We boarded Hayden’s first vaporetto, and the small boat was buzzing with excitement, full of foreigners so thrilled to be in their dream destination. I could easily spot the honeymooners (the men playing with their wedding rings, and the women still sporting wedding manicures and perfectly waxed eyebrows). There were also older couples, returning to Venice to relive the romantic locations of their courtship. Once we arrived on the main island, I converted the Kelty backpack to a stroller, and the two of us ambled along the edge of the canal as we enjoyed our first taste of sunshine in weeks.

(Sadly I only have mobile phone pictures for this trip, as the DSLR was too big to fit in the backpack)

A few hours later, we were reunited with mum and Josef. They hadn’t seen Hayden since he was four months old, so he was very excited to show off his new skills that included crawling, clapping, and eating solids. We all traipsed off to find dinner, and Hayden sampled a Caprese mozzarella and tomato salad while I caught up on news from Australia. Hayden seemed really happy to see his grandparents again, and even scored some complementary cookies from the waiter.

We spent the next day visiting the quieter islands of Murano and Burano. We admired the delicate stitching of lace in Burano and explored the canals lined with colourful houses. On the glass-blowing island of Murano, we watched three brothers working together to create a beautiful floral chandelier, then visited the showroom for a sampler of all the different pieces from the island. Mum bought me a striking blue and silver glass pendant for my birthday, a unique souvenir of our holiday.

After three nights in our delightful apartment amongst the rooftops of Venice, it was time to say goodbye with one final stroll along the Grand Canal. After their cruise, we will meet up with them again in Spain for a week in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca.

Yesterday we took a boat trip through the mangroves. Sadly, this area appears very over-fished and over-hunted, as we did not spot so much as a snake or a kingfisher during our hour-long exploration. Still, it was very relaxing to drift underneath the green canopy and feel the warm air swirling though the swamps.

Hayden enjoyed his morning tea of warm drink as we sailed along, while the rest of us had to wait until we returned to shore. We are all feeling very relaxed, and I am really enjoying this quiet time with my two little guys. It is wonderful to be able to spend whole days together as a family, with very little on the agenda except exploring this tiny piece of Indonesia.

The weather has been spotty, but we have been lucky to have sun breaks most days that were warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a few drinks looking out at the sea. One of the highlights of the trip was a private morning tour by uPhotoMalta, where Duncan drove us around to his favourite spots on the island, letting us look out across the bay to Gozo and Comino, as well as some of the more isolated parts of the country. Near the tail end of Malta we stopped off to see Popeye’s Village of Sweet Haven, originally built in 1980 for the movie, and now operating as a theme park and private beach.

It is amazing that we can drive around the whole island in a single day. Even the pizza place near our door proudly proclaims that they deliver to all of Malta. Our uPhoto tour included a stop off in Rabat to try the delicious mush-pea filled Pastizzi pastries in an old hold-in-the-wall, with old men proudly showing off their trapped finches. We then walked across a bridge across an orange-grove filled moat to find ourselves in Mdina, the original capital city that is now a silent walled fortress containing the first cathedral of St John.

We stopped of for lunch at Marsaxlokk fishing village, the two-story buildings a stark contrast to the high rise apartments near our hotel at St Julian’s. All the boats were symbolically coloured with big eyes on their sides to ward off danger.

John even managed to hunt down to Canberrans living in Malta for us. Sam and Adam are taking a break from Oz to work in the Mediterranean for a year or so. We reminisced about Belconnen Bus Interchange and the Pancake Parlour over a few drinks, and then they were even so kind as to take a day off to show us a few more spots around the island. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to walk through the Mnajdra megalithic ‘temple’. This structure, along with the Tarxien, Hagar Qin, Ta’Hagrat and Skorba complexes, are the oldest free-standing stone monuments in the world, with some dated at over 5000 years old.

Nearby the Tarxien complex is the underground Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. To protect the stones from a build-up of carbon dioxide, only 60 visitors are permitted each day. We bought our tickets back in December to guarantee entry, and caught a taxi rather than the more jovial orange bus to ensure that we would arrive on time. It was an astonishing journey back in time, to see these huge underground caverns that had been carved without metal tools, with red ochre patterns still visible on the ceilings.

However, the saga was not over. We were then scramble the near sheer cliffs, with only the occasional ladder placed over the dirt for assistance. About one quarter of the way up, I had had enough. I sat down and refused to go on. Adrian sat by me and comforted me until I was calm enough to appreciate our surroundings. I later learned that Rob had captured this moment of my anxiety:

We decided to slowly return to the shore. I would feel happier away from the cliffs, and Adrian would be closer to the puffins for photography. John also joined us, although he constantly lifted his eyes and scanned for the return of Jay. The island that we were standing on was formed from the magma core of a volcano 700 000 years ago, slowly eroded by the seas. As we were the only three people around, I was able to sit quietly and watch the birds in detail.

There were hundreds of kittiwakes, puffins, and guillemots roosting in the cliffs. The puffins were very skittish, as this island is used for hunting during various times during the year. They always looked worried and sad, as if they were contemplating global warming or their impending arrival on a dining table. It was very odd to see them suddenly take off into flight on their stubby little wings. They look so similar to penguins that I almost expected them to be flightless. I sat in the sun, amongst the birds, and watched them ferrying food to their new hatchlings hidden in small rock burrows. By the time the boat returned, I was so relaxed I slept all the way back to the mainland.

We landed at 5 AM in Abu Dhabi, and were ready to leave the airport by 6 AM. Etihad offers free shuttles from Abu Dhabi from Dubai, but the first one was leaving at 8:30 AM, so we decided to pay for a taxi instead. Because Etihad’s website was acting strangely, we booked our tickets and hotel through Flight Center. When I pulled out the hotel voucher and map in the taxi, I saw they had given us the worst map in the world – without a single building or street marked upon it – Deira is name of the whole old town, not a landmark.
We were so lost, and the poor taxi driver spent a long time driving up and down the streets, jumping out to ask people where the hotel was. Finally we found it, a dodgy little two-star place hidden in the corner. It was far from glamourous, but they let us check in first thing in the morning, which meant we could have a delicious nap before venturing out into the city. We spent the morning exploring the perfume, gold, spice, and textile souks. I bought some saffron and other spices, as well as a mortar and pestle. Out in the streets, nearly all the shoppers were men. The few women who were out and about ranged from mostly Asian women dressed in jeans and t-shirts, to young women dressed in long pants and tops with a sparkly scarf tightly wrapped around their hair, to older women in pairs wearing black burqas. Out of respect for the local culture, we both wore long pants, Adrian had grown a beard, I threw a shawl around my head, and we refrained from holding hands or displaying the soles of our shoes. None of this was strictly necessary, as Dubai is a modern multicultural city.

We visited the Dubai museum, as well as two old buildings retained in the style of the previous century. Heritage House was the home of a merchant built in 1890, and Al-Ahmadiya School was a traditional school built in 1912. Every room was filled with mannequins, making it very easy to visualise the lifestyle of the people of Dubai one hundred years ago – even the room in the museum that displayed ancient burial mounds was accompanied by models of archeologists standing proudly over their discoveries. As I walked into the Heritage House, I was surprised to find a warm and bright courtyard in the middle of the building. We were invited by the staff to sit down on some cushions, and were presented with some free pancakes and tea. This would be the only outside area that the women would be permitted to experience while uncovered. What a contrast to the neighbouring school, where the boys were educated in reading, writing, theology, and mathematics. It made me feel very thankful that I am an educated woman of the twenty-first century and not an illiterate sheltered wife of times past.

Leaving Deira, we caught an abra (boat) across the river to Bur Dubai. The dozens of wooden boats moved swiftly past each other through the water, on the Dubai Creek that has been the life blood to the city for centuries. At eye level, the hand carved boats seemed to enact an ancient scene, until one raised ones eyes above the horizon, to see the towering skyscrapers growing throughout the booming city. One third of the world’s cranes are in Dubai, and the bright blue sky is filled with their silhouettes. The new elevated train system, along with the world’s tallest building and the world’s largest shopping mall, are scheduled to open 09/09/09. We spent the afternoon exploring New Dubai – the Burj al Arab sailing boat hotel, the Madinat Jumeirah resort styled as a Arabian citadel, and Ski Dubai, the indoor world of snow situated in the Mall of the Emirates.