourselves by having a few drinks and playing chess (No one won, I quit, as I was distracted by the woman constantly kicking the back of my [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Dubai at about 7.45am and it was 33 degrees outside. Thankfully, on the first day, it was a dry heat but it was pretty humid for most of the fortnight. The first thing that struck me about Dubai was that it was much bigger than I'd first imagined. The clusters of towers sprawled out around us and in to the distance as we drove to Cam's (O's best friend) flat. A common misconception about Dubai is that it has loads of oil and it is this which financed it's rapid growth over the years. In fact it is [View Full Entry]

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Al Ain, is the oasis town in the centre of the United Arab Emirates, where for many years, tribes & locals from Abu Dhabi & surrounds, who worked on the coast for their fishing/pearl diving & trade, travelled inland to this oasis in the summer months for some cooler relief. What was once a long arduous camel ride is now a 1 & 1/2hr freeway drive from Abu Dhabi island. It nears the border of Oman, surrounded by the Hajir mountains which divides Oman & UAE....so that's a bit of background! We headed off, zooming down the freeway, passing turban clad [View Full Entry]

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Yeah, been a real bad year for traveling. I am sure everyone would agree with me what with the depression going on! Then again the itch doesn't stop so gotta hop on a car and head where the road takes you. The long summer is finally over and we decided to head back into the desert in our rented FJ Cruiser. Great car with lots of goodies and no good on sand! Traction control is useless so was the differential lock. Anyways did a great trip all the way to Saudi border on Arada highway. I saw the thickest fog ever [View Full Entry]

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The weather!.... At the start of September, AD was still unbareably hot.....like 45 degrees every day!..with high humidity.....so it was an effort or stupidity to go outside much during the day. The dash to your car or waiting for a taxi was a debateable scenario...do you bother or not? I am pleased to report that by the months end, the weather has pleasantly changed! We are still in high 30's, but that now feels like a cool day...and there is a breeze..which you dont often get. There has even been the odd sighting of a cloud or two.( seriously...we usually don't [View Full Entry]

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Hello again! We're actually now in HK, being a bit slow with the blog update as expected, but we'll attempt to get back on schedule soon! Dubai was a great start to our trip. After the stress of packing up and leaving the UK, what we really needed was a bit of chill out time with not much running around. The Dingle family (Richard, Laura and 5 month old Layla) were fantastic hosts. We arrived on September 19 early doors, and within 10 minutes of walking in the door we were wisked down the beach with a view of the famous [View Full Entry]

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Kia Ora Trendsetters, And Congrats to the All Blacks on their success against the Aussies - better late than never and Henry lives another day! There is quite a following of Kiwi’s who get together apparently, to watch the games in a nearby bar. It doubles as a great reason to have a beer for morning tea - we would have joined them, but took the opportunity of the long weekend here to zip down to Dubai, - just an hour away by jet. We had heard so much about this place and it’s so handy, and with a 3 nights [View Full Entry]

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