Dubai and Abu Dhabi

The flight to Abu Dhabi was very bumpy to say the least but we arrived safely in Abu Dhabi at long last. The transfer to Dubai was another couple of hours and by the time we were in bed it was 3am. However it was a very grand hotel room so it was worth the wait.

We paid for a deal at the hotel which gave us access to the exclusive club lounge, breakfast for two days, unlimited drinks and snacks in the evening (they called it "happy hour") and internet access for the equivalent of about £50 so enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast overlooking the city.

Our first stop of the day was to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It really was a sight to see - so tall we really struggled to fit it into a picture. We then wandered around the biggest shopping mall in the world. It was so big we barely covered half of it and it was absolutely deserted - Gerard commented that he wouldn't mind shopping if it could always be like that. Afterwards we checked out the gold souk market which was much more boisterous with everyone trying to sell you something. We then took an abra, which is a water taxi, across Dubai Creek for the cost of 15 p, walked along Jumeirah public beach and stopped for a nosy in the Jumeirah beach hotel (looked very nice).

We grabbed a quick bite to eat in another shopping mall (Dubai Mall) which also hosted the world's largest indoor ski slope. It had a chair lift! We then took the metro back to the hotel for happy hour which consisted of free snacks and drinks. We went through over a bottle of Champagne together. After that we headed back to the Burj to watch the musical fountain show which was breath-taking!



The next morning when we headed for breakfast the waitress greeted us by saying, "Good morning Mr Gerard," which just made his day.

Abu Dhabi seemed nothing special on the way in so we decided just to lounge by the pool all day in the 30+ heat! We again upgraded to have happy hour and breakfast which consisted of some snacks and drinks.It was a lovely relaxing end to the holiday followed by a stunning breakfast the next morning with the biggest selection of food you can imagine. We are currently waiting at the gate to board the plane home. Speak to you all after we land.

Last days down under

Tuesday: In the morning Fiona and I went for a coastal walk intending to reach Manly for Lunch. Not Quite. We took the cliff path from Dee Why to Curl Curl which would usually take around 30 minutes but with Fiona took an hour! The route itself was really cool and gave some fantastic views of Dee Why and Curl Curl. As I said the plan was to reach Manly and meet up with Kev, Isla and Connor for lunch but we only made it as far as Freshwater, which was a lovely and quiet beach about 20 minutes walk up the hill from Manly. We grabbed lunch there and synced up with Kev and Isla in the car park (they grabbed lunch in the flat) to go to Taronga Zoo

Taronga Zoo was brilliant. The zoo overlooked Sydney and the animals were terrific. We got very close to Kangaroo's, Koala Bears, Giraffes and were able to look at many more from a distance (although they were usually sleeping in the head). Connor was in top form and was loving every minute. We went to the bird show which was set in a mini theatre with no trees blocking the views to the opera house and harbour bridge. These birds were well trained and what I liked best was that the bird keepers would really try and interact with the audience by making the birds fly over our heads. It does not sound to impressive in text but when you consider that one of the birds was a giant eagle, trust me it was really cool.

Wednesday: Fiona and I headed into Sydney and went on the free walking tour which was really interesting. It talked about the history of Sydney (bunch of criminals) and pointed out a revolving restaurant in Australia Square which we would visit later for Cocktails. Very similar to the one in Times Square but a little bit cheaper :). That day we also went shopping for Christmas presents which was a horrendous experience for me but an enjoyable one for Fiona.

Our last full day in Sydney was epic. In the morning we headed down to Dee Why beach, played with Connor at his favourite play park before heading onto the beach to soak up the rays and munch on some delicious pizza. After another stop at the playpark we (Isla, Connor, Fiona and myself) headed into Sydney and had some Champagne by the Opera house after which we met up with Kev to see the Christmas tree lit up in St. Martins Place.

Our leaving day was very sad. We did not want to go! We said our goodbyes and gave Connor a Koula bear teddy which he hugged to sleep. We miss him already! A very big big thanks to Kev and Isla for allowing us to stay and we hope to visit the 4 of them next year!

After a very turbulent flight we arrived in Dubai, blog coming up about that later!
Photos:

Sydney

Byron Bay

Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay Pictures

Uploaded the pics to google due to too space issues. One of the cool things is that my camera stores the gps data detailing where the photo is taken so it shows up nicely on google maps. I will do the rest tomorrow. Enjoy!

Bondi & Jervis Bay

On Friday, Kev's first day off and another glorious day, we headed to see Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. I thought it was quite surreal such a well kept beach in the middle of a big city. Even though it was a week day it was still busy but we were able to set up camp quite close to the water. Kev, Connor and I constructed a custom made sand seat for Isla whose baby bump is getting quite big! After soaking up some rays Kev and I decided to jump in the sea and I was quite surprised to find that it was a good couple of degrees colder than Byron. It didn't stop us from giving it a go though!

We had a very late lunch at a swimming club overlooking Bondi. It was quite strange because in order to get in you need to be a member but you can get a temporary membership if you live 5km away. It was strange that London is 17000Km away but there was no issue with us.


Saturday we all went south to a place called Jervis Bay which is supposed to have the whitest sand in the world. How do you test that? Someone must go round collecting samples and then comparing the 'whiteness'. I want that job. Anyway the journey south was really good fun. We stopped over at Mt. Keira, which provided some stunning views of the coast, and a small town called Kiama. Kiama was a typical Aussie town. It was very colourful, by the coast and very laidback. It was so laidback it took an hour to make 4 cheese and ham toasties!. In the meantime I went exploring and came across some Fishermen slicing and dicing some fish and surrounded by Pelicans. These birds were massive and quite a sight. The fishermen gave me some fish guts to feed them, it was cool but my hand stank for days.


Another hour later we arrived at Jervis Bay and the cottages we were staying at. It was like staying at a ranch. All the cottages overlooked a field which had miniture horses and alpacas. Connor loved it. The ranch also had some amazing birds flying around: galas, cockatoos and parrots. A parrot even flew into our bedroom at one point! On the way to get supplies we found some wild kangaroos and stopped off to watch them skipping about. Fiona was delighted. All those who have met Kanga will understand why.

The next day after a morning spa (I forget to mention there was a pool and Jacuzzi in the garden) we headed to the Beach stopping off to have another one of Kev's epic bbq breakfasts. The beach we went to was called Hyams Beach and as wikipedia describes it was very white, almost like snow. The body surfing there was great; big huge waves.

Later in the day we headed back stopping off at a lovely Creek which was Connor's dream come true. A play park and the creek which had water just the right depth so that he could walk to and fro different sand islands. Unfortunately the heat created a storm and the subsequent rain dump forced us to retreat back to the car and the ranch. That night after another Jacuzzi we had another bbq and some mojitos. A great end to another holiday within a holiday.

Gerard

Byron Bay: A holiday within the holiday...

Monday started before dawn with a plane up to the Gold Coast so we could go to Byron Bay. We stayed in the Backpacker's Inn on the Beach. The accommodation was basic but the hostel was really cool and had loads of extra things on offer. Gerard took full advantage of the free body board hire and did his best to ride the waves constantly. The weather was slightly patchy but brightened up each afternoon and we had tonnes of time lazing on the white sands. Byron's beaches were gorgeous and the town had a very relaxed bohemian vibe with plenty places to eat and drink.

We woke up to grey skies on day two but after an hour of chilling in a hammock in the hostel gardens it was soon sunny and time for the beach. That evening the hostel offered a bbq with all you can drink sangria in our hostel and a free fire show. We laughed at how much water the fire-eater was drinking after the show. During the party we got chatting to lots of people, mainly doing gap years - jealous, and Gerard decided to have a drinking contest with an American...Scotland won.

After much persuasion Gerard talked me into trying out an activity so we were up bright and early to the sunniest and hottest day so far so we could go sea kayaking to hopefully see some dolphins. We had lunch outside a cafe at 7 am and could feel ourselves burning all ready! We were picked up by the bus at 8 and after a very quick lesson on how to use the paddles we were kitted out with life jackets and helmets - which turned out to be very necessary. There was a big group of us - maybe ten boats in total (2 to a boat). Me and Gerard were the second to try to get our boat over the huge waves by the shore. We tackled the majority - with lots of splashing on our faces and squealing from myself (not used to getting my face wet) and just as we were about to reach the instructor further out in the sea a huge wave broke and tipped me out of the boat, and Gerard came tumbling after. We were trying to keep hold of our oars and locate the boat and keep our heads above the water, which was not easy considering how many more waves kept battering us whilst we were down. We made it back to the beach just in time to see the same thing happen to another pair. It took three attempts but we eventually made it - and we weren't the slowest. We were out at sea for the best part of two hours but unfortunately didn't see any wildlife. The rowing was incredibly hard work and the water was still very choppy. We headed back slightly early with another pair - feeling quite sea sick. The thrill of making it back without falling on the waves again was amazing - especially as we watched everyone else including the instructors fail on their way back in and fall over. Thanks to Mum and Dad for their holiday money which paid for the experience. We had a ball but don't think we'd be likely to try again. We definitely have aching shoulders today.

Afterwards the hard work wasn't over as we decided to climb up to the lighthouse overlooking the bay, which is the most easterly point in the whole of Australia. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top but the views were well worth it and we had been walking through a rainforest with lots of interesting noises. We even passed a giant lizard plodding along on the way back down.
The rest of the day we soaked up the last of the rays on the beach with a few large scoops of well-earned ice-cream and got back to Sydney just in time for bed.


Fiona

Sydney 08/11/10

Sorry for the lack of updates, no internet in Byron (more on that in the next entry). The following blog I wrote on Tuesday 9th at the Airport:

Yesterday Fiona and I went into Sydney under beautiful blue sky. Isla very kindly dropped us off at Manly where we got on a Ferry to Circular Quay which is the big ferry terminal in the heart of Sydney. It was pretty spectacular, we literally turned a corner and say the harbour bridge and opera house. We took so many pictures the battery on our camera ran out!

When we arrived we took a slow stroll round the opera house and through the botanic gardens. The gardens were really well kept and we were both surprised at the wildlife and the amount of runners taking advantage of it. It was very strange seeing all these exotic animals, parrots, cockatoo's, dodo looking birds and even a gigantic eel.

We got to the picturesque marquis point which had both the opera house and the bridge with the green backdrop of the gardens and the ocean and stood for 5 minutes savouring the weather and the view.

We grabbed lunch in the rocks (area between the quay and the bridge) in the adequately named “pancakes on the rock” before then taking another Ferry to Darling Harbour and walking along George St (Sydney's Broadway). It was like being in New York with all the tall buildings giving you vertigo!

As I type this we are currently waiting for our plane to arrive so that we can head North to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay where hopefully more sun awaits.

A Beach Sunday

Saturday was spent in the city. The weather was still not great so Kev and Isla showed us around some indoor spots in Sydney. Connor had a ball going on the monorail and we ate well in town. We ended up in a fancy-looking shopping mall which had a Christmas tree decorated with Swarovski crystals that was three storeys high! Just beside this I found an UGG boots shop and treated myself to a pair of UGGs! Happy holidays to me. We had a delicious barbeque in the evening, followed by another one for breakfast on Sunday morning in the sunshine! Sunday was spent at three different beaches along the coast, soaking up the rays (and it shows - we have pink patches all over us now).

Above was Fiona attempting to write a blog. Yawn. Anyway the mall we went to was the the queen Victoria building which was right in the heart of the financial district. The entire vibe of the heart of Sydney felt like New York, tall buildings and posh shops but they drive on the right side of the road (the left!). We also checked out Paddy's market which was the equivalent to Camden Market in London. I had the opportunity to buy an Australian hat which I passed because of the weather. Next time!

On Sunday we got our first taste of the true Australian weather. Fantastic. I went for an early morning run with Kev along the beach which was an experience I will never forget. The sand was so soft under foot and running in the water as the waves came in was very refreshing. It was also exciting when we hit the lagoon because the tide was coming in. We pretty much had to swim over as the water came up to our necks. At the end of the run the girls were waiting at the top of the cliff which affording some spectacular views of the Northern beaches and the ocean. The rest of the day was spent on the beach in Dee Why and Manly where myself and Kev had some fun riding the waves. At the end of the day after a quick beer overlooking manly we got home a bit pink and tired but enough time left for Kev to prepare a fantastic curry and more red wine!

G'day, welcome to Australia

So we made it, we are down under and off the plane! The second leg of the journey was not as fun as the first, 14 hours with an already malfunctioning body clock. The in-flight entertainment was just as good as the first leg however I was so tired I used it more for background noise to try and get me to sleep which was a fairly successful tactic as I slept through both Superman (the original the new crap one) and Inception. One thing that was different compared to the first leg of the journey was that there was a window in the toilet. Very bizarre. I am sorry to revert to toilet humour but I honestly did, after doing my business, look outside to see if I could spot my waste falling below.

As we went into land the flight attendants announced that they have the legal obligation to inform customs staff if there is someone ill on the plane so that they could be assessed and possibly put into quarantine. They then appealed for anyone feeling ill to come forward and make themselves known to the cabin crew. Who would tell them they were ill after a warning like that.

We met up with Kev, Isla and the wee man in North Sydney and on the way we were able to see a glimpse of the Opera house and Harbour, stunning. We had a fantastic breakfast before then heading to dee why. Its a great place, lovely beaches, very quiet and a complete contrast to London which is what we want. All we need is for the sun to come fully out and we will be ready to hit the beach tomorrow!

Ohhhh we're half way there!

As I write this we are sitting in the Abu Dhabi Airport overlooking the desert using the free wifi provided (take note Heathrow!). Ethiad are quite simply amazing. They offer a menu for the in flight meal which was the best plane food ever, excellent entertainment (13inch telly) and very welcoming with little extras. I managed to sleep during the flight and awoke to sunrise over Iraq. It was such an amazing sight that I lept over Fiona and grabbed the Camera.

On a humerous note went to the toilet at the aiport, sat down and minding my own business. Went for the loo roll and found a shower head. Answers on a postcard please.

More importantly the scores for Ethiad. Recall 0=Ryanair and 10=Private Jet.

Toilets: 8
Plane: 8
Service: 10+
Pilot: 10 (he got us there in one piece)
Fiona room: 0
Food: 10
Entertainment: 10
Parachute: not required :P
Comfort: 8

A Musing at Heathrow.

Fiona: Firstly – a rebuttal to the incorrect previous entry. Dear Gerard – I may have been flustered but my main priority last night was not shoes! I was worrying about passports, money hand luggage etc and you didn't even lift a finger to bother doing the dishes!

Gerard: (it was her dishes).... Anyway we made it to Heathrow on time and on schedule, secured the window seats to ourselves and are currently waiting on our flight being called. Everyone we have spoken to thinks Ethiad is the best company they have ever flown with. So for kicks and giggles I am creating the following scoring system.

Toilets:
Plane:
Service:
Pilot:
Fiona room: (how much space there is between me and Fiona)
Food:
Entertainment:
Parachute:
Comfort:

Marks will be out of 10, 0=Ryanair, 10=Private Jet.

We are not even on the train never mind the plane

Good day at work today, got lots done and it went really fast. It helps when you have an epic trip to look forward to....

Got home to find stressed and annoying Fiona, moaning about the tube strike and the impending doom the world and our trip are facing. So I just decided to ignore her, switch the xbox on and chill. I had already done most of my packing yesterday unlike someone who had not even submitted their psychology application. Fiona had, what I geekly call a Segmentation Fault, where she seemed to get stuck running between the bedroom and the living room not really doing anything useful. It was because she could not decide what shoes to bring. Honestly - women and shoes, its just weird. My view is that if it fits it will do... Anyway here is a picture of my beautiful girlfriend.

Anyway the first chance I get I am leaving her at the airport. She will be happy enough.
Onwards (or should that be downwards?) to Sydney!

Gerard

P.S she just moaned about the weather forecast tomorrow.