Paul and Lyds Ravings

Even though I read it before seeing them, I didn't appreciate that the city is on three sides of the Pyramids. It takes nearly an hour to drive out there but Cairo is a big city.

They are really impressive to view. My first thoughts where how did they move that much stone with any advanced technologies. It was quite staggering to think it was done by hand.

The guide went through a bit of the history while we sweltered in the mid 30 degree heat without shade. Although interesting, he droned on well past the time most of us stopped listening.

We then had some free time to wonder around the Great Pyramid (turns out that only one of the Pyramids is considered a wonder) where Lyds and I both took silly numbers of photos.

Next up was the camel ride (for those not allergic) before climbing into the Pyramid of Khafre.

The three main things that stand out about the walk are:

- It was designed for short people. I was bent over nearly double to get through the corridors

- The actual room where the mummy should have been was bare. I though that there may have been something on the walls or a replica sarcophagus or something. Instead it was a dark empty room with no air and a few to many people, a good recipe for claustrophobia

- Some kid tried to feel up Lyds (either that or was reaching to steal her bag and went too high)

The next item on the agenda for the day was the Sphinx. Pretty cool, but unfortunately unless your tour guide bribes the right official the closest you can get is about 30 meters. Still good for photos, but it would have been nice to get some different angles.

The actual Sphinx was cool, it’s a shame that so much damage has been done to it by people from western nations. The beard being cut off and then people using it as target practice during World War I is idiotic damage that should not have been allowed.

Added into nearly all organised tours are at least one trip to a dodgy local store to buy some overpriced goods, most of these stores are Government stores whatever that means (I assume that they get a cut on the highly priced goods). Our first one for the tour was a Papyrus shop. As cynical as the previous sentence sounded, you are giving some good info at these shops. We found out how to tell real papyrus from the various fakes you can find anywhere around the country (usually Banana leaf is used) and we got an idea on the prices.

The tour we joined was the King Ramses tour with "On the Go - Egypt"

Matt, Hannah, Lyds and I join this thirteen day trip which took us from Cairo to Aswan, Luxor (where Hannah had to depart) to Dahab on the Red Sea and then back to Cairo.

We saw all manner of things, including the Pyramids and Sphinx, various Temples, Abu Simbel (yes it's a temple, but it deserves special mention), Mt Sinai and scuba diving on the Red Sea.

All in all we enjoyed the trip and will remember the better things more some time after our stomachs get back to normal. There are always things that are annoying or that you don't like on any trip. For me it was mainly the driving but not being able to trust the food in any restaurant (even the hotel) as going to make you ill gets a little old. The other thing I didn't really like was how organised the tour was. Somewhere on the website or the literature it mentioned semi independent travel.

We got fully organised. The one night we ate on our own in Aswan, the guide tried to talk us out of it. "The foods not safe" and "You'll be ripped off" where two of the reasons. I am was too cynical because I also heard "I won't get the commission." I know it is unfair and hopefully wrong, but as soon as he tried to say don't do it I really wanted it. We found a cool little restaurant and had a great meal. We where not 100% the next day, but neither where about 5 people who listened to the guide and went for the buffet (which was apparently pretty average).

Having fully organised tours is obviously good for most people, but having done independent travel, it's hard to take and I do apologise to my guide for and difficulties I caused.

I am going to have a few posts about the trip over the next couple of weeks (as I get motivated to write them) to run through what we where actually doing.

After two weeks in sunny England (yes I know that sounds wrong, but it has actually been sunny with very little rain) we got a 6:15 or some such ridiculous time flight to Cairo via Zurich. It is not right getting up before four in the morning to go on a holiday, it just sets the wrong tone for the whole thing.

The flight over was good to Zurich, but with no time for the transfer, it was all rather rushed to get onto the next plane in time.

When we eventually made it to Cairo we where meet by a tour representative before we even made Passport Control. I'm not sure why they are aloud in there, but after a few days of dealing with Egyptian people figured out how corrupt their society is and assumed that it is just a matter of bribing the right person.

First impressions of a city or country are rarely fair, but hard to avoid. Cairo was smoggy, dirtier and poorer than I had been expecting. I thought I was going to be getting Istanbul but didn't.

After spending a bit of time there now my feelings haven't really changed, I'm just convinced that people survive trips in buses and taxi's due to luck (most countries it's bad luck if you manage to get in an accident).

Overall the Egyptian experience was a good one, we saw some of the most impressive relics known to man, had a good group we travelled with (although a little on the large size), and the Boss bought some cool (and apparently not that expensive) bits and pieces.

After the wedding, Lyd's and I jumped on the train to London to spend some time with Matt (of Matts Meanderings) who has been living in the UK for nearly 3 years, and to also find Henry and Aerlin, Lyd's brother and his partner who left Oz a year ago.

The one thing that we had to get sorted out during the week was the Visa for Egypt. We heard it could be a real hassle getting the when you arrived, but didn't have time to get them before we left home (Chinese Visa took too long).

This meant a trip to the local consultate in London. Not far from Harrods. Easier said than done. They are only open til twelve thirty and I forgot to set an alarm. When we finally got to the area, we where down to ten minutes. Not good, but we could do it. Unfortunately we found the close not the street and knocked on the wrong door. After walk right past the place a couple of times and getting dodgy directions we eventually found the place, with five minutes to spare.

Unfortunately they where closed for a long weekend and wouldn't be open til the next day.

Even with all that, it was a good week, we caught up with a few friends and in some cases their fast growing children.

Way back at the end of April, Anita (my sister) and her partner Adrian tied the knot.

It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, the bride radiant and the groom looking good as well.

The only real down side was how badly I went in the official photos. I managed to have idiotic expressions on my face in way to many pictures.

There are a few photos uploaded (thankfully not may with me in them) on the website if you are interested.

I've just finished uploading and publishing all the photos we've taken so far.

Unfortunately for you, that means that to find a couple of good photos, you'll have to navigate through a couple of thousand, but I don't have time at the moment to sort through them all. To busy being a tourist

Definately more posts to come, just not sure when.

PS. For those who've not accessed the photos before, on the left, click the little triangle beside the Photo and then go into the relevent gallery (in this case Travels 07. Click on the folders to view thumbnails of the photos inside. You can also click on the photo to get a zoomed in version.

Though I'd better do a quick post to let you all know that we are still alive. Haven't had much free time to add any posts recently. 

We've been doing heaps, below is a quick summary, I'll add some more posts with some details soon.

Since leaving Australia on the 21st we had a week in Southern England. We court up with some old friends work and others, showed Mum and Greg London and Arundel (cool castle down there) before Anita and Adrians wedding.

The wedding went really well. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, the bride looked stunning, and the Worth Church is the fourth oldest Church in England. I've uploaded some photos, if Anita and Adrian agree, I'll add a few more soon.

After the wedding we spent a few days in London, some time with Matt and some time with Henry and Aerlin, Lyd's Brother and his partner. It was all good, a bit of relaxing, some time with family and friends and a little bit of site seeing.

Since then we've moved on to Egypt. We are currently at the tail end of a two week tour with On the Go, doing the King Ramses Tour.

It's been pretty full on, and there are some things that are quite annoying about the experience, but overal so far it's been pretty good.

Anyway, will expand on these later, including "Bus travel in Egypt, the life changing experience" and others.

We had a surprising good flight over, because we got to the airport so ridiculously early we managed to get emergency exit seats. With two rows of seats in front of us missing there was an abundance of leg room to be had.

Has to have been the best long haul flight that we've had by far. Lyd's had the sleeping tablets to get her through, so overall, it was all good.

Anyway, we made it, for those in the UK, looking forward to catching up, for those in OZ, see you again in a couple of months.

Got this email from a staff member the other day after asking him to clean the tape drive in a backup server at one of our remote sites:

Cleaning tape has been run through the drive.

Given the number of times we have cleaned that drive in the last couple of weeks it would have to be the cleanest tape drive in the known universe.
Short getting to it with some steel wool and a bottle of Ezy Off Bam, I don't think its insides could be any cleaner.

 I can give the outside a nice spruce up with some Mr Sheen if you think it will help.

As a birthday present, Lyd’s, Mum, Anita and Adrian all chipped in a got me a ticket to the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.

It was a great four days. Sun, Cars, Babes, what more can a guy ask for

On the Thursday there are no F1 cars on the track, but the other categories do there best to make up for it. The highlight for the day where definitely the Aussie Racing Cars. They are awesome. Basically they have a motorbike engine in a really big Go Kart which has a shell on top to make it look like an Aussie Muscle car.

The racing is unbelievably close, at one point there where 4 cars side by side coming into a corner. The cars are all basically the same, so it is down to driver skill to determine the winner and given the small size of the car, there is endless overtaking and action.

Watching the V8 Utes was a blast. The drivers are mad. I was sitting at the second last corner and in 8 laps saw about 10 bangs where someone decided that given the guy in front wasn’t getting out of the way, they should just get smacked from behind, just before the corner to make them either miss the corner or to turn the car around. It was brutal racing with a huge amount of minor damage being inflicted upon most of the field.

Friday announced the start of the Formula One Season. Two open 90 minute practice sessions where the order of the day. This is a direct result of public reaction over the last 2-3 years about the lack of F1 cars and the main drivers appearing on the Friday. I was unbelievable to see them all out on the track again. You forget how impressive these cars really are when you only see them on TV. The acceleration and the braking are mind boggling. They are like nothing else. And the sound. The only thing that matched them was the Air Force F18 that did a flyby.

By Saturday the crowds had arrived which put a bit of a dampener on it, but the racing was still good to watch and the F1 Qualifying didn’t disappoint.

The race on Sunday was almost an anti climax. The big overtaking move was done in the pits and there was not a huge amount of carnage. Unfortunately the sport is being over regulated (like most professional sports these days). There are new rules brought in every year to try and make the fastest cars slower and give everyone else a chance to catch up.

Once upon a time, if you could build it, you could race it. Many technologies (ABS, Traction Control, Carbon Fibre and various Suspension systems just to name a few) have been perfected in Formula One, something that is going to become less and less common the more control the that FIA imposes.

It would be nice to see the rules stay the same for two or three years, just to see how far the teams are able to push the envelope. That said, it was still great to go, and a cool Birthday present.

We go an invite to a Customs Puppy Walker Party a few weeks back. It sounded like a really good opportunity to get to meet up with other that have joined the Customs Puppy Carer Program. This is a great program. I've written a couple of posts about Zack the Wonderdog, the little guy we are looking after for 12 months before he sits his tests to become a Customs dog.

On Friday night we left work a little early and raced home to pick up Zack. He was pretty happy to see us and not to bad about getting in the car (he currently associates the car with Parks and Play equipment). When we arrived we quickly found a few puppies of a similar age to Zack for him to stand around (read play with).

He absolutely loved it. We basically spent 3 hours watching our dog play with other customs dogs of various ages while we chatted with various other Puppy Carers (depending on who he decided to play with).

At one point we meet a couple similar age to ourselves who when they saw Zack's name (everyone had a name tag with their name and and their puppies name) who asked straight away if he was Zack the Wonderdog! It was good to finally meet a reader of this blog. Up till now I was sure it was only people who I was standing behind at the time who where reading this.

Seven of Zacks brothers and sisters where present (he was one of 10) and at one stage all of us got together for a bit of stacks on.

We've booked the holiday.

As I think I've mentioned before, my younger sister Anita is getting married to Adrian in April this year.

Lyd's, Mum, Greg (my Uncle) and I are going to be heading over to celebrate their union, and while on the other side of the world do some catching up and some more traveling. We are not going to have a huge amount of spare time, so we will probably be in touch with everyone before we go to try and book in times. Although this sounds a little be to regimental, we really don't want to miss seeing any of you.

More details to come soon on actual dates.

Have been going to post on this one for the last month. Sorry about the delay.

On the Australia Day weekend we hosted a BBQ up in Sunny Melton. The Friday was perfect weather, mid to high 20's, sunny, not very windy. The Saturday however was a totally different story. It was low 20's a few showers and a little windy at times. Not the best day for a BBQ.

Given that we've been in the house for over a year we decided that it was time to have the house warming type thing, and with the late notice on the invites that it was safer to do it on the Saturday so that we might actually get a few people to show up.

It turned out to be a really good day. We saw a couple of people that we hadn't seen in about 3 years and everyone seemed to get along well. Hopefully everyone involved enjoyed things as much as we did. The amount of food we went through was unbelievable, about 5kgs of Chicken, 2kg of Hamburgers and I don't know how many Sausages.

The only bad thing was that no one ate the salad, so I spent the next week trying to get through it all.

There are a couple of pictures up of some of the attendees, just click on the Triangle beside Photos on the Left under Paul and Lyds, then Aust 2007 and finally click on BBQ.

A while back I bought some tickets to go and see Evanescence live at Vodafone Arena in Melbourne. Both Lyds and I like the band, really enjoyed the first album (Fallen), don't mind the new one (The Open Door).

Lyd's got into things a bit more than me with the black clothes and dark makeup, trying for the Goth look that the rest of Audience was going to be into.

We started the night off at Andrew and Cath's new digs in Richmond to celebrate the big 30. Was good to catch up with the lovely Cath again, as well as seeing a few faces I've not caught up with for quite a while.

Next was off to the concert. As expected, we increased the average age of the audience, was really bad to see all the 'kids' walking around (the Girl sitting next to us was with her father [At least we assumed that's who he was]).

The warm up band was Shihad and although they are a good, reasonably well know Kiwi band, the venue and the audience where not right for them. In a small location they would sound pretty good, but with the equipment they where using, they just where not making enough sound to fill the stadium which created a bit of an echo. They are a different type of music from Evanescence so the crowd just wasn't getting into the songs no mater how hard the lead singer tried.

For most it was a relief when the main event started. When Amy and the rest of the band started up, the crowd started to go nuts.

They played all the hits from both albums and even came back for a couple of encores at the end.

For me the best songs where when the Piano was dragged out and some of the classical roots started to show through. Some of the songs are a little haunting. The Snow falling during Lithium was an interesting and unexpected touch.

All in all it was a good night

Sorry the sites been down the last couple of days.It's been a combination of Power outages and upgrades going on.

The new site is one step closer.

We have moved this and Matts Blog over to a new backend. Basically this means that we are now going to be able to start moving all the photos and that you get some funky new features to use if you want.

The main one of these is the email notification. If you want to be emailed when I post anything, you'll need to click Join up the top right and create an account. Once you'd done that, the details should be emailed to you and then you can come back and go to the email alerts.

I'll write up a proper instruction guide sometime soon and post it up here somewhere.