Travel in the English Countryside: Part 3

On our second full day in England, we left Canterbury after visiting the cathedral and drove to Dover. After John took this stunning photo of the White Cliffs of Dover and the English Channel, we left Dover and drove along the southern coast of England to Rye then to Brighton.


Rye is a charming town, once walled and gated against her enemies. We had lunch of hot soup, bread and cheese at a local eatery then walked the cobblestone streets before heading off to Brighton.

Brighton is of course a beach resort town for Londoners. The rocky beach was not very appealing to us. Also it was May, so not yet tourist season.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 5

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there which I'll share here in part 5:

It's hot! True, it's dry heat, but it blows over you like air from a furnace. You will enjoy the cool malls, buses, and restaurants. Take your swimsuit for the hotel pool. Swimming in the gulf is allowed, but restricted. Tourists can use only small parts of the public beaches. If you really want to swim in the gulf, stay in a hotel on the gulf that will have a private beach access. Otherwise, use the pool. Most hotel pools have a bar. It's a good way to spend a hot afternoon. It's just as hot at midnight though.

How you dress is really up to you. I chose to wear pants and shirts, not shorts or sleeveless or halters or very fitted tops. I saw a few foreign women dressed in fitted tops, but none of the local women dress in that way. Take a cover-up to wear over your swimsuit when walking through the hotel to the pool. If you leave Dubai for another emirate, you may find much stricter clothing requirements.A typical souvenir is the shisha. These water pipes or hookahs (or bongs) are used to smoke fragrant steam. There are shisha bars everywhere. People lie about on sofas with the shisha on a low table between them. Each person has his/her own mouthpiece, but they share the shisha-produced steam. It's a social occasion.


Textiles in Dubai are marvelous. They're easy to pack to take home so great for souvenirs or gifts. The street markets are arrayed with lovely textiles hanging overhead across the alleyways. In the colorful markets on Cosmos Lane and Al Fahidi Street in Bur Dubai or the streets of Satwa the textiles are a bargain. Most of the shops close around lunchtime, so get there early in the morning or late afternoon. The two main textile shops in Bur Dubai Souks are Meena Bazar and Rivoli. There are many tailor shops in Dubai so you could have the textiles transformed into shirts, skirts, suits before you leave. Many have one day service.

If you can afford it, the best souvenir is a rug or carpet. They are amazingly beautiful. If you think you may fall in love with the carpets while you're in Dubai, take the measurements for the area from home with you. The rug merchants will ship to you anywhere in the world. We found carpet stores in every mall. Perhaps there were carpets in the street markets, but we didn't notice them there.

Other souvenirs include coffee urns, dates, nuts, models of Bur el Arab, Arabian chests, daggers, Bedu jewelry and carvings .

This post links to this previous post.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 4

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 4:

Take a tour on a bus. It's informative, air-conditioned, and reasonably-priced. It's the best way to see the city. The tours start at Wafi City (shopping mall) early in the morning and run all day. We took two tours. One went out-of-town to the area which is in development because we wanted to see Bur al-Arab. We did stop in front of the hotel long enough to take a photo. The tours of the hotel were $65 per person to enter the lobby when we were there. We passed on the tour, but it probably would have been a very interesting experience. That bus tour also took us past the indoor ski area and the underwater hotel, both of which are finished now, I believe. We got off that tour bus at the Mercato shopping mall at Jumeirah Beach area where we ate lunch and took a taxi back to our hotel from there.

The other tour we took was in town. It stopped at the museum and also at the gold and spice souks, all of which are must-see experiences. Do not leave Dubai without visiting those three locations. The bus tour for this is hop-on, hop-off so you can spend as much time as you like. About the gold: it is all 18c or purer. It appears orangey because of the high gold content. Take your camera with you and take lots of photos. The gold is near market-value/ounce which means the craftsmanship is free. From the gold souk we walked through a series of alleys to the spice souk. In the gold souk there is no hard sell. You may browse as long as you want without anyone saying anything to you. However, in the spice souk, it's a different story. Everyone will try to sell you something and the spices, dates and nuts are all so beautiful! If you don't want to buy anything, tell them you are going back to Australia. They know the importation laws of every country and understand that it's very difficult to enter Australia with their goods. We bought pastacios and dates, also saffron.

In the alleys between those two souks are the vendors. Here are the real bargains in Dubai. The street market is the place to look for souvenirs and bargain to your heart's content. The vendors will practically give their wares away to you. The men in the market love to bargain with the women. A handy hint is to have a little cheat sheet with currency conversions on it. With this we could quickly convert the Dubai dirham to US currency. Once a vendor sees this little tool, he'll start converting for you. They are very wily with currency exchange. No one will try to cheat you. In fact, they'll help you figure it all out.

None of the people working anywhere are Emiratees. Some are from the Middle East, most are Asian.

This post links to this previous post.

Hot Water Beach in New Zealand

What are these people doing, you ask? Notice how differently people are dressed; some for winter and some in swimsuits. This is the famous Hot Water Beach of New Zealand.


Volcanoes have developed underground reservoirs of superheated water which escapes to the surface through fissures under the sand. The idea is to go to the beach at low tide, dig a deep hole, allow it time to fill with underground water (it seeps in), and sit in your sand sauna until high tide comes in to destroy it all.


John gave it a go with one foot. It was hard to find water cool enough to stand in. The water is about 147F. Of course, the ocean is very cold, but at low tide, it doesn't fill the holes.

There are places in the ocean near the beach right around NZ where the water is hot because of this same phenomenon. Locals know where the spots are and swim there year round.

Hot Water Beach is located along New Zealand's Pacific coast just south of Mercury Bay at the northeast tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

No visit to New Zealand's North Island is complete without experiencing the hot water sand sauna at Hot Water Beach.

Travel in the English Countryside: Part 2

After watching the movie The Gathering Storm which was filmed there, John and I knew we wanted to include Chartwell, the home of Winston Churchill and a National Trust site, in our tour of England's countryside. We arrived in time for the last house tour of the day. The house and its interiors are simple and homey. The gardens are lovely, but not grandiose; the views from the gardens over the Weald of Kent are spectacular.

This post links to this previous post.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 3

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, John and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 3:

Dining in Dubai:

Lunch away from the hotel will probably be at a mall or from a street vendor. There are a few other options: Walk inside a tall office building or apartment building and look around the lobby. Often there will be a little restaurant tucked away. These are very good value for money as they're where the locals eat. In an office building lobby, we found a small Asian restaurant where we ordered "hot rocks chicken" on a chance. We liked the service, the cleanliness, the food, and the pricing so much that we came back twice to eat there. The last time we were there, they treated us like regulars!

We were leery of the street vendors. The food looked and smelled wonderful, but there was no seating and no utensils, basically not Western-enough for our tastes. However, I think it could have been a memorable experience and I wish we had tried it.

In the malls there is the standard food court like you see all over the world. The malls are not non-smoking and the food courts can be very smoky as the young Emiratee men love to sit, talk, smoke, and text message in the food halls. There is always a table of men hanging out in every coffee area or food area. By the way, the coffee is delicious.

If you want to have a meal at an exclusive or expensive restaurant, book ahead. Or try to be there for late lunch instead of dinner. We ate a late lunch at Asha's (pictured) with no booking because we wanted to have the experience and it was completely booked every night we were in Dubai. I have read both good and poor reviews of Asha's online, but our experience there was wonderful. The sampler platter at Asha's was recommended by the server and it was extraordinary. There is a full bar and a wine list. Asha's is at The Pyramids in Wafi City which is the same mall where you catch the tour buses.

This post links to this previous post.

Travel in the English Countryside: Part 1

A couple of years back, we planned a week's car trip through the English countryside for May. Just before we left Perth, it snowed for days in London. Air traffic was a mess; roads were nearly impassable; and it was bitter cold. However, a week later flying into Gatwick we saw the canola fields in bloom, the blue cloudless skies, the meandering country roads and knew that the travel gods were smiling on us once again!

And that was only the beginning of our wonderful holiday. Of course, travellers can't control the weather, but when they can make careful plans otherwise, it always pays off.

Here are a few of the plans we put in place before leaving Perth which served us well:

• Since we had seen London on a different trip, we decided to stay away from that city altogether, choosing the English countryside instead. Before leaving Perth we reserved a rental car that we would pick up at Gatwick. John researched it carefully, considering the following: fuel consumption, room in the boot for our luggage, road worthiness, riding comfort. He decided on a mid-size Ford Mondeo. [Note: This trip took place before we stopped traveling with over-sized luggage.]

• We made reservations at B&Bs across the countryside, estimating the length of stay in each area as best we could. England invented the concept of the B&B, and they know how to do it right. There are several excellent websites that give complete details concerning every possible accommodation outside London. We chose farmstays in all cases except one night. The main reason for choosing farmstays was parking for the rental car. In towns, there simply is no extra parking. At the farmstays we had parking galore at the accommodation, so we avoided having to park outside the town and traipsing with baggage down the town street to the B&B. [More details about the different accommodations in a following post.]

• We decided to have a purpose for driving. Instead of aimlessly poking down roads or breezing through towns, we decided to see the National Trust homes, castles, gardens, etc. So we went on the website and used their intelligence to plan our days in England. The website has ideas for everything from day trips to picnics to two-wheel adventures, in short all you need to plan your visit. We priced the membership and decided it was a terrific deal because once bought all the National Trust venues are free. [More on specific National Trust stops in a following post.]

• We had good road maps. John studied these maps ahead of our leaving. He found good routes for sightseeing and for getting to accommodations. He knew when we had to drive on the highway and when we could take the scenic route. He also looked at the venues we'd visit on Google Earth and got a sense of where we'd be in relation to other stops we'd make. This map study was very essential because when you are driving on the narrow roads, the super highways, the town streets, you don't have time to read maps and you don't always have a way to pull off the road. In all the travel we did, we only missed seeing one venue that was scheduled (the map was more wrong than we were) and only circled one roundabout extra times in seeking the right exit. Other than those two minor glitches, we drove staight to all our desired locations.

After making those four very important decisions-organizing the transport, the accommodation, the tours, and the map study-we were ready to begin our experience.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 2

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, John and I found out a few details of travel there that we'll share here in part 2:

Lodging in Dubai

If you are staying at the Burj al Arab in Dubai (pictured above), then none of the following applies to you. However, if your pocketbook will stretch only to a more conventional stay, here's the best advice we have to offer:

Pick your hotel very carefully. Stay in the 5-star hotels only. To read the rating of a Dubai hotel, take off a star from the rating system you are accustomed to in the West. It doesn't really matter where the hotel is located in terms of whether it's in the city or near the airport or which side of the water. What does matter is the amenities at the hotel. You will spend a lot of time there. Choose your hotel for the room size, the restaurants available at the hotel, the club and bar facilities, and swimming pool and other outdoor facilities. Dubai has no "night-life" in the terms that Westerners are accustomed. There are clubs and bars where you can drink and dance and smooze; all of these are located in hotels. The hotels are spread out across the city so a bar crawl is not a real possibility. Therefore, if night-life is your bag, it's going to be happening most likely at the hotel where you are staying. Likewise, most of your breakfasts and dinner meals will be eaten at your hotel. Check-in at the hotel can be hectic with lots of waiting around for a room. Evidently, hotel service help is difficult to keep. The desk will apologize but it won't get any better during your stay than it was at the start.

There is a Western-style grocery store ( a French chain, I think) which is a godsend. After checking into your hotel, catch a cab for Carrefour supermarket. Get lots of bottled water and drinks, mixers and snacks, cheese, etc. for the little frig in the hotel room. Be sure to buy some plastic ware. There is a cab queue outside Carrefour so it's easy to get back to your hotel. There is another popular supermarket called Spinney's, but since we only went to Carrefour, we don't know what the Spinney's experience is like. There are more Spinneys around than Carrefours. We saw another Carrefour in a mall, but we don't remember which one. To get to any location in Dubai, jump in the cab and give the name like "Carrefours" or "Spinney's" and the cabbie will drive you straight to the nearest one.

The hotels rock until after midnight so if your room is near the bars or clubs, expect to hear the racket or join in the fun!

This post links to this previous post.

Pisa Italy

We took a day trip from Florence by train to Pisa. We arrived at the train station in Pisa and followed the crowd across the bridge to the main tourist boulevard which was a wide street closed to traffic. It was an interesting mix of food carts (sausage, fruit, cookies, breads, cheeses), designer shops, sidewalk cafes, and fine dining. We ducked down an alley and found a charming, family-owned trattoria where we had huge bowls of spaghetti bolognasi, bread, and a glass of wine for few euros. Then we rejoined the crowd on the main boulevard and walked until we rounded a corner and discovered the famous bell tower of Pisa. It is surprising to see just how much it does lean and also to witness the efforts expended in keeping it from falling. Tourists braver than I had climbed the stairs and were walking around the outside of the tower. I was happy to stay on the ground and on the safe side of it should it fall. It was a great day trip, away from the tour group, on our own.

Tips for Travel: Dubai UAE

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 1:

Dubai International Airport

We flew Emirates airlines which was a wonderful ride. The service, food, seating, entertainment, and crew were all excellent. The pilot told us he was a Texan!

Before you leave the airport, be sure to stop by Duty Free for your alcohol. It's very reasonably priced and the selection is excellent.

When you walk into the arrivals' hall, you will be shocked. It's bigger than a football field, and it is filled to capacity with people in queues waiting to be processed. John went looking for a shorter line and thankfully found that business class passengers had a special line which was very short and very efficient. Look for that line. Even if you are not a business class passenger, if you line up near that line, you could get called over to it after the business class passengers are cleared.

In October 2005 we went through Dubai Airport a second time. This time we were connecting from London to Cairo through Dubai. We had about 12 hours in Dubai to wait for our connecting flight. We checked in at the airport in-transit hotel which is in the international terminal, had a shower, and a good sleep. We got a wake up call for 2 hours before the flight, ate a good meal at the restaurant, stopped by Duty Free for alcohol, and then went to our gate. If you have a long stopover in Dubai, I highly recommend this. You must take your change of clothes in your carry-on bag because you do not have access to your luggage while in transit.

New Zealand's North Island

Most Australians touring New Zealand go to the South Island and maybe the southern region of the North Island, but we wanted to see Russell and the Bay of Isles area. So we landed in Auckland and took off toward the north end of the North Island.
We sailed from Russell through the Bay of Isles, an extraordinary group of small islands rising out of the ocean into the mist. During the sail we encountered fairy penquins, so cute floating along on their backs in the gentle seas.
Russell was a cute little seaside town. We arrived four days before their very busy summer season began so we had the town all to ourselves. Everyone was happy to us as we were their first tourists of the year!
Our next trip to New Zealand will be a car tour of the South Island, maybe next year...

Edinburgh, Scotland

We were in Edinburgh in 2003, but I bet the city has not changed one little bit since we were there. It's a jewel! We walked the Royal Mile, toured both the castle and Holyrood, and tramped up the hills surrounding the town. We ate fish and chips with the locals, but skipped the haggis. On our last night we shared a table in a crowded restaurant with an English couple who said they always returned from holidays in the Highlands through Edinburgh simply to see the castle at night. So we walked from the restaurant and had a squiz. The photo does not do the sight justice.