Dhow Cruise

Del's Mum and Dad, and sister Tracy and her husband Damian, along with the kids Ryan, Cailin and Alexa came to visit us in late September and early October. Full house! Was interesting to see the kids together after nearly 9 months - seemed to just fall back together really with no dramas at all. Jaime being a little older made a difference - she was no longer left out of things, and got stuck in and had fun.
We went on a number of 'excursions' with everyone ... and you all thought we were nuts when we bought two big cars with 15 seats between them! With 6 adults, 5 kids, and the requisite beach gear, sunhats, drinks and snacks we were almost thinking about roof racks too!
One of the first things we did was a Dhow cruise - out from the Dubai Marina to one side of the Palm Jumeirah - which gave a great view looking back at the beach and hotels.
Started nice and calm in the Marina....

Although all Viv, Del and Tracy could talk about was how they'd rather be going out on one of the newer super yachts. No respect for tradition the Munro girls.
Nice and calm here too - everyone looking happy. Was a lovely breeze, because the weather is still warm - mid-high 30s.

It's probably about now that things started to get a little bumpy. Offshore wind got things wobbling a bit. Jaime and I loved it. Jack and Del not so sure - in fact so unsure that there was a (sort of) polite request made of the 'Captain' along the lines of "when the f*** are we going back in?" Or something like that. You can kind of see the waves below - although the picture doesn't quite do it justice - it did actually get quite rough with a big swell. The picture below shows the "Taj Mahal Hotel". Will be enormous when it is finished. The cranes still seemed to be moving (unlike a lot of Dubai) so I think they are making progress, and will be interesting to go and see when complete.

We headed back in after the Captain was given his instructions. White knuckles gradually relaxed.

Most relaxed was Ryan, who slept through the whole thing (this was the day the Broadleys arrived after the long flights from NZ). Wish I could have got Del to sleep alongside him....