Sunday, March 8, 2009

Villa Backyard

Some shots of the villa backyard which has been transformed over the past couple of months...the ducks have gone (they became too much of a nuisance and are now resident in Villa 11)...and a horticultural aspect has replaced them.

First of all a shot of the newly veiled tomato plants...they were going very well and had actually grown from seeds...until a couple of very very hot days knocked them about and death was nigh...but they were just saved.

Recently we have admired the ripening of the tomatoes on a regular basis...but they were also admired, it seems, by the local bird-life...after overcoming the loss of several juicy ripe red tomatoes, a solution was found and the tomatoes are now firmly covered....


Here is a close-up of some of the tomatoes pre-veiling...


The roses had fallen into disrepair, but have now been saved, drastically pruned, trellis-ed and are now springing back into life...


Same with the hibiscus...


Some of the basil..also grown from seed...



This is another section of tomato plants...they are going like the clappers, although lack a little sunlight so haven't produced the fruit that the others one have...


But we aren't too far away....


And some newly re-planted tomato plants...there is a story to these plants. We use to feed the ducks a lot of tomatoes and it seems that the seed fell onto the ground and laid dormant until we completely renovated the backyard and whacked a load of soil on it...days later, tomato seedlings popped up, along with some pumpkin seedlings! After a month or so, more than 200 tomato seedlings dotted the new lawn! Prior to cutting the lawn for the first time, these were transplanted....


Here is a shot of the backyard with the roses and snazzy new lawn...

Looking forward to our first meal of tomato and basil in the coming weeks!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Aussie boys in Japan

The Aussie boys, led by the GGArmy stormed Tokyo over the past week...with the crescendo being in Yokohama on Wednesday night against the might of the Blue Samurai...a 0-0 result just in case you have been on the moon.

On the train to Yokohama...


Walking from the station to the pre-game function at the uniquely named Cafe Bar Funky...




And finally we are on our way to the stadium after a quiet day of consuming ale...




And in the stadium...




The boys on the park get things warmed up...Chippers and Culina...


Mile Jedinak and Jade North...


The great Schwarz...


Can't be in Canberra for the Kuwait game due to geographical disadvantage (well, not unless the Concorde gets going again and does an Abu Dhabi-Canberra direct flight)...next game for me is probably Aus v Qatar in Doha and Aus v Japan in Melbourne.

More stuff to come soon on the sights of Tokyo and wonderful Kyoto...

Monday, December 1, 2008

Aussie boys take on Bahrain

My football pursuits began again when the Aussie boys, the Socceroos, took on Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier...brother Michael joined me in travelling to the Bahraini capital, Manama, for the game...

Oddly, when the Aussie travelling fans turned up to the stadium in a clutch of mini-buses, they were shepherded into the bowels of the stadium and then right onto the ground allowing us to observe, at arms length, the warm-up of the Aussie footballing lads...it wasnt until an Australian football official politely asked us to go back to the stands that this bizarre situation concluded...

This is the national stadium of Bahrain...


Mark Schwarzer, the Aussie goalkeeper warming up...


Michael Petkovic, back-up goalkeeper warming up to sit on the bench...



Marco Bresciano, Aussie mid-fielder also warming up...this practice shooting from this distance was actually very important...Bresciano scored the winning goal in the final seconds of the game from almost this exact spot!!!...


This is just after than final minute moment which caused delirium among the Aussie fans numbering about 200-300...that's me on the left hanging on to the fence (credit to esteemed GG Army member Mikey R for the photo)...


And the lads coming over to the faithful fans after the match...


So off it was back to a pub...which was also the pub of choice for the players and team management....

Tim Cahill of Everton FC (left) and me (right)...


Marco Bresciano of Palermo (left), VB stubbie (centre) and me (right)...


Jesus of Karlsruhe (alias Josh Kennedy, left) and me (right)...


Lucas Neill of West Ham decided to get up and karaoke with the Philipino band...


Dutch guy Pim Verbeek, manager of the Aussie team, and my brother, Michael...


The next hazy day a tour of the Manama streets was in order...


The newish World Trade Centre building of Bahrain...



with window cleaners who do work...


but wind turbines that dont work...


And, finally, the concluding stages of a sunset over the Manama metropolis...


More travels are planned...can't wait!

Roadtrip to Oman...

With it being so close (relatively speaking), the lure of neighbouring Oman couldn't be resisted for much longer. So, when an old friend, Rosabella, visited from Edinburgh, it was time to get the car loaded and take a road trip to the nation to my immediate left...

It's about a 5 hour drive from Abu Dhabi to Omani capital, Muscat (taking into account border crossing red-tape). Here are some of the sights of the older part of the city which is dominated by government buildings including the Sultan's palace...









A day trip to one of the better sights of Oman, Wadi Shab (translated Shab Valley) was slightly interrupted by driving down a few cul de sacs...but nonetheless some fabulous sights were come across...

This is the actual Wadi that we finally got to towards the end of the day...unfortunately we didnt get to explore the entire sight...




On the way, we came across a village that seemed to be invaded or even infested with goats...




The sunsets were beautiful in Oman...




The national flag against a typical mountainous backdrop in Oman...so many of the mountains look like nothing more than very large piles of rubble...



The ruins of Wadi Tanuf village...I am informed that this was bombed by the British airforce in the 1950s as part of a civil war between the Omani rulers and rebels situated in the mountains. The rebels apparently used this village to hide-out hence its downfall. The villagers obviously decamped and re-built their village literally next door...


The small city of Nizwa...




From the very impressive fort at Nizwa...



A typical view in Oman of the mountains...


Next stop: Bahrain

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Wild Wild Western Region

The Western Region (or Al Gharbia in the local speak) of the Abu Dhabi Emirate is my 1/2 home for the last month and the next couple of months. This area, commonly known as the Empty Corner, is a land of surprises. You never know what might pop up from behind a tremendously large sand dune...

Before we get there, I have taken a couple of pics of the amazingly beautiful and hazy Autumn sunrise that can be experienced around these parts. This is on the road out of Abu Dhabi...



This is our home for 1/2 of the week...the Liwa Hotel...a lovely hotel, though a little bit spoiled due to some architectural misgivings...the poolside has amazing views of endless miles of sand dunes (which are possible to see in this pic)...the design is roughly based on a traditional Emirati fort...


Another sunrise...this time from the hotel balcony of a morning...



This extraordinary sight was spotted on our first drive to Liwa, the town of our hotel in the Western Region. Despite this being the middle of the desert, you can see lots of fodder farms and hay baling...with huge sand dunes just hundreds of metres away...the reason being that the Liwa area is surrounded by an oasis allowing the local to grow fodder, tomatoes and lots of other horticulture...


The highway into Liwa...


A typical series of enormous sand dunes, symbolic of the area...


Sunset in the Empty Corner...


The place is also dotted with camel farms...with camel racing being a hugely popular local pastime...






One of the roads into a mountainous sand dune area...




An absolutely glorious desert sunset...the sunsets and sunrises here are amongst the best I have ever seen (well, on a par with southern Tasmania)...


A favourite photo...


A farm outpost...a common sight among the desert dunes...a closer look will show the presence of sheep, goats, camels, horses and chickens...


In all, this is an amazing place which gives a facade of nothing-ness, but is actually rich with excitement and surprise.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Across the Gulf...Qatar...

Next stop on my Gulf travels was a weekend across the bright blue waters of the Gulf in Qatar...this was actually my first trip outside of the UAE back in July...I just forgot to post the pics...Doha, the capital is much like a mini Dubai, striving to attract the world's investors through uniquely designed buildings and off-shore suburbs...here is a sample...


Doha's Islamic Centre viewed from the bay which lines a great deal of the city...


Part of the skyline with one of its unique....though not quite finished skyscrapers...


Another fabulous tall building...this one with a very large golden ball joining the two towers on about the 20th floor (I am told that there is a meeting room within the ball)...


Some colourful spices at the Doha Souk (market)...



The Doha skyline...


The new and yet to be opened Doha Museum of Islamic Arts which lies on the bay...



Two more superb looking buildings...believe it or not, these, when finished, will be the tallest zig-zag buildings in the world!!! Wow!...


Inside the souk...


Outside the souk...




A closer look at the soon to be anointed tallest zig-zag buildings in the world...


Looking out towards the Arabian Gulf from a Doha beach...


A former royal palace which has been converted into the Diplomatic Club...a place for the expats to act like gentlemen...




Some snaps of the a short trip to a fishing village north of Doha, the village of Al Khawr...

On the way up, I was constantly distracted by the busy-ness of the landscape...


A fishing boat 'rego plate' as we might call it back in Oz...




...and so I returned to AD as we locals call it now all ready for the next journey...(which is not far away)...

Friday, October 3, 2008

Villa 98, Abu Dhabi

A few Abu Dhabi homely pics which I thought might be of interest...mostly involve birds...the type with wings that is...

This is Villa 98, the place I call home....



The Khalidiya Village streetscape...


Views from my bedroom balcony looking towards part of Abu Dhabi (including a lovely private garden just behind our villa - which, now that I look at it, has grown considerably since I took this photo 4 months ago)...


I always have birds on my balcony waking me up in the morning...




Duck and Little Duck...the Villa pets...


Ducks in specially constructed pond...of course, this pond was carefully selected and installed to be closely emblematic of an Abu Dhabi duck's natural environment...lions, deer, North American brown bear and all...



A few months ago when Little Duck was little...