Cataract Gorge ~ Launceston

One of my favoutite places, we spent a lot of time here when we were teenagers.

My faves...

Zadok and I were married just near here and had photos just here.

Swan River and Rottnest Island

Day 3 saw us cruising the Swan River, out past Fremantle and over to Rottnest Island, just off the WA coast. It was a public holiday so it was pretty busy. We hired bikes and snorkles and set off in the 40 degree heat... Was lovely on the coast but super hot when we took a wrong turn and found ourselves cycling up this huge hill!

No pics of me on the way back as I looked a right state having cycled 20kms and snorkelled in the sea! We cruised back up the river and got into Perth just in time for a sundowner. Perfect!

That was it for our whirlwind stay, hopped on the plain the next morning to fly to Tassie via Melbourne. Would definately go back, hopefully with a little bit more time to see Margaret River and those things a little further away!

Kings Park

Up on the hill looking out over the lovely Swan River and over the city of Perth, Kings Park is a must see in Perth. We took the free bus which dropped us at teh BOTTOM of the hill... Leaving us to climb who knows how many steps to the top, much more slowly than some of the locals who were out for their morning run! I am trying not to look cranky in that first one, lol! We met Auntie Phil and Auntie And up here for a picnic, but I didn't take any snaps!

Perth

Zadok and I were lucky enough to spend March in Australia. As neither of us had been to Perth before, we planned a 3 day stop over before heading back to Tasmania. After landing in the wee hours we dragged ourselves from our bed and headed down to Fremantle. We took a tour of Fremantle Prison and then meandered through the markets and along the coast. Fish and chips is a must do (for me anyway....) Then we headed back to Subiaco on the train and watched the West Coast Eagles play very badly in an AFL match... Still fun to watch though!

Muscat

Since I have stopped working I have managed to have 3 holidays... With another (sort of) coming up! In Feburary I popped over to Muscat in Oman to visit my good friend Muriel. Muscat is so beautiful, it's nestled into the mountains and they have rules about how tall buildings can be built (not very). It's much more laid back and casual than frantic Dubai. Charlie is super cute, he must be heaps bigger now and about to get a little brother!

Back in Dubai, Back at Work.

I have been back in Dubai for 2 weeks now would you believe! Nepal certainly was an interesting experience, I'm not quite sure what to say when people ask me about my summer! i haven't started blogging any photos yet, trying to work up some momentum to start.

I am back at work, I've hd a week with no children and a day with the children. They all seem quite nice. I have a big class of 27 and one little girl with special needs but she is a sweety and comes with her own assisstant so that should be ok.

Dubai is a bit of a drag this month, it's hot hot hot, so not much to do outside, it's also Ramadan so no eating or drinking in public during the day, and restuarants and bars are quieter in the evening. The only thing that is not quieter is our neighbourhood, we live amoungst lots of locals and due to the fasting in the day, they are up late at night... Having all sorts of gatherings.

Malaysia

So we are in Malaysia. We have been away for about 5 days now and are having such a great time! What a beautiful country full of friendly people and delicious food. I've got heaps of photos of course and stories to tell... But they will have to wait! We have been in KL and I am posting from the Cameron Highlands. Off to Penang tomorrow, followed by Langkawi then back to KL. Stay tuned for pics!

What Wendy did next

Oh, I cant believe I've done it again, not posted for months! I've been busy??? Anyway, quick one today then maybe some photos for you later in the week.

I have just 10 days of school to go, all eyes are on Thursday the 26th when we all break up for a blissful 9 week holiday! Usually this means some sort of holiday and then back home to Australia for a significant amount of time, but not this year!

Zadok and I are off to Malaysia for 2 and a half I've booked the flights but nothing else (yet...) we have a vague plan. We've got our lonely planet book and borrowed backpacks. We'll see what happens!

After that it's back to Dubai, Zadok has a few more days off then it's back to work for him. I then leave for Nepal, I am going to volunteer in an orphanage for 5 weeks. You can read about RCDP here. In brief I will do a week of language, then a week of 'cultural integration' (I think traveling round and getting the lay of the land). Then 3 weeks living in the orphanage being a dog's body I guess! Possibly working in the school although I was trying to avoid that.

Then when that's done, back home to get back into the Dubai lifesyle (I've already booked in with my beautician, haha) and back to school at the start of September!

Up the Mountain

We've just had a short holiday for the end of term 2. Zadok took a week off and due to visa issues (no problems, just being renewed) we were UAE bound, so we headed off to Al Ain for a few nights. We stayed up the mountain at the Mecure which was quite nice.

The hotel was not quite as posh as we are used to swanning round in in Dubai... but still lovely. Here's me enjoying the sunset on the balcony, and the same view by night looking down over the city. It was so peaceful!

We played mini golf, the score sheet said I won.

And spent A LOT of time at the pool...

It's a hard life!

Term 3 is here, 12 weeks to go before the summer break! The countdown is on!

Some more (delayed) Oman!

Some more Oman.... Muriel convinced a friend to babysit and we headed out for a delicious Mexican meal (I'd have to say it was better than Prickly Cactus...). Here we all are having a laugh.

Here's me with Charlie, I think he is probably trying to get away from my alcohol tinged breath, hehe. Isn't he gorgeous!

Dubai is not marked on this mapbut it's parralel with the curly border of Oman, on the Persian Gulf of course. When we drove in, we crossed the border at the curly bit then drove through to Sohour (Suhar) then down along the coast.

Muscat is divided up into areas, like suburbs, that pretty much run straight along the coast, ending with Muscat, which is the oldest part.

In the photos below we are in Muttrah, which is just before Muscat and has the old Souq which is stunning. It's all decorated in Carved wood and stained glass. To my untrained eye the style seemed more Morrocan than you would see in Dubai.

For those of you who haven't been, Dubai has a very flat coastline and although the beaches are beautiful the lack of cliffs can make it a bit monotonous, in Muscat there are cliffs everywhere plunging to the sea whith quaint little coves in between.

Most of this area was severely damaged during Cyclone Gonu in August, a good deal of work has happened to make it look like this.

Lots going on, will try and post last lot before end of term. Holiday next week! YAY!!!

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Ok another flashback.... Zadok and I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge when we were home last July. It was a fantastic experience, well worth whatever they charge! Took about an hour to do the actual bridge part but they string it out by doing a heap of training etc etc. Definitly a must do if you are ever in Sydney.

I will post more about Oman, I am flat chat at work with all sorts of interesting things going on!

Oh man, a long weekend in Oman!

I had half term TOW (4 days sigh...) and Zadok took the time off so that we could go and visit Muriel, Alasdair and baby Charlie in Oman. They moved there in September last year for Al's work. Charlie was born a month later so we hadn't met him yet!

It's about a 450km from Dubai to Muscat, the capital of Oman, it took about 5 hours but that did include visas and customs checks (they didn't look very hard) at the border. I'll post in installments.... Charlie pics to come I promise! Our first tourist stop was Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which is stunning.

The mosque has the largest carpet in the world, made in Iran.

And the largest chandelier.

Women have to be covered from head to foot so here I am all wrapped up... Each of these arches features Islamic art from a different area, there qre 12 countries represented and about 10 arches in each area.

I've not been very detailed so if you want to read more have a look here....

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque-Wikipedia

Peppermint Bay Cruise

Whilst I was reaquainting myself with my blogger account I found this post, photos uploaded but no words, so I thought I'd fix it up for you all.

When I was in Hobart over Summer (winter) Rach and I headed off on the Peppermint Bay Cruise, a half day boat trip down the Derwent to the lovely Peppermint Bay Restaurant. We had driven 'the coast road' down through the little known but booming metropolis of Tinderbox a few weeks before, so it was interesting to see it all from the water.

Here is our vessel... We had lunch on board, Rach wasn't sure about the Tasmanian Salmon or oyster.

And here is Rach at Pepperment Bay, where we sampled their bubbly... Although sampled is probably not an appropriate word!

We saw Eagles, a fur seal and a sea lion chomping on a stingray (photos not so good sorry). The cruise was well worth the time.

When we were back on dry land we took this photo op, the Aurora Australis travels to Antarctica each year from Tasmania. It's winter when I go home so it's always docked down at the waterfront, but it will return to sea once enough of the ice had melted.

And here is our Knight in shining orange fluro, come to save us from ourselves!

Only in the Middle East Number 2....

Now I know all of you never read the words and just look at the pictures on my blog so I've broken this bizarre week into 2 to make it less daunting for you.... Hehe. Back into work on Tuesday morning ready for the last 3 days of the week. Overnight something else bizzare has happened, IT'S RAINED! First time in nearly a year. When I say it's rained, it's a bit of an understatement, it had poured and was continuing to pour. I wondered if we would even get the little 307 through the masive puddles. The drainage system in Dubai is not world class. The kids straggled in and the rain continued. Stories of flooding throughout the city were told. Zadok's work closed due to flooding and noone being able to do any work. At about 1 it was announced the SCHOOL WOULD CLOSE the following day, and then at about 10pm the government announced ALL SCHOOLS WOULD CLOSE Wednesday and Thursday and reopen for the new week on Sunday!! Hurrah! Another 2 days off!

Weather cleared early yesterday morning after 100mm of rain in about 24hrs and now the sun is shining, most of the flooding has been attended to and I am enjoying a leisurely 4 day weekend!

Runour has it that more rain is going to fall next week.... We'll have to wait and see!

Photos borrowed from Gulf News

Happy Merry Christmas Everyone!

We had a lovely Dubai Christmas this year, thanks to my good friend Mel really, she was so organised and had all our festivities booked up in October!

In the morning Zadok and I headed down to the beach, where we sat in the car and ate bacon butties... (hehe, ask a Brit) and drank coffee. We were on Palace Beach, so named because of the palaces at one end, you can see one just above our car.

I called home and chatted to Mum and Dad which was nice.

We headed to Al Qasr for lunch, I think I've blogged before about their delicious Brunch, Christmas Day was no different, all the usual seafood, meat, salad and desert aswell as endless turkey, ham, beef, beef wellington and rosat veggies with lots of bubbly!

As I've said befor the Al Qasr has the best setting in Dubai, the views are gorgeous, and despite the cold snap we've had (temp around 24 degrees c in the day) it was warm and for a Tassie girl, very summery feeling!

Up to the bar after for the must have Burj shot. Note to self... Take Burj shot BEFORE brunch next time.. Hehe.

So we missed our family and all our friends who were travelling and those back home, but we had a lovely day anyway and added some more happy memories!