We kicked off September at full speed with our adventures in Lebanon and we didn't seem to stop from there. Not long after our return, we took to the sea and went out on an afternoon yacht trip around the Marina and Palm Island just off the coast of Dubai. It was a particularly rocky ride and while most of the boat's occupants spent the greater part of the ride down below, Casey and I cracked out the wine and enjoyed the great view. Cheers to having stomachs of steel!Despite our efforts at detoxing after eating our way through Lebanon, the diet was put on hold the following weekend when we finally got around to having our housewarming party. After being in Dubai for nearly 5 months (!), 4 of which have been in our apartment, a housewarming was well and truly over due. So the second week of September was spent madly trying to get all those last minute things fixed up in the apartment and finally getting some pictures up on the walls. It's amazing how having some personal photos up on a wall can instantly transform an apartment into a home.
We have no idea how long we will be in Dubai, but it is a refreshing change from backpacking and our time in Korea to have a nice, comfortable place that we can shape into a home. We concluded that the housewarming was a big success, if only judged by the number of empty champagne bottles collected the next morning and the last guests leaving in the wee hours of the morning!We didn't have long to shake off the post party pain before our friend Tara arrived; our first visitor in Dubai. We met Tara in Korea, a kiwi teaching in the city nearest to where we lived. Her small apartment was regularly jam-packed with the two of us, so we couldn't wait to return the favour and have her stay with us in Dubai. 10 days later we bid farewell to an exhausted but happy Tara who had seen a bunch of Dubai and had accompanied us on a mega 1600km, 4 day road trip to Oman and back.
A big congratulations to our purple people eating car, Mo, who against all odds made it through the road trip flawlessly. He did this, despite our failure to locate a petrol station on Oman's main
highway and having to drive 35 km on an empty fuel light - the last 10 were done with no air con in an attempt to squeeze every last inch of road out of the vapors of fuel remaining. I have never been so happy to see a petrol station! Otherwise the trip went off without a hitch. We spent an afternoon exploring the harbour area of Muscat and then the next day drove down to Sur, about 260km south of Muscat. We headed to Sur to catch up with some long lost buddies - actually it was the teachers we met in our tiny town in South Korea who we ended up taking over their apartment after they left. Such a small world! While we were there we went out one night to a huge turtle conservation area where you can go with a guide at night to watch turtles come up onto the beach and lay their eggs. We were lucky enough to be there in the peak season and managed to see a number of mama turtles come and go and also saw some youngsters that had just hatched make their dash for the water. It really was an incredible experience and totally reaffirmed my love for these big beautiful creatures.The next day we hit the beach, with Shawn and Becky showing us an amazing resort where we had lunch and went snorkeling. It was a gem of a spot that you could have easily driven past without the benefit of local knowledge. Thanks guys for a great couple of days and for your awesome hospitality! Oman is definitely on our list of places to explore more...perhaps when the weather cools down a bit though.
Back in Dubai and we managed to squeeze a lot into Tara's last couple of days. First off was Wild Wadi - the creme da la creme of water parks in my opinion. It was insane!!! From the never ending wave boarding area to water slides that have you screaming for your mummy (we have video proof Tara), there was enough to keep the three of us giggling, screaming and crying for a good part of the day before begging for mercy and heading home.Congratulations to Tara who can also add going up the tallest building in the world to her long list of accomplishments - I on the other hand, was quite
happy to stay with my feet firmly on the ground and look up at all 828metres (160 floors) of the Burj Khalifa. We stayed after her daring climb to watch the nightly light and fountain show before heading out to a great Arabic place that made shawarmas to kill for! Diet...what diet?With September coming to a close we welcomed the beginning of what will probably be a quieter month of October (and then bring on November when we will be heading to JORDAN...woohooo).
Lots of love to all our friends and family throughout the world. We miss you all very much and hope that wherever you are, you are happy and well. Congrats to Mark & Mandy on their wedding day and happy 92nd birthday to my amazing Nan.
//Kate
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