The Shifting Sands

My morning paddle was not as exotic as the title sounds.  The "World" is a series of artificial islands created off the coast of Dubai, roughly in the shape of the World. Within the world there are groups of sand islands each shaped in such a way that they look like one of the continents. It seemed like a good destination for a morning training paddle. Dubai skyscrapers obscrured by the mist What had been interesting was the recent high levels of humidity which combined with no breeze which created a mist on the coast.  As a result, I headed out to the World on a compas bearing.  It is always pleasant paddling on a still morning without seeing land. I must admit, the World was a bit of a dissapointment.  There has been almost no construction on any of the islands so there is not much to see.  The islands are surrounded by a break water and as soon as I paddled into the entry of the breakwater I was intercepted by World Security in thei

Summer was great for catching up with friends and in addition to reuniting with several friends from Mumbai we also organised to spend time with Brett and Barbara.  Brett an old friend from Kate' s University days in Australia has been a long time Londoner.  Despite living in London, Brett remains a keen surfer and when Kate called him for advice on surf spots for the summer he suggested Hossegor. Ada and I "out the back" not that there were many waves to be out the back of! Great little house between the beach and the "high street". Between a BBQ and some cheap Bordeaux, what more can you ask for? Hossegor is just north of Biarritz on the Bay of Biscay.  It is famous for its beach breaks and the relatively warm water supplied by the Gulf Stream. Kate found a great little house between the main beach and town where we met Brett and Barbara after our drive from Paris. Feeding

Kate and Ada came back from their last brief visit to Ljubljana raving about the city so we decided to spend a week there roaming the countryside and doing some rock climbing. Dinner and the view at our accommodation at Vransko We caught a train from Budapest to Vienna where Kate was able to catch up with Danielle, her roommate from yoga teacher training.  We picked up a hire car in Austria because we were going to fly out of Vienna and set off for on the short drive to the Slovenian border. Ada raking the fodder as Urosh swings the scyth Now I was broadly aware of the “sticker system” that exists in a few European countries, in essence a road tax.  Switzerland and Slovakia both have systems where you stop at a toll booth and buy a sticker to cover the duration of your stay in the country. I didn’t pay a lot of attention when we crossed the border but I did notice a sign which looked t