Destinations
Abu Dhabi
Eastern Mangroves by Anantara welcomes Lonely Planet Photographs into her luxurious surroundings
The Lonely Planet Middle East Showcases Photo Talent at the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara Here in the UAE there are a plethora of 5 star hotels. And being honest, having been here for 16 years on and off. A five star hotel here is a totally different...
A weekend in Abu Dhabi – Yas Waterworld and the Louvre exhibition
Thanks to the bombardment of the coupon sites, it was decided upon that the14-15th June would be spent in the capital Abu Dhabi, well Yas Island really, as a belated birthday celebration for one of our parties elder Statesman. As with most hotels check in time is 2pm...
Monster trucks in the UAE – Welcome Monster Jam
Last weekend a childhood dream was realised. I finally got to see the Monster Trucks of Monster Jam, live in action in the country I call home, the UAE. For many this will make no sense, but it has been one of those things I have always wanted to see. Since a kid, I...
Al Forsan – Abu Dhabi’s Sports and Leisure Resort
What is there to do at the weekend in the United Arab Emirates? Many people that come to visit the UAE often ask what there is to do other than go to the mall - especially in the summer months, when it's too hot to be outside, camping, hiking, dune bashing, wadi...
Australia
Welcoming the New Year Oz Style
New Years Eve- The River Cafe on the River Torrens http://www.rivercafe.com.au/ - awesome seats on the deck, some pretty good food and constantly flowing bottles of wine - perfect way to end the year. Love the long sunsets in Oz, bit warm to start with but cooled into...
The Barossa Valley – wine country part 2
The Barossa Valley - a must do, if you are in the area and are even remotely interested in wine. We managed to actually get 4 cellar doors in on this occasion, but considering the vast number of them, this was still a tiny tiny number. We managed to hit Turkey Flat,...
Heading into Wine Country – McLaren Vale South Australia
Our 1st visit to wine country saw us head to the Mclaren Vale. This is a region not to far away from where we were staying. We visited Paxtons first, they are a small winery, who are heavily into Biodynamic farming to make their wine. Makes them stand out from just...
1st trip to Oz – what’s in store!?
Annalisa and Matt (sister and brother in law) moved to Australia in July 2011, just after my birthday. It's something that Annalisa has been wanting to do for a long time and finally, after all the usual hold ups an hassles with visas (2 years) they were on there way....
Canada
Whistlestop Montreal
Whistle-stop Tour of Montreal. Having family all over the world is a great situation to be in. This last trip to Canada and my cousin living in Montreal, meant a whistle-stop trip up to the French part of Canada was a must. The downside to having family all over the...
Burlington, Jordan, Niagara Falls and Downtown Toronto
What to do in the Greater Toronto Area. First things first, this is obviously not a comprehensive list!! 🙂 In fact it's just a couple things we managed to fit in. The Greater Toronto Area or GTA as it's affectionately known covers what is really quite a vast area....
Two Stop Trip to Toronto
Returning to the 'meeting place' (Toronto) after 14 years. As part of my degree, many moons ago, I spent 1 year in industry and was fortunate enough to have that year, based just outside Toronto in Mississauga by the airport. What I loved about Toronto, which takes...
Dubai
My top 5 travel blogs
As a travel enthusiast. I love reading other blogs of people who are out there, doing what I love doing, but doing it more often. They are interesting people with some amazing stories and experiences of lands I have been to and those that are on my to do list. I know...
Wadi Adventure – It’s Awesome
This post is an amalgamation post, as we have been to Wadi Adventure twice since it opened and as the title suggests, it's awesome. Only an hour or so up the road from Dubai, and you have a dedicated facility to cater to your water based adrenaline needs. The first...
Peak Performance Dubai presents Desert Ski Competition March 23rd 2012
Desert Ski Competition In its 2nd year, the Desert Ski Competition sponsored by Peak Performance is back! As the weather gets a bit warmer and for some reason the wind is blowing a gale outside, why not get your weekend adrenaline fix with a bit of skiing or...
Annie Cummings – Help for Heroes Jordan Trek Challenge
Annie Cummings takes on Jordan Trek Challenge for Help for Heroes Help for Heroes is doing an amazing job for so many military families and my cousin, Annie Cummings has chosen to undertake the Jordan Trek Challenge to give something back to Help for Heroes. Some of...
Camping by the Banyan Tree Ras Al Khaimah
5 star camping by the Banyan Tree RAK It was time to take Felcity, the Raptor out into the desert and see what she was made of . Nothing too challenging, just a nice easy introduction to the desert, duning and some Baja style speed cross country followed by a night...
Aqaba-Lima Hike
Aqaba - Lima Hike - half a day up and over It's been a while since I posted so got lots to catch up on! This hike was quite a while ago but one that was thoroughly enjoyable. Matt 'Hunter' Wilson, Lenny, Matt N and myself set out reasonably early as we had to get to...
Zoos in the UAE don’t care for their animals – True or False?
The Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort is a fantastic day out! To answer the title question - the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (AWPR)most definitely cares for it's animals and it shows. It's counterpart in Dubai has a lot to answer for in comparison. A month or so...
Wisdom, Wellness and Wealth Weekend
What a weekend!! Just come back from the first Wisdom, Wellness and Wealth Weekend retreat. This inaugral weekend was at the Al Hamra Fort hotel in Ras Al Khaimah and whilst it has been around for a long long time, the hotel offered a great venue for it. The grounds...
Jordan
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Lebanon
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Nepal
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Oman
Annual Al Marsa Musandam Dive Dhow Trip
Al Marsa - Musandam 2 night Dhow Dive Trip. This is a dive trip we have done once a year for the last 3 years and most of the people on the dhow we see once a year! We go through Al Marsa Musandam It's a great little trip, and ideally requires an early escape from...
Hiking and Camping on Jebel Shams
Sleeping under the stars on Jebel Shams the Grand Canyon of Oman Saturday morning; Lenny, Matt and I, after a breakfast at the Jebel Shams resort, went about packing the bags for our next couple of days up Jebel Shames, alongside the Grand Canyon of Oman! This...
The Grand Canyon of Oman – Jebel Shams and Wadi Nakhr
Jebel Shams - The Grand Canyon of Oman, hiking, camping, debilitating cramp, 25 litres of water, flash flood and a sand storm!! It's that time of year, and Lenny is officially a WANKER (Wife Away No Kids Eating Rubbish) again. Which can mean only one thing. Boys Trip....
Snake Canyon Wadi Bani Awf Oman – Canyoning down the Wadi
For a long time I've been wanting to go to Snake Canyon, to do the canyoning, but also to really do the Via Ferrata which is attaching yourself onto steel wires above the Wadi floor and going for a wander up the side of the Wadi walls and across the actual gaps in the...
Boys Weekend – Jebel Akhdar | Oman | Hiking, Camping and Swimming
As happens a lot in Dubai, those guys that are married and with families, become WANKER's for a month or two. Wife Away No Kids Eating Rubbish - Lenny's beautiful wife Morwenna and baby boy Theo (my godson) are back in the UK for the summer which means that Lenny is...
Palestine
Time to leave Palestine
Palestine and it's people have left a mark As with the way in, you need to give yourself plenty of time to get out of Palestine, across the Allenby Bridge and back to the airport to catch your flight, whether that is out of Tel Aviv or Amman. But the morning was a...
Inspirational companies in Palestine and a visit to Jerusalem
Mentoring truly inspirational companies in Rammala is an honour 4 days in and I discover there's bacon on the menu in the Movenpick Rammala!! And the chef made a really mean bacon, mushroom and cheese omellete. However, based on the long days, I had started...
Palestine during Ramadan. No problem……….
Respect for my Arab counterparts was growing After 3 days of semi fasting, my respect for my Arab counterparts was growing! It wasn't the lack of food so much as not being able to drink water. I usually consume about 4-5 litres a day and a couple of sneaky glasses in...
Palestine for a nice easy break!
Palestine for a bit of a jolly I thought! Wrong!! Up early to get breakfast in. It was assumed that there wasn't much chance of getting any food during the day so stocking up at brekkie was the idea. As it was the middle of Ramadan, there was literally nothing open...
Want to go to Palestine?
Ever been to Palestine? No. Want to go? Ok! I am all for trying new things and will usually say yes or OK to most things. Hence the headline of this blog post is taken from the conversation I had with Scot from T2VC. After seeing a presentation of mine, he saw the...
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah Dive Trip
Ras Al Khaimah Diving? Are you sure? You're right, Ras Al Khaimah is not the first place that springs to mind when you talk about scuba diving - not when you have the East coast of the UAE, or better still, Musandam just up the coast. But dismiss it, and you'll miss...
Thailand
And now for something completely different…..
Gorge Walking! Friday of that week and 8 of us piled into cars and set of for Wales at some ungodly hour. Eds weekend had arrived! It was officially his stag do, but we were far from your 'traditional' stag party. First of all the first day would be spent dressed as...
Sarah’s Big Day
The Muppet becomes a wife One of the reasons for my trip back was that my good friend from Uni was getting married. Apart from the day I had landed the weather had been extremely pleasant, for England. The morning of the big day and it was raining! But apparently that...
Summer Break
Sand Pit to The Big Smoke August 18th saw me embark on my 3 week break from the sandpit, for 2 weddings, a stag do and a few days in Houston. In between time getting to spend some quality time with my best friend and his family, including my godson Isaak who quite...
UK
And now for something completely different…..
Gorge Walking! Friday of that week and 8 of us piled into cars and set of for Wales at some ungodly hour. Eds weekend had arrived! It was officially his stag do, but we were far from your 'traditional' stag party. First of all the first day would be spent dressed as...
Sarah’s Big Day
The Muppet becomes a wife One of the reasons for my trip back was that my good friend from Uni was getting married. Apart from the day I had landed the weather had been extremely pleasant, for England. The morning of the big day and it was raining! But apparently that...
Summer Break
Sand Pit to The Big Smoke August 18th saw me embark on my 3 week break from the sandpit, for 2 weddings, a stag do and a few days in Houston. In between time getting to spend some quality time with my best friend and his family, including my godson Isaak who quite...
Vietnam
Good bye Vietnam – One last blast in Ho Chi Minh City
We love you Ho Chi Minh City and will be back for a more leisurely time in Vietnam. What an awesome country. Our trip had taken it's toll - Thera was not feeling at all well by this stage, the cold she had caught a couple days earlier was in full flow and after making...
Hue – The Citadel and the Perfume River
The Citadel at Hue sits on the Perfume River Hue - we passed the citadel on the way in and as we were dropped off found out that as it is a national holiday this weekend, everything is much more expensive. 400aed for a private car to show us the citadel and the pagoda...
Ha Long Bay and The Night Bus!!
Ha Long Bay - a beautiful National Heritage Site - A must for any Vietnam itinerary. Downstairs, breakfasted and ready to go at 8am, apparently our obscure location meant they got lost and also the bus couldn't get down the road! Our guide for the days though Cheong...
Food Tour of Hanoi City – Awesome!
Half day Vietnamese food tour with Daniel Hoyer from the Well Eaten Path We decided to have a bit of a lie in today and take it easy. We went back up to the 24 hour food street to grab some breakfast. We had seen a place on the first night we wanted to check...
Hanoi Here we come!!
Bit of a fuzzy head this morning. Some worse than others - down to breakfast and then someone needed a nap Packed and ready to go by midday - checkout and leave bags in reception. Kill 2 hours in town with a walkabout and some lunch at the banana leaf cafe. Yummy food...
Ho Chi Minh, Danang and Hoi An exploring
Hoi An wins hands down over Danang - Ho Chi Minh still the favourite though As we weren't doing the Mekong Delta we decided we would walk some of the rest of the city before our 2pm flight. We got the Opera house, Independence Palace, Notre Dame and the Ben...
Vietnam in 10 days – 5 flights, 6 cities an overnight bus and a boat!
Ho Chi Minh City and the Cu Chi Tunnels Vietnam has been on my list of places to visit for a long while now. I always envisaged a post University trip to South East Asia, spending a couple of months between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but 14 years later and it hadn't...