It all began, as so many modern misadventures do, with an unsolicited email. This one, from MSC Cruises, offered an implausibly inexpensive 17-night repositioning cruise from Genoa to Dubai. I briefly considered the prudent response—deleting …
For family historians with an interest in the Prussian district of Züllichau, Frankfurt (Oder), compiled below is a list of about 2,000 emigrants, sorted alphabetically by surname. I believe the source of the data was …
A Visit to Australia and Tanzania via the Scenic Route This year, Zawadi decided she and the children—Amani and Malaika—would decamp to Tanzania for the summer. I, too, was long overdue for a trip to …
For anyone who’s also researching SEARCY/SEARCEY ancestors from Nottinghamshire, below is a consolidated list of all the baptisms from 1682 onwards: Christian Father’s Fathers’ Mother’s Mother’s Date Parish Abode Profession Name Christian Surname Christian Surname …
A Visit to the Old Kakoschke Farm (or what’s left of it anyway) 2015 marked the centenary of the death of the original Aussie Kakoschke – Johann Friedrich Wilhelm, better known as Jack. In September, …
Having decided to buy a new camera, now comes the hard part… which one?
Should I buy a newer model Canon DSLR, or go for one of the new bridge (superzoom) cameras? Having spent quite a bit of time considering the options, I decided to go with a bridge camera. But that takes me back to my original question – which one?!
The main contenders for me are the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V, the Nikon Coolpix P510, the Panasonic DMC-FZ150K, the Fuji HS30 EXR and the Canon PowerShot SX40.
Having studied the pros and cons of each model, I’ve decided to go with the Nikon P510 and have just ordered it from the States. It should be here in a few days and then I’ll post a review and some sample shots.
In late March Amani and I set off on an aurora hunting trip to Swedish Lapland. This was my 4th attempt at seeing the Aurora Borealis. Three previous adventures – once to northern Finland, once to Geysir in Iceland and once to Tromso and Longyearbyen in northern Norway, (all in the freezing winter months!) whilst very enjoyable in other ways, were not successful in sighting the elusive aurora.
I chose Abisko in Sweden this time, due to its unusually dry micro-climate that helps produce cloudless skies and timed this trip to coincide with the new moon, to improve our chances. Nothing else was planned for this trip – we were going solely to try and see the aurora.
We flew with KLM to Stockholm via Amsterdam and then SAS to Kiruna. That was enough travelling for one day and we stopped the night there, also to give us an opportunity to buy some snow clothes for Amani. None of the ones he had from Iceland fitted him any more, so he needed some kitting out since true winter wear is pretty much impossible to find here in Muscat. Did some googling before we left and found there was an H&M right next to the hotel I’d booked – perfect! When we got there, being the end of winter they had a sale on, so we were able to get everything he needed at very reasonable prices. (usually everything in Scandinavia is very expensive.)
We caught the train to Abisko the next day – only about 1.5 hours. It was snowing quite a bit but the temperatures were relatively mild – only a little below zero. I’d pre-booked chairlift tickets to the Abisko Sky Station for our first evening, but unfortunately there was just solid cloud cover the whole evening. The wind was freezing up there… and all for nothing.
 The next day we went walking in the national park and spotted a moose. They’re much larger than I realized – pretty much the same size as a horse. Amani had a blast doing a bit of sledding as well.
We had a late dinner that evening as I planned to stay up as late as possible in case the aurora showed. Afterwards donned our jackets, gloves etc, grabbed my camera and tripod and we headed out into the wintery night again. As soon as we were outside, I could see stars in the sky. “That’s a good omen” I thought. Then, when we turned the corner of the building, the aurora was right in front of us!
It only lasted for 10 minutes or so, but I was ecstatic to have finally seen it. It was really beautiful. Then cloud cover set in, so even if the aurora returned, it wasn’t possible to see it. I kept going outside every hour or so until the wee hours, but nothing… Little did I know what was in store for us on our last night though!
 Amani spent much of the next day hooning down the slopes on a sled and we enjoyed some long walks in the park. That night there was solid cloud cover again, so no aurora. Seemed the micro-climate wasn’t working too well…
The following day we caught the train back to Kiruna where I’d book accommodation for us at Camp Ripan, a fun looking place on the outskirts of town. Again I’d chosen it for it’s location – in case there was any auroral activity I didn’t want it to be drowned out by the city lights. Cloudy skies again that night, but the following afternoon, the skies cleared. I waited anxiously for darkness to set in, which was not until after 8pm since this was our last in Swedish Lapland. We had a tasty dinner of Swedish meatballs in the restaurant and walking back to our cabin in the darkness, scanning the skies for any hint of the telltale green glow of the aurora. Nothing, but twilight hadn’t completely ended yet, so I wasn’t too disappointed.
We watched TV for a little while, waiting for the darkness to set in. Meanwhile, Amani dozed off. I kept glancing out the window by the bed, but couldn’t see any signs. But when I opened the cabin door, there was an aurora similar to what we’d seen at Abisko a few nights earlier. I rushed back in, put on all my layers of clothes, grabbed the camera and headed outside.
Over the next hour and a half, I was treated to one of the most amazing spectacles I’ve ever seen in my life. The aurora just got brighter and brighter. At times it moved directly overhead, dancing right above me. I managed to wake Amani and he saw a little of it before falling asleep in my arms complaining about the cold. I tucked the poor little guy back into bed and wandered of into the darkness, camera and tripod in hand, taking as many photos as I could. At times there was so much aurora all around, I didn’t know where to point the camera.
Have fallen a bit behind in updating things here, so here’s a quick round-up.
 We travelled to Australia in October, starting our journey in Darwin. Dear old Darwin… still has a place in my heart, having lived there for almost 7 years. As usual, it didn’t disappoint, in the sense that we got drenched when the heavens opened whilst we were walking to feed the fish at Doctors Gully one afternoon. You can’t beat Darwin thunderstorms!
We did a jumping croc cruise and the family enjoyed it, especially as the infamous beast Brutus put on a bit of a show for us after not having been seen for a few days so we were told. And he is a brute. I wouldn’t like to have a swim with him.
We had some good Aussie tucker at the Humpty Doo pub the same day and headed to Berry Springs for a swim later in the afternoon. Unfortunately the water was off limits and all roped off due to “seasonal conditions”. Translation? Salt water crocs had been spotted in the swimming hole. Bugger! So back to the hotel pool for a cool off instead.
 My birthday treat for 2011 was an overnight trip on The Ghan from Darwin to Alice Springs. The family and I enjoyed it immensely and I’d be only too happy to do it again sometime.
We only had time to stay one night in Alice, visiting a new reptile park (disappointing) then Simpson’s Gap (beautiful especially since for a while we were the only ones there). Fed the wallabies at our motel at Heavitree Gap and then rode camels into the sunset. All in all great fun.
The next day flew down to Adelaide to spend a few days visiting the family before heading on to Hobart for Jenny & David’s lovely wedding.
On the way home to Muscat we stopped over in Chiang Mai Thailand for a few days since it was the Thai New Year and the Loy Krathong Festival. It was quite spectacular and I will write more about that part of the trip soon.
A slightly belated post, but we had a superb time in Thailand in July. It was a 3 week holiday that we could easily have extended indefinitely (given the option)!
The trip got off to a good start – we flew non-stop on Oman Air, leaving Muscat at about 10:30 in the morning and arriving into Bangkok at about 7:30 in the evening. No lengthy transits en-route and no night flights – how civilized! It cost more than going via Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha, but it was money well spent.
We stayed in Bangkok just for 2 nights, at the Montien Riverside Hotel. I’ve stayed there before and chose it especially so that it would be convenient for us to enjoy their river Dinner Cruise on the Montienthip. Unfortunately it turned out to be the only disappointment of our whole trip, as they cancelled the cruise at short notice due to insufficient bookings. I wasn’t in the room when Zawadi answered the phone call, and not knowing any better, she asked the concierge to book us on something else. Big mistake! We ended up on some awful boat called the White Orchid (or something like that). Crappy buffet food instead of an a-la-carte menu, deafeningly loud music blaring from speakers right next to our table, a transvestite fashion parade… Oh dear. Not quite what I’d originally had in mind! Still, it could have been worse (e.g. the boat could have sunk).
After that, things only got better though. We flew Air Asia down to Krabi to spend a few nights at one of my favourite places – Sunrise Tropical Resort in Railay. It was beautiful and relaxing as always. Skye flew in from Australia the same day that we arrived and spent the next week with us. We were waiting at the pool and Amani & Malaika were climbing up to suss out every long boat that came in to see if it was Skye. They were so excited to spot her cruising in on her own private long boat.
The next stop on our holiday was somewhere new for all of us – Khao Sok and the tree houses at the Baan Khao Sok Resort next to the National Park of the same name. The tree-houses were quite comfortable (and pretty high up the tree!) It rained non-stop almost the whole time we were there, which put a dampener on things a bit (pardon the pun). Nevertheless we jumped on to rubber tubes and floated down the river accompanied by a guide. Great fun!
From there, another new location – the Hotspring Beach Resort at Phang Nga. The hotel was really nice and the thermal pools were excellent for soaking aching muscles. Lovely main (cool) pool as well. The beach was not as nice as the hotel’s photos showed it to be, but evidently they’d had some pretty bad flooding there recently, causing the damage. Still a very good choice for a stay though.
Next stop was Kata Beach Phuket where we indulged ourselves by splurging on a stay at the Baray Villas. It’s difficult to put into words just how beautiful the place is… a private plunge pool that extends into your living room… the biggest and most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. I could go on and on, but have a look at the photos and you’ll see what I mean. On top of everything else, the restaurant had fantastic food at very reasonable prices. The dinner menu is so comprehensive it’s the size of a table-top book! And then there was the spa that left both Zawadi and I in a state approaching nirvana. Seriously – since we came home Zawadi hasn’t stopped asking when can we go back again! The hotel really was that nice. The staff incredibly helpful and polite – the whole place is a credit to the management. They’ve done a fantastic job. Sure it costs a few bob to stay here, but I doubt you’ll find better value for money anywhere in the world.
When it was time to leave, we flew Thai Airways business class to Bangkok. (Thailand travel tip – business class fares on Thai Airways domestic flights are very reasonably priced, especially if you book well ahead.) In Bangkok, this time we stayed at the Lebua Hotel. It’s really nice too ;)Â And for a real treat, have dinner at their roof-top restaurant, the Sirocco. It’s on about the 63rd floor and is the highest alfresco restaurant in the world apparently. I think that of all the different hotels I’ve stayed in Bangkok over the years, Lebua is my favourite. We did some shopping at Siam Paragon, visited the surprisingly large and impressive aquarium in the basement there. The kids and I took a tuktuk to see the snakes at the Red Cross. On our last night we enjoyed browsing at Patpong and dined as usual at that crazy Mexican restaurant, Patty’s Fiesta.
From Bangkok we travelled northeast by minivan for approximately 3 hours to Nakhorn Ratchsima, staying at The Greenery Resort for 3 nights. It was a really nice spot, with a children’s pool that Amani and Malaika just loved. One day they stayed in it for over 5 hours straight! Slides and water canons and a giant bucket on top that emptied out about every 10 minutes, drenching all the children. Next door was a fun park with assorted rides, swings etc. They loved that too. There’s a National Park where we went to watch one million bats pour out of a cave at sunset – an amazing sight to behold. Another day we rode an elephant through steams and jungles and then in the afternoon “visited” Italy! Somewhat bizarrely, there’s an Italian style shopping village plopped in the middle of the jungle! An interesting spot for a bit of shopping, a nice Italian food lunch and some gelati afterwards too.
The final stop on this holiday, about an hour’s drive from Nakhorn Ratchasima, was Muak Lek where we stayed at the beautiful Ndol Streamside Villas. A lovely peaceful spot with antique Thai style rooms. There’s not much to do there really except sit back, kick off your shoes and relax. Zawadi did manage to find out that there was a giant mall not too far away by car, but the kids and I elected to enjoy the pool while she went shopping.
From there it was only a couple of hours drive to Suvarnabhumi Airport, from where our early afternoon Oman Air flight had us back in Muscat at 5pm. Kudos to Oman Air for scheduling flights at “respectable” times of the day instead of only in the middle of the night!
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