Our trip to Dusseldorf

Mehdi and I just came back from our first flight together for AGES! We went to Dusseldorf in the south of Germany. Sami and Doro drove up for the night. We went straight into the city to find the biggest sauciest sausages available, it was a freezing cold day so a giant hot dog went down beautifully. We had a light dinner and a drink in the hotel and hit the sack pretty early coz we were all dead tired. We got up at a civil hour the next morning and had a buffet breakfast in the hotel. The time flew by and soon it was time to get ready and go. It was so great to see Sami and Doro, they really made an effort to come and see us! Here are some photo's of us just before we left.

It was Dad's birthday while we were away in Dussledorf, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! We missed you but were glad to hear Jessie and Ayden made you a nice dinner!

Some days at the Beach

Mehdi and I recently had four days off together. We spent most of those days at the beach. Here's Mehdi sitting on the rock wall just near this little beach we found a few k's away from the Burj Al Arab.

This is me looking very squinty, you can see the Burj in the background, just.

Here's the Burj at sunset on a beautiful clear day.

Dubai Going Crazy

Buildings have been popping up like mushrooms aound here! These are some photo's we took of construction going on around the city.

This is the Burj Dubai getting closer to completion as construction goes on around the clock. It's scarily tall! When it's finished it will be the tallest building in the world. At the bottom (left of the tower) will be the worlds largest shopping mall.

This one is of some cranes working around the Burj Dubai.

This is the city scape at sunset, always growing out of the sand! If you look closely you can see all the cranes.

Mehdi looking smug in Malta

Here's Mehdi looking very smug, and for good reason! He's sitting at a Cafe in Malta... he's been getting all the good destinations, so he's been taking all the photos! But he's also done his share of rubbish, he's had three Dakas in as many months and some pretty awful night time turn arounds, so I guess he's paying his dues as well.

Here are some photo's Mehdi took around the island.

Mehdi had two days downroute so he got lots of time to look around and sample the local cuisine, namely Rabbit and Horse as well as lots of lamb and oily fish.... mmmm.....

Mehdi in Nice

Mehdi went to Nice last month and (our good friend and flatmate) Florent's parents took Mehdi on a tour of the city. He said it was a great 24hrs and a big thanks to Mr and Mrs Brousse for making him welcome. Also thanks to Macdonalds for the great breakfast of croissants (since when does Maccas serve french pastries for breakfast? Well, apparently in Nice, they do!) Here are some photo's of the lovely Nice;and flashy marina of a little town the French call MONACO!

Dubai Desert Challenge

Well, it's been a long time since Greece and a fair bit has been happening! We have been back to Liege at least twice, our plans for Christmas have been coming together, Sami and Doro have both passed thier exams at school and are going to spend 15 weeks in Australia at the beginning of next year, Mum and Dad have sold the house and are moving further north, and Mehdi and I are still here... We haven't been flying together very much lately, but we still manage to get our off days together. Here are some photo's I took at the Dubai Desert Challenge Rally start day in Jumeira.

This is the Dubai Civil Defence Corvette!?

Greece cont.

Sami and Doro buzzing along in one of the little buggies we hired to see the island.

The view from the road.

Mehdi and I at Paradise Beach, where we spent the day.

Doro looking beautidul and sunkissed at the verandah bar. A great place for a Martini Bianco (the only drinkable thing on the menu).

Greece

Mehdi managed to get a few days off before me so he flew to Brussels (via Vienna with Austrain Airlines) to spend a few extra days with his family and arrange our travel plans.

We really had no idea where we were going, so Sami and Mehdi headed down to the travel agent to find out what packages where available in the next couple of days. We ended up getting a great last minute deal on 7nights, 8days on a little island called Kos in the Aegean Sea.

A couple of days later I flew to Brussels (via Vienna) with Emirates, of course the Emirates flight was delayed and I missed my connection in Vienna. Luckily there was another flight leaving soon and it just meant a couple of hours delay. When I arrived in Brussels, a very exited Sami, Dorothee and Mehdi came to pick me up and told me the good news that we would be flying to Greece the next morning. I had just enough time to fit in choucroute at Mamy's and the next morning the four of us jumped on a plane to Kos!

"Hurry Up, Brooke!" this is Mehdi just after we arrived, keen to explore the resort.

A couple of photo's from the beach on the 1st day. (Sami and Doro above, and me).

These were taken in the little village, Kardamaina, about 5 minutes drive from our hotel.

Sami and Doro outside the marketplace in the capital city of Kos also called Kos.

The team in Kos.

Here's Doro and I with the faux 'Socrates Thinking Tree'.

The Sorates Thinking Tree is Kos's main attraction. This is where the father of modern medicine supposedly wrote the Hypocratic Oath. This is just some random tree that we thought was THE tree when a sign showing the direction of THE tree was pointing straight at the faux tree, if you get my drift. So we stood around snapping shots of the wrong tree while the other tourists thought we were idiots.

THE Tree and ruins.

This is where we ate lunch in Kos.

Hi Everyone!

My Goodness! Over a month since our last blog, and so much has happened! I FINALLY got my ass to Perth to catch up with Pip... which was awsome, we kept each other awake all night catching up on the last too many years since we saw each other.
Mehdi and I got our leave and inchalla will be at the farm for christmas.
AND we just got back from Greece via Belgium! I know Mum has been dying to see some photo's so here they are!

A Postcard from Hong Kong

Mehdi and I went to Hong Kong together this month, just after my birthday.

It's an amazing city, so busy and fast pace! We did some great shopping and site seeing.

Here is a little postcard to sum up our trip...

More Birthday Pics

Thanks everyone for your comments and birthday love!

Here are a few more pics of my magical day...

After Dinner Drinks at the Burj

After dinner, Mehdi suggested a walk on the beach.

We ended up at the Burj Al Arab where he had made a reservation for drinks (an impossible feat considering it was Friday night).

It was really amazing, I have never seen anything like it. The photo's above are taken in the hotel lobby.

Happy Birthday To Me!

It was my Birthday on the 4th and Mehdi and I were off together.

We had a sleep-in and spent the morning together, Florent came over at lunch time to say 'Happy Birthday' and have some cake for afternoon tea.

In the evening, Mehdi surprised me and took me out to a restaraunt that I had never been to before, called Aquarium. It was really beautiful and very romantic.

This is a photo of me in the restaraunt with my birthday cake. The photo above is the massive aquarium in the middle of the restaraunt.

Wild Wadi Again!

Here we are again at Wild Wadi last month. So much fun as always!

Red Bull Air Race Abu Dhabi

Earlier last month, Mehdi, Florent and I went to the Red Bull Air Race in Abu Dhabi. It was pretty cool... The boys had the time of their lives!

Can't Thai us Down! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

Hi Everyone!

It seems that there is a little rumour circulating that Mehdi and I could be back down under and at Gambrey Downs for Noel... I cannot confirm or deny this report at the current time. You'll just have to keep checking the blog for more updates!

We should be able to give a firm answer before the end of this month.

Once again, Mehdi and I only did a couple of flights together last month.

Our last one was Bangkok! That was one crazy ride! As soon as we got there we went straight for a thai massage at a 'Strictly Non-Sexual' massage parlour! It was really physical, knees in you back type stuff. I felt like she was doing yoga ON my body. But I felt great afterwards. We left the massage parlour and got into a cab to the night market! At this stage a huge tropical storm was starting to unleash itself overhead! It was a real treat... the lightning was AWSOME. By the time we got to Lumpini Market the streets were like rivers! I'm so glad it was too dark to see what we were wading through, double glad that we didn't have any open sores on our feet! Haven't seen so many overgrown cockies since Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom!

So we did a bit of shopping (pictured above). We picked up this set of three for about 20aud! I bought some flip flops as well!

Next Morning we got up and went for a walk in the city, did a bit more shopping...

Here I am near a temple a couple of streets away from our hotel. All these vendors string flowers together to sell as offerings to take to the temple.

This is just one last pic to sweep you off your feet (my bad again! sorry).

Kiki in the UAE

Mehdi's Daddy, Kilani, came to stay with us in Dubai for nearly three weeks. He went home so dark that Ingrid may not recognise him! He did lots of cooking, sunbathing and a bit of shopping while he was in town. We loved having you here Kilani and hope to see you back in Dubai soon!

Here he is at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.

Long time no blog!

Hi everyone!

Suprisingly, Mehdi and I are still alive and alot has been happening.

Although we haven't been flying together much lately (thanks to being on reserve for a month and least senior for bidding for the last couple of months) we have still managed to fit in plenty of time together.

It has been winter over here and shockingly it hsa been raining and coolish (not really beach weather). We have been doing a fair bit of shopping and looking around. We have been to Abu Dhabi and to the Omani border. Here is a picture of us on the ferris wheel at Global Villiage (a local theme park that opens for the cooler months).

Tunisia Day II

After a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, Mehdi and I hit the streets again for some last minute shopping. Little did we know that when we left the hotel to get a cab we would be meeting up with Aloui Abdelssalem, our new best friend. Aloui not only drove us to the market, but for a few dinars extra he took us to his favourite stalls and promised to get us the best price.
The view from our room at the hotel.

Mehdi (left) and Aloui (bending down) hunting for bargains. We bought some home made olive oil here, beautifully packaged in an old plastic water bottle, it's so green!

Fruit and vegetables in the market.

Ladies in traditional local dress buying coal (this is not a religious dress, it is designed to keep dust off garments worn underneath and is unique to the region)

A cat in the tobaconist.

On the way back to the hotel Aloui stopped off for us to take some photo's. Here he is talking to me about got knows what!

We managed to do alot in 24hrs! Can't wait to go back to Tunisia.