Home...sweet...home. The last post.

The Last Post...
Home again after an unforgettable experience with memories to cherish. Thanks to all the people who made our trip so much fun, Lesley, Christine, Cherie, Coralie, The Blackticks girls, The families of the
Blacksticks and Gem. Also all the locals who Rob made friends with (he has lots of hotel clerks, taxi drivers, people met who we might just see turn up in NZ.
The last few days of our trip were an experience in itself. We flew into Dubai and saw an amazing city which is so clean, organised with amazing buildings and city sights. We stayed in a 5 star hotel which was pure luxury and went out to some markets in the 46 degree heat. The markets had very expensive junk and the people are so pushy, I got quite aggravated when they where trying to dress me in scarves and Lesley said ' don't worry about them just ignore them!' I still did not like being touched by these pushy market people. Oh well I guess they have to make a living too.
That night, we went out to the largest mall (Dubai Mall) in the middle east. That is where you see the real wealth of this city. Outside, the cars pull up to drop of the locals who are gold clad underneath the black outfits (women are rather scary with just slits to see their eyes) and the men all in white. The cars are unreal and Rob wanted to stay out there just to watch the cars come in.. Lamborgini, Hummers, Courvettes, you name it and these cars where arriving to drop off the owners into the department stores such as Gucci, Ralf Lauren, etc.. and they come out with shopping bags full of all these top of the line stores. Amazing that they have to cover themselves up and no one sees their beautiful clothes underneath.
Anyway we were preparing to go home at what we thought was our 8pm departure the next day so thought we had a nice day relaxing by the pool. The next morning when the phone rang at 8am I thought 'oh no somethings wrong here' and sure enough it was the hotel reception ringing us for our airport shuttle pick up. It turned out we had misread the flight time and our flight was actually 10.25am and pick up was 8am!! I said holy shit!!! You must be joking!!! to the guy on the other end and he didn't quite understand me. I said give us 10 minutes to get ready so we got up, got dressed and packed all our stuff in 10 mins!!! Was quite a feat but we made it to the airport and flew out in time.
The flight was uneventful and Jared was patiently waiting for us to arrive as I had told him 12.30pm not 1.30. Was good to finally be home although a bit colder than we were used to. We went back to Jared's flat for him to pick up his stuff and finally set off home for Tauranga. Disaster stuck about 20 mins into our journey when his wheel made a noise and started smoking! We stopped and saw the damage and drove a few more kms to the nearest BP. It turned out the wheel bearing was cooked and we couldn't go on. With much deliberation on what to do, we finally got a lift from Stazy back to Jared's, left his car there and stayed the night to hopefully fix the next day. No luck as it needed a garage and Rob gave up on his idea to fix on the side of the road, so we had to have it towed to a nearby garage for them to fix. We caught the 1pm intercity bus home which took 4 hours but after all the traveling we have done was no problem and quite relaxing.
This has been a great time and if anyone reading is going to Europe any time call me for some tips because there is definitely things I would do differently but I guess that makes traveling so much fun, the unexpected. We have lots of memories that is well worth the money we spent on our trip. Thanks to all of you who bothered to read this blogg as it has at times felt like my homework to keep up with!
Goodbye..

Last few photos from Turkey...

Kusadasi - paradise away from home.

 Roof top swimming pool

 Sneaky beer.....

 Out to dinner

Kusadasi - On the coast of Turkey- These pics tells it all - great place - top holiday spot....

Turkey...
Just had a fantastic week in Turkey. This place is now on my number one top places to visit.  Turkey is vibrant, hot and sunny, beautiful warm water, great shopping, friendly people, reasonable prices for food and accommodation, relaxing, mysterious, different so all the right mix for a great time. Istanbul was a bustling city but also very relaxing and calm for some reason, maybe the prayers help! We spent two days exploring and just taking in the sights, visiting a mosk, taking a boat cruise on the Bosphorus straight which separates Istanbul into two continents (Asia and Europe). We love the markets and all there is to see here.
Istanbul...
Breakfast from our hotel rooftop

 Visiting the Blue mosk
we found a friend who
wanted to marry Lesley.
He is the little guy pictured
with me. He smelt bad
and in the end just wanted
to sell us a carpet!!!

 Above is Lesley...
We cant keep her off the
bong, no wonder she is
a little tired by day!

 Two continents, one city,
Istanbul separated by the
Bosphorus.

Lost in Paris in heat wave!!!

Meanwhile when the Ford Fillies have been in luxury in Spain, Lesley, Rob and I have had a not so pleasant 3 days in Paris. We arrived in the middle of a heat wave which was like walking into an oven at about 40 degrees right through the night. The French are not so friendly when it comes to directions especially when you are speaking in an English accent. Saying you are Kiwi helps a bit but not always...
Lesley and I decided we would take the hop on, hop off bus around Paris for a look while Rob sensibly remained close to hotel doing just one bus route. We ended up on the bus for about 3 hours unable to hop off and when we did not able to find the right bus back. Anyway we finally got to the hotel at 7.30pm after a long hot exhausting day. Paris is not the same as it used to be we decided and is much more commercial and set up for tourists rather than real French flavour. Lesley and I were asked to be in a documentary on the street and we accepted of course. They asked us about the changes in Paris etc so was a bit of a laugh. All in all we were quite glad to leave Paris. Next stop Istanbul....

Paris by day

Paris by night....

THE FORD FILLIES DIVERSION TO SPAIN

Arriving in the late evening (after missing our earlier flight by just
minutes.. having had way too much fun before hand) turned out to be a plus
as the lights of Barcelona under the palm trees and beautiful old buildings
created a magical, romantic scene.. of course that’s in my imagination as
travelling with C & C was more laughs and giggles, but you get the drift. 

Our Hotel was fantanstic, very stylish in decor and the rooftop pool bar
became our second home, especially as a heat wave made afternoon sightseeing
very tough going. Our trio became 5 with Gemma and Lauren joining us for a
few days, in fact once they discovered our flash digs, they somehow managed
to become squatters.. nice to treat the young girls before their camping
Contiki trip.

Day 1 kicked off with a wander thru the shops before hitting the beach with
a cool watermelon daiquiri and Tapas. Strolling down the beach promenade it
was eyes front to avoid the ‘old danglers and droopy boobs of the European
naturists, aghh not pretty. 
The architectural splendour of the old town of Barcelona was a sight to
behold. The buildings were majestic in size and detail and history. For
instance the Barcelona Cathedral took 600 years to complete. The highlight
of the trip was to see the works of Gaudi. The Sagrada Familia (Cathedral)
was jaw dropping with its intricate spires and playful ‘off-the- wall’
features, while the Park Guel located on the hillside above the city had
prime viewing towards the sea. The walled mosaic gardens were a crazy mix
of avant garde designs, creative archways, with the home of Gaudi and its
again quirky furniture designs.. in fact I would say many recent movies and
stories such as Dr Seus, Avatar etc may have borrowed inspiration from
Gaudi’s work. Truly unique and worth a visit.
With the sightseeing ticked off, it was time to retire to the roof top pool
bar again where the balmy serene atmosphere had a surreal quality, stunning
views over the roof tops of Barcelona, modern hotels rising amongst the
ancient plazas and Cathedrals with the Gaudi designs standing out.
Relaxation was our main aim, and by day two we were full speed on go slow
mode.. The hotel contributed to our sense of wellbeing with its dark muted
colours, dim lighting, soft mellow relaxing music, and layout of the lounge
and dining areas were made for comfort and privacy. We were most impressed
and rejuvenated from the hectic pace of travelling.
Cheers, Cherie, Christine and Coralie (photos to come )

Photos from Ireland.....

Saturday - Celebrated Cherie and Christines 50th with a party at William's flat. We had a few visitors staying the weekend, Lauren and Emil, Emma and Peter and Charlotte from Germany. The Balham flat looked like international house. We had a great night and went to fabulous markets, met up with Gemma at Portobello Road

Monday 13th
Off to Dublin Ireland, two fantastic nights in Ireland spent sightseeing, dancing and enjoying the Irish nightlife in Temple Bar area. Everywhere you go in Ireland, they play great live music.
During the day we went on a hop on hop off bus to see all the sights of Dublin.

View these photos to see the rest of our trip- Bonratty Castle had a medieval feast and music, Limmerick for a night and then Dingle a quaint coastal town. Spent the last night Tralee again went to a local pub and had wonderful live music and entertainment. Last day was spent in Kilaney (Flynn's family home town)