Desert Castles

From Amman there is a route East that takes you past several castles in the desert. We rented a car and instead of doing this as a day trip loop , did the trip and carried on to Jerash and based ourselves there. First castle we came across was Qasr Hraneh… built in the 8th century, about 710 they reckon… although scholars aren’t in agreement on what it was used for. The most likely scenario is that it was a khan (inn). Another 10 […]

Amman – Jordan’s Capital

After relaxing in the Red Sea coastal town of Aqaba, enjoying the beautiful desert at Wadi Rum and then exploring the incredible ancient city of Petra, it was time to head for Jordan’s Capital Amman. The biggest impression the city left on me was the incredible amount of street art… in car parks, on the sides of huge apartment buildings, on walls, and up steps. The street art was everywhere – downtown, in the suburbs, small alleyways and main streets. Here’s just a small […]

PETRA Day 2

After a wonderful DAY 1 exploring Petra we head back in the way we did yesterday (the only entrance open to tourists). No need to get another ticket – show yesterday’s one at the entrance and walk back in through the Siq. A few minutes walk past the Treasury, you take the steps on your left (near the toilets, before the theatre) up to the High Place of Sacrifice. With our early start and most people heading down the main strip of Petra we […]

PETRA – Day 1!

Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features on most “must see before you die” lists. The ancient city, carved into the mountains around 2000 years ago, is incredible in so many ways, so settle in and enjoy this taste of being there! For those who plan to go, hopefully my bullet-pointed suggestions for how to tackle Petra in 2 days will be helpful. Petra is overwhelmingly huge and well worth joining the […]

Day 37

Just a quick update as I have a bridge tournament starting soon… I said yesterday I was going to have stuffed marrow for dinner… was quite excited about trying my new recipe. I made the ‘stuffing’ part and then Antony sliced open the marrow… only to discover there was no big seedy middle bit to take out where the stuffing should go! He took out a very small seedy bit at one end- would have fit about a tablespoon of filling in it! So […]

Day 36 – The Dishwasher Incident

Last night I went to the kitchen to put the kettle on for my hot water bottle and I discover the kitchen floor is flooded – so I get Antony who’d just gone to bed. I was like- there must be something wrong with the dishwasher… then I opened the door (it had just finished its cycle). This is what greeted me: I was like… Ants what did you put in the dishwasher??? He pulled out the container of liquid dishwashing stuff we use […]

Day 34 – Lockdown Level 3 begins

So today we moved to Level 3 of New Zealand’s Covid 19 alert level system. It’s still heavily restricted- I won’t have any social contact with anyone except Antony but was able to see my colleagues today – keeping our 1m distance at our staff meeting. I wasn’t sure if I’d keep blogging in Level 3 but felt like a quick update from today… so here you go. 3.19am – woke up before my alarm and thought that’s good.. until I saw the time! […]

Day 33: Last day of Level 4 Lockdown!

If you missed Day 32 it was because I didn’t post a lockdown update yesterday! Instead I published this post about Wadi Rum, one of the highlights of our time in Jordan last November. Please read it and be amazed at these wonderful places on our planet! My travel posts take me many, many hours to write. I have so many amazing experiences and photos from each place that it is hard to choose what makes it to the blog and what to leave […]

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Wadi Rum is a 720 square kilometre desert area which has been inhabited by various human cultures since 10,000 BCE. These days it is home to many camels, 4WDs and Bedouin people, many involved in the blossoming tourism industry. T E Lawrence spent time in Wadi Rum in 1917 -18 during the Arab Revolt and when in 1962 the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ came out about his wartime efforts, Jordan’s tourism industry got a kick start. The place is particularly popular with trekkers and […]

Day 31 – Anzac Day

Guess what I spent a few hours doing today? I also spent a few hours writing a travel blog post. I am really far behind in the ‘explore’ section on this blog.. just now writing about Jordan which is where we were in November! Oh well.. better late than never. Each post takes me hours as I trawl through my photos to choose the good ones (there are so many!) and look up details on places that we visited and things we saw. But […]