This is the lovely English family who shared the Safari tour with me. They have just been back to India (along with the brother who took the photo) and finished with a few days in Dubai. They were all lovely and we had a few jokes - the tour guide kept speaking to them in ?pinjab - so they either had to translate for me or I just pretended to know what they were talking about.
It was a really nice way to finish the trip.

And now, home sweet home. My flight is 10am tomorrow and I'll be back in Melbourne 5.30am Saturday.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all.
Love Vicki

dance

... and now the belly dancer. I didn't expect a blonde! I had a nice night, with the entertainment and beautiful food. Lots of vegetables and rice. I didn't go with the meat.

I had another ride on a camel - which didn't want to go - for all of 2 minutes, and most of that was the camel not wanting to go anywhere. I'm glad I had the experience in Egypt.

I also had another henna tattoo done - this time inside my wrist and a lighter brown. ......... when in Rome........

sand dunes safari

Today I went on the sand dunes safari. Basically we drove out of the city for about 45 minutes and then off the road (about 2 minutes) before being driven madly up and down sand dunes. It was quite fun and a bit of excitement. No-one threw up in our car which was good. I did suggest to the guide that it's not a good idea to stop for ice-creams and then take everyone on this mad ride and hope they all cope. (thank goodness I didn't have an ice-cream).

It was worth going though as the desert is really beautiful.

.... and this is me beside a little fishing boat we saw at the start of our tour on
Deira Creek. (I've become quite good about asking random strangers to take my photo!)

Now to the pool - tomorrow the "desert safari".

Whilst we were on the Palm Island, we saw the King of Dubai!! Yes really. I guessed it was him because his giant face is on billboards about the place - and he and about 6 of his mates were going to lunch when we were at the hotel on the palm island. They stood out as they were all "shiek" types and moving en masse. He is only a fairly short guy, but held himself very proudly. I have a photo of his back - that was the best I could do - oh and one of a billboard with his face on it. In the photo of his back, i think he is the one furtherst into the restaurant - can you pick out the black tye/rope around his head? On the billboard, he is on the left.

See, celeb spotting where-ever we go!!

These photos were taken on Palm Jumeirah, which is one of the man made islands (the first one they built) built out into the ocean. It's quite incredible how big it is and how much development is here - it looks totally "built out". And the buildings are certainly not on a small scale.

This is (?) the Jumeriah Mosque which the guide proudly told us is 40 years old. The mosque is very beautiful, but even by Australian standards, that's a blink of an eye. But that's the point, everything is so new here with the place being built from nothing in the last 50-60 years - and most of it a lot more recent than that.

Dubai

How could I start with anything other than Jumeriah Beach and the 7 star hotel!

I dipped my feet in the Arabian Gulf - it was so warm - not refreshing at all - but beautiful and clean. (photo of my feet in there following).

Dubai

I've arrived in Dubai safely - 8pm here. Tomorrow morning I have the city tour and the following day the sand dunes/ dinnner.
I think tomorrow afternoon will be by the pool - it's pretty warm here. The hotel is lovely and naturally, air conditioned, so I doubt I will suffer much.

Hopefully I'll have some photos to put up tomorrow.
Goodnight all.

I must say Im really not quite ready to leave England yet - another couple of days would be great. But alas, onward and upward (literally) tomorow when I will be off to Dubai. I managed to deposit the car back to Hertz - getting into Gatwick really was easy.

I'm debating whether I will still do the sand dunes thing - my henna tattoo is (thankfully) fading and I don't want another one, and am not sure if I want to eat anything that's been sitting out in the heat. I've had a hard lesson in the joys of food poisoning and don't want to go there again - but don't want to be a wimp either. I'll see how I feel when I get there.
All is good with me.

Bye for now.
Vicki

i really love this coastline - part of the jurassic coast. it really is spectacular- well worth the visit and well worth walking along that coastal path.

a bit of exitement here last night with 2 rescue helicoptors flying in - i think someone had a bit of a fall and got a nasty gash on their leg.

see the little track up that hill- that's where i was walking!!

this is durdle door!

this is a really beautiful area. this morning i walked the coastal path - up and down some serious hills right along the edge of the cliff - these are "character building" hills and my knees will tell the story tomorrow i bet. but really worth it - fantastic views - white cliffs, blue skys, boats on the beautiful water. it really was fantastic - and the best part - i was out before the hoards so for the most part had all this to myself.

lulworth cove

I'm leaving Flushing today and heading over to Lulworth Cove. I expect to be off the air probably until Monday. I've really enjoyed it here and will hopefully come back one day.
Bye for now
Vicki

walk to mylor harbour

i walked on wednesday around to mylor harbour which is about 5 miles round trip. as you can see the views are stunning - and another beautiful day

the cottage and street

i'm the pale blue door. as you can see it's all lovely

st mawes

st mawes is very beautiful as you can see and i had a lovely time wandering around the village and the castle before getting the ferry back to flushing. all very civilised

st mawes castle on the point - built to defend against the spanish

flushing

i took the ferry to falmouth and to st mawes. as you can see it's a beautiful day and very picturesque. it's just what i need - very beautiful and relaxing

i thought i would make this my first English post so you can see i am feeling fine and definitely not fading away.

the doctor says i have food poisoning and the symptoms could go on for weeks. as always happens with me, once i know what the issue is, i can deal with it and i feel better - mind over matter.

i had a beautiful dinner at the Quay Cafe (fomerly known as the sticky prawn). you guessed it, grilled fish and salad - but freshly caught, local fish. Delicious.

this is my final post from Egypt and what could be more fitting than the beautiful Nile.

The tour was everything i hoped and i've had the best time.

....................and now to England - watch this space.

pat and i having lunch overlooking the beautiful mediteranian in Alexandria.