24 January 2007
First Snow
The first snow of the winter in London fell this morning. Good stuff to, nice and fluffy and great for a morning snowball fight!
Skiing in the Alps
We hope to ski once we're in New Zealand, so I thought it's about time I learnt! My wife is an experienced skier, but I was starting from scratch. We went to the RN Ski and Snowboard Championships in Les Menuires (said to be the ugliest ski resort in the Alps), part of the Trois Vallees regions in France. After 4 days of excellent instruction I was able to tackle some red runs, but still need to build on my confidence. Unfortunately my wife was injured twice (the second time hit by another skier who catapulted her into a ski rack from which she was just recovering her equipment) so has had much of her confidence dented.
03 January 2007
Christmas in Dubai
We have just flown back to the UK after spending Christmas with my parents in Dubai, practicing for those warm Christmas's in New Zealand! We flew with Virgin which we were impressed with when we flew with them to Barbados a few years ago, less so this time. I'm quite tall and felt very cramped. Air New Zealand have a much better seat pitch.
Christmas Day on the beach, with the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel in the distance.
The Christmas Tree in the Jumeriah Beach Hotel. A love this hotel, but it is very expensive unless you can get deals from the UK. If you book there in Dubai you're talking £200 a night. Over Christmas I was told they were insisting on a minimum stay of 10 nights at £400 a night, not including food!
The Creak. These vessels are mainly used for dining in the evening. The Shopping Festival was on - this usually start in January but was extended to 2 months (from the usual 1) as last year it had been cancelled with the death of the previous Sheik.
This city is growing fast, even since we last visited 18 month ago. The Burj Dubai, set to be the tallest building in the world, is half way complete now. We travelled onto the causeway of one of the famous 'palms' and you have to be impressed at their size, if not their ecological impact. Some 60% of the worlds construction cranes are in Dubai, and travelling around I can well believe it. The next phase is out into the desert (including the largest Theme Park in the world - Dubailand), which will help take Dubai from its present population of nearly 1.3 million to 10 million in ten years.
An incredible place.
Christmas Day on the beach, with the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel in the distance.
The Christmas Tree in the Jumeriah Beach Hotel. A love this hotel, but it is very expensive unless you can get deals from the UK. If you book there in Dubai you're talking £200 a night. Over Christmas I was told they were insisting on a minimum stay of 10 nights at £400 a night, not including food!
The Creak. These vessels are mainly used for dining in the evening. The Shopping Festival was on - this usually start in January but was extended to 2 months (from the usual 1) as last year it had been cancelled with the death of the previous Sheik.
This city is growing fast, even since we last visited 18 month ago. The Burj Dubai, set to be the tallest building in the world, is half way complete now. We travelled onto the causeway of one of the famous 'palms' and you have to be impressed at their size, if not their ecological impact. Some 60% of the worlds construction cranes are in Dubai, and travelling around I can well believe it. The next phase is out into the desert (including the largest Theme Park in the world - Dubailand), which will help take Dubai from its present population of nearly 1.3 million to 10 million in ten years.
An incredible place.
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