Some of the promised photos

I had a small melt down this morning when thought I'd lost most of my photos after trying a late download then canceling so I could get some sleep. Lucky Macs are much, much smarter than me and all I had to do was be patient, not my natural state when it comes to technology. The second half of the day are loading now, might have to add some more later but for now here's two. I had fun with the sails, there's a photo of me lying on the seat getting an up shot. That's in the next batch.

A fun day out

It may be getting chilly but that makes it all the better for getting out and about. We could sit on the top deck of the catamaran as we cruised just off Dubai and the sea water was refreshingly cool. Three friends were celebrating a significant birthday so we thought we'd help them out. What an excellent choice of activity for the day, a cruise around the world, swimming off the white sandy islands, banana boating, a BBQ, drinks, excellent company and New Zealand music.

We set out from Al Ain in the morning, I drove, negotiating Dubai's every changing roads to get to the Marina almost on time. Rau and I were pleasantly surprise to see our plush ride, a lovely big catamaran awaiting us, the first of many good surprises for the day. Dubai from the sea is lovely, much better than from a car trying to negotiate the way in, or as we later found, the way out. Yep, misplaced again. Although being lost is only when you don't really know where you are or how to correct the situation. We at least knew we had gone from heading to Sharjar to heading towards Oman.

I'll write more tomorrow, add more photos, but for now I'm pleasantly tired so heading off to bed and hopefully a sleep in in the morning. Thanks Belinda, Jenny and Rianne for a lovely day out, what you up to next birthday?

PS Note to self, don't start downloading 188 photos shot on raw after midnight....... Sorry will add photos tomorrow.

A Dubai Friday

It was difficult to choose photos from the ones I took in Dubai on the first day. One, there were plenty and two, they didn't really seem to capture the excitement of this first visit. The tall buildings, the bustle of people, the sights, sounds and smells. Some days are like that. We had a magic time with Hayden and Sarah guiding us around their favourite part of Dubai, the bustling and multicultural Dubai Creek area.

Friday afternoon, anywhere in this part of the world, is when people come out to socialise, to wander, to shop, to have chai and a shisha. We just joined the crowds. We rode an abra (the small boat in one of the pics) across the creek. That was fun, packed on with others and bouncing our way across competing and playing dodgems with other abra, lots of shouting and shaking of fists. Lots of fun for only 1DHS or about 50cNZ.

On the other side were the souqs, similar to the ones we had in Doha only not as flash, not as many places to sit and people watch. We got accosted as we walked by the usual back room knock off handbag sellers and enjoyed haggling for the pashminas (OK, so I have a few now) and spices.

I got a good selection of spices so I can make some of the dishes here but best of all some cardamon for my hot chocolate. We sat and enjoyed a shisha and a coffee in a cafeteria beside the creek. I had to laugh, I ordered my usual espresso and he smiled as he said "double". I nodded of course.

When the coffees came out, well I should add the photo. There were three red Nescafe cups complete with the sponsor's product and Rainbow milk plus one small cup with two spoons of Nescafe and a little water, yum! I should have know but coffee withdrawls make me do stupid things, much to the amusement of others.

The shisha was OK but this non smoker had to put up with the ridicule of those who could make heaps of smoke while I only managed small dragon puffs. It was a great day out and we were shattered and ready for room service and TV, something neither of us have so a novelty. We could even have a beer with dinner, luxury and a step up for the last hotel we booked.

The photos are of the shisha girls, the abra on the creek and a wind tower and sails in the cultural village on sunset.