Dubai 1st-4th Decemer 07 On our way back to NZ we stopped off at Dubai for 3 days. What an amazing place!! The Arabs are very smart people, they are creating a destination in the desert to attract visitors. They are building the highest building in the world, the largest airport in the world, the largest theme park in the world & of course “The World”, manmade islands in the shape of the world which are selling for astronomical prices. They are attracting foreign investment by being tax free, this is encouraging companies to set up businesses in Dubai, which in turn is creating jobs for locals & expats. A large part of the labour force comes from south East Asia, ie India, Pakistan etc along with Philippines.
We met a Pakistani taxi driver who had been living in Dubai for 30 years while his wife & children live in Pakistan, every 12 months he goes home for 6 months to visit them. The Arabs won’t give citizenship to expats, so they cannot emigrate. Seems rather hard, but he’s making a good living in Dubai to support his family which he wouldn’t be able to do if he stayed in Pakistan. However the Dubai Citizens get well looked after with free medical & hospitals & cheap housing.
Whilst in Dubai we took a couple of bus trips around the city & saw the old souks (markets), Burj Al Arab (the worlds only 7 star hotel), the worlds longest indoor ski field (1 ½ kms long with chair lifts, located in one of the many shopping malls) & of course the local fish market (filled with a huge variety of fresh & salted fish). We also found “The Creek” very interesting with coastal trading boats moored along the shores awaiting their varied cargos which can consist of anything & every thing (check out the photos). The abras (local water taxis that run between the 2 shores) are also a feature of the busy waterway. There are plenty of big shopping malls, where most of the local women seem to hang out, but you need plenty of money to do them justice.
New Zealand - 6th December 07 to 28th February 08
Well if you haven’t gathered by now our 3 months in NZ was extremely busy & man did it go fast!!!! We had a wonderful time & were very lucky to have great accommodation to use as a base with our good friends Chris & Tony, our “home stay parents”, at their lovely home in Howick. During this time we had 3 weeks away staying with friends & family in Opito Bay, Whangapoa (both beautiful beaches on the Coromandel Peninsular), and Great Barrier Island (also very scenic with beautiful beaches). We ventured out on several fishing trips & managed to catch some goooood sized snapper (up to 14lbs), along with some lovely kawhai. We also enjoyed a couple of meals of fresh scallops – yuuuummm
Of course trout fishing & jet boating were also on the agenda, and we had some great adventures down to the Mohaka River (Hawke’s Bay) where there fish were plentiful. It was on one of these trips that we lost “Little Jafa” our little aluminum jet boat to the river, she got stuck on a rock & dragged under the water. It happened in a remote area where there is no road access, this meant the crew on board had 2 ½ hours of bush bashing & swimming down stream to get back to camp, luckily everyone arrived back safe & sound. Pete & his mates had 2 separate attempts to rescue Little Jafa, which involved a 6 hour drive from Auckland, 1 hour trip up into the bush by quad bike & then rafting down to the crash site. On the second attempt they managed to free her from the rock that she was pinned to. Then after a fair amount of panel beating & filling the bottom of the boat with polystyrene foam, they then managed to float her back down to camp – yahhhhhoooo!!!! Unbelievably the motor still went after 5 days under water (it’s a Kawasaki Jet Ski motor).
We also couldn’t pass by the opportunity to jet boat up one of our favourite rivers, The Waihou, the last weekend with Tony and Chris in “Big Jafa” (Pete’s 14ft V8 jet boat). The river proved to be as exciting as ever, navigating the narrow winding stretches that have become enclosed with the bush encroaching from the river banks, not to mention ducking under the large trees that have fallen across the river over the years. Never a dull moment!!!
In between all the running around the countryside we managed to organise our wedding which took place on 9th February. Chris put her creative talents to use & had Tony employed in making shortbread, cutting out heart decorations etc. With the help of a few other great friends, she did a wonderful job of transforming the Whitford Hall for the occasion. Thanks to all our friends who helped out everything went smoothly. We had a fabulous day & enjoyed every minute of it along with our 100 or so family & friends that attended. I have put a wedding photo album on the web, if you wish to view it got to “picasaweb.google.com/saliander.nz” Of course there was the obligatory Hen & Stag Night before the main event & luckily it didn’t go ‘til 4am like my Hen Night in Turkey did, mind you the hangover was just about as bad.
Turkey - 29th February 08
Our trip back to Saliander rather long with 40 hours traveling before we reached out hotel in Istanbul. After a great nights sleep we ventured out to pick up our new solar panels for the boat before boarding the bus for an 18 hour trip back to Saliander, we couldn’t fly because of the huge amount of luggage we brought back!!!! We arrived to find Saliander all safe & sound, just the way we left her, & after 12 hours sleep it was time to roll our sleeves up & get to work antifouling the bottom before going back in the water. After sitting on the plane & bus for what seemed like days, I certainly felt the effects of all the physical work of sanding, scrubbing & climbing up & down on the scaffolding all day.
It’s hard to believe we’ve been here nearly a week already. Yesterday we re-launched Saliander, it feels great to be on the water again, no more peeing in a bucket in the middle of the night & no more climbing the “ladder of death” (4 meters high) to get onto the boat deck. Catching up on our other chores has also been a priority, including cleaning the boat down as it was covered in black streaks from some acid rain that came through recently & Pete is now busy installing the solar panels. We’ve been very busy socially, having dinners with friends, & no doubt that will continue until we leave here in a week’s time. We have met another Kiwi couple, Viv & Will, also staying in the marina, they have sailed from Saudi Arabia where they have been living for several years.
Today was market day so it was great to stock up on fresh produce again, I’m now busy stewing apples & making tomato chutney. I managed to find some fresh farmed trout at the market, it was still alive swimming around in a water tank on the back of a truck, we had them for dinner & they were veeerrrry tasty. I also had a hair cut today, I couldn’t believe it was only $10 for a cut & blow wave. It was all very interesting, the hair dresser (an older gentleman called Yusif) wore a shirt & tie & had an assistant holding the blow dryer while he used a brush to dry my hair. He didn’t speak English so it was all done by sign language, so I was very pleased when it turned out so well, he did a great job.
The weather here is beautiful at the moment with lovely sunny days, in fact yesterday I noticed it was 27deg at 5pm & we’ve been in our shorts & T shirts the last few days. However only 2 weeks ago there was snow falling for about an hour on the boats in the marina, it was the first time this has ever happened, there is still snow on the hills behind the village.
Next week we’ll be getting the boat ready to leave the marina on Saturday 15th March, we’ll then head back up to Marmaris before going back over to the Greek Islands.
(sorry no photos yet, having touble down loading them)
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