Biking

On Tuesday we cycled from Christchurch to Akaroa to visit Sylvia's uncle Tim. Sylv's bike was equipped with slicks, and my town bike was specially pimped for the occasion.

We didn't leave until quite late because Sylv had a phone interview at quite short notice! We took the 22 km Little River Rail Trail - not because it was easy riding (it wasn't - it's quite a rough surface) but because it was off-road.

As usual, our cycle touring had an exploratory dimension. Damn maps.

Yay!

It's an 80 km ride overall. Once you get to Hilltop, it's only 12 kms to go...but in those 12 kms there are some nasty, steep little climbs out of the various bays you go around in Akaroa Harbour. We were pretty tired by the time we got to Tim's cottage.

Tim kindly shouted us to dinner when we got there, just the kind of pampering a couple of tired tourists need. The bath at Tim's place also felt pretty good :-)

Breakfast at Nicky's place

We stayed the night at Nicky's place on the road to the Kaik. She has a beautiful piece of land sloping down to the harbour, with an amazing house and garden.

L-R: Frances, Tim, Sylvia, Nicky

We felt pretty lazy catching the bus back the next day. However, after Little River the NW headwind picked up and we saw a bunch of roadies struggling into it and felt some satisfaction in a decision well made.

We've also done some random mountainbiking since we've been back. Here are a few photos from the newish tracks at Mcleans Forest, part of the Waimakariri River Regional Park.

Sylvia

Looking sexy in lycra?

Kylie

Dubai

Whew - the last of our travel blogs (for a while at least). Right at the end of our trip we had a 3-night stopover in Dubai to stay with Jeff & Greer. Dubai is one of those places we'd heard so much about, so we wanted to confirm / destroy our prejudices. I think the photo below captures the spirit of Dubai: a series of dichotomies. There's immense wealth + poverty, luxious water features + desert, multinational tourists + strict islamic regime.

All-in-all a rather interesting place to explore and ponder upon.

We went on one of these little boats across the river. Cheap and fun touristing - our favourite.

This is the only camel we saw (in case you can't tell, it's stuffed). We didn't have time / money / inclination to head off into the desert on a safari, but went to the Dubai museum instead. The heat was quite oppressive and walking anywhere difficult and rather grimy (due to the white sand that would get in everything).

We had a lot of fun hanging out with Jeff & Greer at their flat, making use of their rooftop gym and pool and playing on their Wii.

We also did the Dubai Mall thing. This is the world's largest indoor ski slope at the Mall of Emirates. We also saw the world's largest indoor-in-a-mall aquarium at the Dubai Mall. Oh, plus the world's tallest building. Do you think they are compensating for something?

Turkey Tour

We did our first ever tour in Turkey. It was with Intrepid Travel (who came recommended) and was one of their "active" tours. We had a great time, and it was interesting to experience a different style of travel. Everything was organised and prepared for us, there was always someone to give us answers if we had questions, and we could just generally switch our brains off for the last part of our European adventure.

Since it was a while ago now, I won't bore you with screeds of text, here are some photos instead.

You get served tea and snacks on the buses. Bus transport was excellent in Turkey. Our overnight bus from Pammukkale to Istanbul even had entertainment systems in the back of the seats like on a plane!

Our tour group. Meals together were one of the fun points, because the two of us were running low on conversation by this point (only kidding)



We visited Gallipoli. There are lots of cemeteries scattered around the battlefields.

The remains of one of the trenches the ANZAC soldiers dug, nearly 100 years on.

Food was a highlight. This picture shows a variety of mezes (starters). It was quite feasible to just have a meal of mezes, and quite a good option if you're a vegie.

The remains of the ancient city of Ephesus. It was a Lycean city first, then a Roman port. Now it's the best-preserved Roman city in this area. Perhaps people would be living here still if the sea hadn't retreated from the harbour. Bummer for them!

Yep, that's a Roman latrine. They were quite social.

The remains of the library.

More food! This will become gozleme, a stuffed pancake. Now I wish I'd had some dinner before writing this blog post.

Rock tombs above the city of Fethiye. The Lyceans carved these out of the rock.

Mmm, pomegranate!

A simple village mosque. No minaret at this one - "we'll get around to it one day".

Lots of cards were played.

Not a bad spot for lunch! The end of our two-day trek.

Ramming speed! We sea kayaked over a sunken town, you could still see remains of walls and foundations. Apparently there was an earthquake, the land subsided by 2 metres, and it was enough to submerge the town. Bummer for them.


MTB.


It was long enough by now.

The travertine terraces of Pammukkale.

Pammukkale was the site of a well-preserved Roman settlement (they did like their hot spas). There is a large necropolis with lots of pre-Roman, Roman and Byzantine tombs. These ones are being slowly overtaken by the travertine deposits.

After Pammukkale, it was the overnight bus (yuk) back to Istanbul and a day with Simon, Julian and Jana. Then onwards to the delights of Dubai!