Day 32 and 33 - In flight to Sydney - 16 and 17 June

Arrived in Sydney at 6 am on Sat 17 June.
Visited Tristan and drove to Currarong.
Fantastic holiday.
Home sweet home:

Day 31 - Dubai - 15 June

Our last full day on holiday.

It is hot again.

We are spending the day by the pool.

Then we went on a dune buggy ride to take a camel ride, to see falcons, belly dancing and an Arabian feast in a tent in the desert.

The dune buggy was actually an airconditioned 4WD in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve.
The dunes were the real thing. Up, down, slide, up, down.  Luckily I had a handle to hold onto in the back!


The food was wonderful.  Even the Ocra salad that Patrick mistook for a chicken curry in the dark! We aren't telling him.

We had a very short ride on a camel.  Ron's Camel was very friendly and kept rubbing his head on my leg.

The belly dancer was a guy because it was Ramadan but we weren't disappointed at all.  He was great.

Day 30 - Dubai - 14 June

It is hot.  45 degrees.

We called a cart to pick  us up and deliver us to the lobby for our complimentary breakfast (because they mucked up our booking!).  A few moments in the heat and we are back in the air conditioned comfort of the lobby to enjoy a five star breakfast of anything your heart could desire ant this time in the morning!

We found one of the smaller pools (there are four) that was not frequented and spent the day going from the sea to the pool and some of us (Ron and Alf) ventured down the slides.

At 4pm we took the shuttle to the Dubai Mall and shopped, had dinner and saw the spectacular Dubai Fountain display. 100% better than the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas and that was absolutely wonderful.

We caught the hotel shuttle back to the hotel.

Day 29 - Barcelona to Dubai - 13 June

Viewed the superb and very different Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudi. We did the audio tour which we felt was really worthwhile. It is a stunning building that we were really moved by.

 Andrew really like the Basilica and I left my pebble of remembrance in a crack between two of the huge stones that make up the wall on the passion entry - right at the bottom of this photo:

Caught taxis to the Barcelona airport and an Emirates flight to Dubai.
We arrived at Dubai and midnight and it was still 32 degrees.
Caught a taxi to the Sofitel Palm Hotel.  They messed up our booking a bit and had given us a 3 bedroom apartment which was an upgrade but we declined saying we were 4 couples travelling together and wanted our own space so they upgraded us to 4 separate apartments.  Pretty spectacular with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and washing machine, huge sitting area, bathroom and bed.
Very nice way to end the holiday thanks to Cressida and Shayne for organising the accommodation and they boys for getting the upgrade.

Just beautiful.

Day 28 - Montserrat - 12 June

Montserrat.
Caught a taxi to the station to catch the train to Monistrol de Montserrat then the rack railway to the Montserrat Monastery.

Saw the Montserrat Basilica and then caught the funicular up a 60* slope to the top of the mountains above the Monastery. From Pla de les Tarantules we walked to the Sant Joan Chapel.   Lovely view from up there.

Then we came back down to hear the famous Montserrat Boy's Choir.  Unfortunately they were out for the day but we hear the ten year old from the school and another choir.

Shayne, Ron and I lined up to see the Black Madonna.  We saw St Ignatius sword on the way and then the Madonna.  She was beautiful.

Had an ice cream for lunch then back down to Barcelona safe and sound even though we braved the metro.  We've all been particularly vigilant during our stay and did not personally have anything stolen.

Walked around and had dinner near the Arc de Triomf at Joanet Bar and Restaurant.

Day 27 - Barcelona - 11 June

Beautiful day to catch a taxi to Park Guell.  Had a guided tour of the Monument section of the Park Which covered all the history of the park and the buildings and was excellent.
Park Guell was an estate Guell asked Gaudi to create in 1900 where 60 wealthy families could live away from the pollution and disease of the city.  Park Guell has roads (viaducts), extensive paths and interconnecting stairs and extensive interconnecting paths with lots of seating areas.  After building 3 houses Guell realised none of the wealthy Barcelonians were interested in living isolated from the city. So, in 1922 it was sold to the City of Barcelona.  In 1984 it was world heritage listed. We could see Three Crosses Hill at Barangelli in the distance.
One of the viaducts:

A viaduct from below.  They were built of brick (for economics and speed) and then covered in stone to make them look more natural:

Another viaduct:

Gaudi's house from 1906 to 1926:

Entrance and Porter's Lodge

Side view of the Hypostyle Room showing the columns and underside of the Nature Square:

Entrance and Porter's Lodge

Close up of the mosaics created by smashing recycled tiles and fixing them to the curved walls:

Monumental Flight of Stairs leading to the Salamander and the Hypostyle Room showing the columns that support the Nature Square:

The salamander

The Carriage turning circle.  They obviously chose the turning circle on the tiniest carriage available at the time it was designed (1900) because it is an incredibly tight turn:

Up the monumental flight of stairs is the Hypostyle Room whichis a collection of columns supporting the Nature Plaza above.  The ceiling is plain white mosaic tiles and there are one of these murals for each season.  This is summer - with the bright yellow, hot sun:

The Portico of the Washer Woman.  Those little sinks on the right hand side are where they were supposed to wash the clothes!  It is also a retaining wall for the rest of the park and the columns support the viaduct above:

This is the view over Barcelona from the Nature Square.  We are sitting on the ergonomically designed seats which are curved so small groups can easily talk together:

 This shows the curved seating:

We had lunch in the park. View over Barcelona from above the nature Square with Sagrada Familia in the background to the left (covered in cranes):

Visited Picasso Museum.  Excellent display of paintings showing his development as a painter through a myriad of styles all of which he seemed to have excelled at.  My only complaint was all of his great paintings are hanging elsewhere.

Dinner Bacoa Burger Bar at the beach.

Day 26 - Barcelona - 10 June

Walked around the gothic section of Barcelona.

Lunch at El Aparte a little cafe we found by wandering. It was lovely.

Dinner at Bilbao Berria.

Day 25 - Nerja to Barcelona - 9 June

Early morning start to battle with the carpark from hell to get the cars out.
Then we drive to Malaga to catch the plane to Barcelona.

Day 24 - Nerja - 8 June

Visited the village of Frigiliana on Costa del Sol about 5 km from Nerja but straight up hill it seems.  We are going by bus because the cars are locked away in carpark hell. 

Beautiful little town with a great view of Nerja. Some of us had paella on the terrace of a restaurant high up on the hill.  Lovely.  Then icecream on the way back to the bus to help with the heat. Back to the hotel for a swim in the pool.

The wifi in spain is annoyingly slow and I am having trouble uploading the pictures.  Hopefully Barcelona wifi will be better. 

Tough day today as it is Andrew's birthday but everyone here made it very easy to remember him and we got lots of nice messages from home too.   

Day 23 - Nerja - 7 June

Sea and sun.  Another beautiful day.

Breakfast with a great view at Marissal Cafe.

Day 22 - Nerja - 6 June

Same, same but different.

Superb weather yet again.
Breakfast at La Fragata, Nerja.

Beautiful beaches and lots of little shops to peruse.

Had a drink, saw the sights, had a swim, ate ice cream, some food and had another drink.

The car is in a carpark below the hotel that entailed doing a 90* turn in a tiny single car width lane with footpaths about 150mm wide - a 9 point turn - then getting it into a lift that was the width of the car plus about 150mm.  Even Alf who has fixed and driven cars for a living is reluctant to take the car out again for a day trip so if we do one it will be by taxi.  Luckily this is a beautiful place with all we can want for a perfect break without the need of cars.

There are a lot of English and Germans holidaying here.  Very few Americans or Australians.

Dinner at Antico Roma.
After dinner drinks at la Fragata.

Day 21 - Granada to Nerja - 5 June

Picked up the cars from the car park and drove passed the real Sierra Nevada mountains - still with a few remnants of snow left on the peaks - to Nerja (pronounced Nerha) on the Costa del Sol. Oleanders are used as median strip trees here!  They look beautiful.

Had a drink, saw the sights, had a swim, an ice cream and another drink. I think there is a pattern there!

Strolling home from the Italian Restaurant the Portofino with a superb view over the mediterranean we came across another superb view:

So the boys took a photo of all the girls!

Shayne, Jane, Cressida and Celia: