Home Sweet Home

Well, we have done it!!!!

48 days, 7 countries and many friends have made our 'round the world' adventure something that Amy & I will be able to reflect on for many years ahead! It was an awesome trip with many highlights and once in a life time opportunities. We took various forms of transport, experienced new cultures and tasted new delicacies.

To the loyal readers, thank you for keeping up with this blog. This will be the last blog for a little while, as I need some time to organise the next adventure. There's always more to explore in this wonderful world!

Best view of the house

We have made it to our final destination before heading home from our trip. At Chiang Mai airport, we were greeted by Jen (my sister, who is spending a year in Thailand with Australian Youth Ambassadors) and Gra (my bro, who was in Thailand for the week after spending three weeks on holidays in Bangladesh). We were able to have dinner together before Gra headed back home.

A definite highlight for us was our trip to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. Amy & I enjoyed a 1/2 hour ride through the lush rainforest on an 34 year old female elephant named Mae Sai. At the elephant show we watched in amazement the skills and talents of the elephants and their trainers. Did you know that elephants can play soccer, paint, & play the mouth organ??? Very talented!!! And, the best thing was that the elephants appeared to love it!

Today, the three of us went to "The Best Thai Cooking Class". We cooked several courses including: stir fries, curries, sticky rice (Kerry - remind me to give you the recipe!), papaya salad, spring rolls and the traditional western Thai option - Pad Thai! It was a brilliant day and we thoroughly enjoyed having a chance to eat the food that we cooked. Needless to say, we don't need to eat for a week.

(Photo: Thai "adventure" style cooking - The initial flame almost reached the ceiling!)

Like sands through the hour glass...

...these are the days in Dubai...

(There is a lot of contention in the room at the moment regarding this blog title. Just to acknowledge the other suggestions, here they are: "Sand & the City", "In the desert" and "What a Souq".)

Let me explain... after flying from Toronto via Heathrow, we landed in the late evening in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the first time in the Middle East for me, so I was certainly intrigued by the experience that Amy & I would have. We were picked up by our Sydney friend, Huy, who is in Dubai on a working contract. Let me say, it is hot! The daily temperature ranges between 35 to 45 degress, with high humidity.Yesterday, we had a tour of the city including walking around a souq (i.e. market); viewing the seven star Burj Al Arab hotel; and watching skiers at Ski Dubai, an indoor skiing venue locating in the middle of the desert! In the afternoon we joined a desert safari involving 4wd sand dune bashing, camel riding, henna and a bbq dinner banquet with belly dancing entertainment. Huy & Amy had fun laughing at me when I was pulled up for a demo in front of the crowd!

Introducing... Megan & Rob Jarvis

With the stunning backdrop of the Station Creek golf course, it was a beautiful summer day in Toronto for the wedding of Rob and Megan (nee Harris). With Rob being part Aussie & part Canadian, both Rob & Megan declared their love and life long committment for each other in front of their Aussie/Canadian friends and family. They will be honeymooning in New York for five days before returning to their home in Townsville.

It was an honour and absolute pleasure to be able to join Megan in celebrating her marriage to Rob on the opposite side of the world. (It was also great to hear some familiar accents!)

Here are a few photos: Mr & Mrs R. Jarvis (see above); Amy, Megan & Alison enjoying the night before the wedding; and Megan & Alison cutting moves on the dance floor.

The Big Apple

With only two days in New York, we managed to squeeze in all of the tourist activities that we wanted to do including: boat trip around the Statute of Liberty; visits to Wall St & WTC Site; horse drawn carriage trip around Central Park; attendance at a Yankees game (Yankees defeated BlueJays 6 to 1); walking around Times Square in the day and at night; and watching the Broadway show "Rent". It was fantastic to be joined by our fellow 'round the world' travellers, Nick & Em, for our time touring NY.

Just a little note on sleeping... as some people may know, I can sleep anywhere. But, I feel this time that I have pushed the limits. Did you know that it is possible to fall asleep on an open double decker bus as it drives around NY? (Unfortunately, there is some photographic proof of this, but you won't be seeing that posted on this blog anytime soon.)