Day 2. Day trip to Abu Dhabi

We arrived without any great fuss at Dubai. Some delays getting through immigration, then again at the hotel waiting for our drive to turn up, but then it was off to Abu Dhabi for a day of sightseeing. Actually it is worth saying more about this. The delays at Dubai for passport control are really bad.  On both visits the queues were not physically long, they just went incredibly slowly. We spent MORE THAN AN HOUR in the queue. At 2am when you are tired this is enough to stretch the patience. In fact I will reconsider ever travelling through Dubai again.

Striking office building on the way to Abu Dhabi.
No problem with getting a window seat here

The drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is interesting. Not the same buzz of activity that there was in 2010, with many building sites standing idle. As you can see from the photo it was one of the better days in terms of visibility. The sky actually looked blue a bit :-)

Our main purpose for visiting Abu Dhabi was so that Christine could see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I had been there before but this was the first visit for Christine. Our timing meant that we only had a short time to see the inside but it was long enough, then a good look at the exterior with all that marble and inlay and tile work.

After that we headed down to the Corniche and had lunch overlooking the water followed by a visit to the Palace Hotel which I didn't enjoy at all. Ugly. Pretentious. Luxury for its own sake.

Then back to our hotel in Dubai for a beer, a swim in the pool, a quick dinner, online checkin for the morning's flight and a sleep.

Keith & Julie: First full day in Madrid about to start

Yesterday we were dropped off at Hotel Alantico which is right on one of main roads in city. We showered and then found a Vodafone shop and got SIM cards. Tried to get the data plan I remembered from my research but the shop didn't seem to have same thing.
Think pickpocket might have opened my trousers back pocket when crossing road - I deliberately had nothing in it so no problem.
Found nearby supermarket and bought sparkling water to have in room.
After returning to hotel, we went up to 9th floor where there is outdoor areas (and indoor rooms) with bar service!
The cold beer served with frosty glass went down so well we did that twice :-)
Then we wandered off into some streets just looking around. The city has a lot of "life" in the smaller streets and lanes.
There are many squares/plazas that locals hang out in after a hot day. Children playing, young folks hanging, oldies talking - in a shared space open to the sky.
Got to  Cabriera bar, saw empty table, grabbed it. Too much food for us but great spot for people watching!
Bit lost by time we left there but we found our way back to hotel easy enough.
Hotel has free wireless so I can do most big things there. Found that 22189 is supposed to be Vodafone customer service speaking English so will call them today to check data plan.

Dome above our 9th floor  drinks

Day 1. Leaving on a jet plane

Goodbye rainy Canberra Airport. Not a bad day to be leaving town... we were packed and to the airport in plenty of time so there was time to relax and to look forward to some warmer weather!


The flight from Canberra to Sydney was delayed and then we spent a fair time in a holding pattern out near Warragamba Dam because only the E-W runway was in use due to the strong westerly, which also made for a bumpy flight. Everything in Sydney went smoothly and we weren't rushed despite arriving 40 minutes later than scheduled.

Onto Emirates, a 777-300 and an uneventful flight to Bangkok. A variation from QANTAS in that we didn't have to disembark for the refuelling stop. Dinner was pretty good, a beef stew washed down with a Ventoux Controlle. Not bad.

Memory management for the travelling photographer

Carrying all that electronica means that I have to give at least a little thought to how I will manage all of the data while I am travelling. Here is the solution!

The key is the flexibility of the Asus Transformer tablet. It has USB and slots for SD and microSD cards. I can even plug in the cameras directly if I need to. The other nice thing is the 5D which I have set up to write raw files to CF and JPEG small fine to the SD card. So for publication while I am travelling I will use the JPEG versions, and keep the raw files for handling in Lightroom when I get home.

My biggest pre-trip dilemma

The age old question. Well not quite: probably a small fraction of people have been asking themselves this for a small part of human history but nevertheless the question is there...

Which cameras to take?

Next month we are travelling to Spain for a three week holiday that includes two five-day bike rides, with a few days either side in Valencia, Girona and Barcelona. I'll want to capture a record of the bicycle riding including my friends and the scenery we pass through. This will include both stills and video. It might be raining and cycling in the rain requires REALLY waterproof cameras. Other cycling characteristics require reasonable shock resistance. I'll want to take photos at the football (going to see FCB vs Granada), which may be a night game. I want street photography in the cities. I want food photography. I want everything but I can't afford the weight or space for a complete library of cameras.

At least one camera must be suitable for the cycling segments of the trip, but it is possible in addition to also have one that is only available in Valencia, Girona and Barcelona which are non-cycling times.

Here are the choices:

1. A Canon 5D MkIII with a fairly comprehensive library of lenses, strobes etc. to choose from:
• Disadvantages: Heavy and bulky. Probably not suitable for on-bike use. Expensive so a little bit of anxiety.
• Advantages: The best images. No question. Probably the only camera that can take meaningful images at the football.
2. A Canon G12:
• Disadvantages: Not weatherproof. Low light performance not fabulous.
• Advantages: Compact. Versatile.
3. An Olympus TG-1:
• Disadvantages: Image quality compared to the above. Maybe not much worse than the G12.
• Advantages: Weatherproof. GPS. f/2.0
4. Contour GPS:
• Disadvantages: Still images are not usable. No zoom. No viewfinder.
• Advantages: Durable. Handlebar and helmet mount. Sports video OK. GPS. This one is almost certain to go.

Actually there are more choices but that will do :-)

So what to take? I'll take more than one camera and probably less than four. Opinions welcome! If you suggest the 7D, what lenses (I have several primes and zooms from 10mm to 400mm, mostly L quality)?

We look forward to the ride and the blog

Our Trip

If you stumble on this blog and and wondering what it is about...

In September 2012 I have organised a group of eight to  do some cycle touring in Spain, using the "vias verdes", or rail trails as we know them in Australia. This blog is set up as a shared day by day account of the trip. It is a team blog so that each of the members can recount their experiences and upload photos.

If you would like more information about the trip, especially the planning, route and logistics, head over to the planning wiki where this is all described.