Flugtag

We went to watch the Flugtag competion at the Creek Park.

Quoting from the official website: "the flying day competition is challenging the human minds and power to create a flying machine that can take the pilot as far as possible before plunging into the Creek’s waters. "

It was a beatiful day and extremely fun to watch, with my favourite team Obelix not perfoming too well.

http://redbullflugtag.ae/

End of summer

After more than six months of uninterrupted sunshine, it was a shock to get up today under a cloudy sky. With morning temperatures well under 30 C. , summer is truly over!

Iftar in the desert

To celebrate the end of Ramadan, Sarah and Drue invited us to a iftar (the break of fast meal) at the Bab al Shams desert resort. Heaps of traditional food, swirling derviches and falcons, a real arabian night!

Ramadan

On September 13th the new moon was sighted and Ramadan (the 9th month of the islamic calendar) started. For muslims all over the world it`s an intense time of prayers, charity and fasting (no food and water from sunrise to sunset!). For non muslims in Dubai, it mostly means no eating and drinking in public, reduced working hours and extra patience on the road.

http://www.timeoutdubai.com/dubai/features/review.php?id=1632

Desert safari

Fujarah

Joni`s parents came to stay with us for a couple of weeks, and we spent a w/e in Fujarah, on the east coast of the UAE. The resort we stayed in had a great beach, swimming pool and of course some daredevil watersports activities (not for the faint-hearted!).

Mel & Jimmi's Wedding in Queenstown

Mel and Jimmi had their wedding at the beautiful Chapel on the Lake in Queenstown. It was a wonderful day and thankfully nice and warm seeing as we all had our summer dresses on - not snowing like the previous day! Here are some snaps of the wedding and a few more from our holiday in Queenstown...

Mel & Jimmi

A few nervous-looking faces before the jet boat ride

Brent trying out a backpack....

.... and the luge

Sydney

We stopped a few days in Sydney on our way back home. The harbour is magnificent, and the Harbour Bridge and Opera House didn`t disappoint at all!

Mount Cook, New Zealand

Known as Aoraki to the Maori, Mount Cook is the highest mountain of New Zealand. We stayed in the only hotel in the national park (the closest village is around 50km away) and the view of the mountain from our room was absolutely breathtaking. In the morning we took a couple of walks, to Kea Point (no sign of the birds unfortunately) and to the morenic lakes of the 29km long Tasman Glacier.

Queenstown, New Zealand

We stayed in Queenstown for a few nights. The town is lovely and is considered the adventure capital of New Zealand: not to be missed a 90 km/h trip on a jetboat or for the bravest only a bungee jump from the bridge where this sport was invented.

Christchurch, New Zealand

We started our recent trip to New Zealand in Christchurch, main town of the South Island and gateway to the antartic continent. The city boasts a strong English influence, and has even got its own version of a Oxbridge college!

Ras Al Khaimah

Ras Al Khaimah is the northermost of the emirates, at the boundary with Oman. It has got a great location, in between the mountains and the arabian gulf. The town itself is not very interesting, but the drive we took along Wadi Bih (a wadi is a dry riverbed that suddenly fills with water after heavy rain) and the resort we spent Friday in night were very nice.

Abu Dhabi

We spent Saturday in Abu Dhabi. My parents were here visiting and I thought it would have been interestin to see another Emirate. We drove along the corniche and stopped at Emirates Palace for a great lebanese lunch.


Of great interest is an exhibition about the new cultural island, that will include a Tadao Ando designed sea museum, a Frank Gehry Gugenheim, a Zaha Hadid theatre and an amazing Jean Nouvel Louvre.