Jaipur tonight

We just had the funnest expedition around the streets of Jaipur! After the monsoon rains came down this afternoon there was a lot of doubt as to whether us westerners would be able to walk around the streets without drowning/slipping/getting run over, but Steve Our Fearless Leader led us out amongst the people and it was great! We traipsed around like the novelty white Aussies that we are, getting lots of stares and waves (which our kids love!). We met some beautiful Indian kids and made some friends. The kids who chose to step out of the hotel into the big bad world got a lot out of it.



This is yesterday at the Taj Mahal. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful experience and the atmosphere is peaceful and beautiful. I find it amazing that such a populated and busy city does open spaces so well! My last post was titles "Here we are in Heaven" because the whole place has an exterior wall that acts as a barrier to the outside world and when you get into the inner part where the Taj is, it is supposed to replicate what it would be like in Heaven. :)

Back to today: after our adventure on the streets of Jaipur, Bel and I took the group into a textile factory thinking that we would have a quick look...about 2 hours later we emerged with loads of goodies and more to pick up tomorrow! The girls are having saris made up and they will be ready by 7.30am (it was 8pm at the time). That's India! The photo below shows Claudia and Kaitlyn at the back whilst the boys bring out more saris to show them. This was also a kind of heaven. :)

We also visited Fatepur Sikri today but I can only get the photos off the ipad right now and some silly person has taken some good ones but they are upside down... not something I can fix right now. Soz.

But I can put this one up, isn't it beautiful?

And this: East meets West. These are the kind of novelty photos our kids get taken. I think Saul might put this one in his CV.

love ya lots.

SM

Here we are in heaven

The Taj was fantastic! Architecture normally ain't my thing but the atmosphere is serene and the building itself is merging toward art. Gotta run. No Internet.

SM

Pics from Delhi

This is not the Taj Mahal. It's another beautiful mausoleum in Delhi.
Caroline - if you are out there, I hope you can copy these for the AGT blog. We are having a great time. Today will be a different scene I think as we will travel 3 hrs away to Agra and see some more interesting sights of India.
As you can see, getting photos to you ain't so simple. :)

First day in delhi

Wow! Delhi is crazy,amazing,inspiring! The cIty of Delhi is testament to mankind's ability to co-operate.

We saw some incredible sights today. Some make us shake our heads in amazement, some that make us marvel at the resilience of the Indian people, and many that illustrate the differences between our two worlds.

What amazing food! (Husband will be soooo jealous) -curries for breakfast, lunch and tea! 

It's interesting to note that we are the unusual ones over here. We've been photographed by curious 
onlookers and Amelia won over a sweet Indian family with a tiny baby.

I have only now managed to get some Internet, so will hopefully post more tomorrow - off to the Taj in the morning. Hope all is well back home, I love and miss my gorgeous family! (Bel says hi too, but she's snoozing right now.)
SM
Arrgh!!! Technology and I are at loggerheads at the mo! I'll fix that photo tomorrow. Goodnight.

From Pt Plomer to Delhi

As seems to be the way with us jet setting surfermums these days, Bel and I are off to India on Thursday.

The Indian government doesn't officially know the population of India because there are so many people living in slums etc, unaccounted for. It is an entire universe away from the safe little hub that I live in where the population is all accounted for and tucked up in their nice warm homes at night. 

Last Friday afternoon Husband and I enjoyed some fun little waves in the winter sunshine at Pt Plomer - all to ourselves! There was no-one else in the water. Just how we like it. This Friday I will be in one of the most populated cities in the world where millions have never seen the sea, let alone surfed the warm east coast waters of Australia... with a couple of locals for company. We have got it good, no matter what the politicians tell us about how bad things are.

I know we are in for an exciting adventure and an eye opening experience. See you in Delhi!

SM

Now, more than ever ladies, your country needs you!



 Do you recognise this man? Ok, he may have less clothes on than usual, but the goatee is a giveaway isn't it? Shame on you if you don't! Call yourself a patriotic woman?!

It's none other than the beautiful Lucas Neill - captain of the Socceroos. On Tuesday night he will be on display once again leading our team onto the park to do battle with Iraq in order to win a spot in the Soccer World Cup in Brazil next year.

I am a fan of watching good looking men display skill and athleticism on a soccer field and I'm not ashamed to say it. There's something about their youthfulness, their boyish charm that makes me look forward to getting up at 2am to watch them pass the ball with precision, drive for a goal, then roll on the ground in mock pain. The opposition that is, not our boys. Our boys are as tough as they are good looking.

Even the panel disecting the game have a certain worldly good looks. (Does any man do silver hair better than Craig Foster?). And the calling of the game ain't bad either. Last world cup I developed a late night relationship with Simon Hill - commentator extraordinaire. Here's what I thought then:

No one else can do it like Simon. To listen to Simon call the soccer is the high, without the drugs; the buzz, without the side effects. When he says electric, I feel it. When he calls it a blistering start, I blister. He tells it like it is, and he knows I want to hear it.

He’s witty and he’s clever and that accent is all class (when he says class it rhymes with ass). Listen for the way he wraps his tongue around those foreign names. He never falters, and I like a man who knows his Saviola from his Guardado (those kind of sweet nothings can drive a woman wild!). When he talks of the fulcrum of the Argentine team, I know exactly where it is. And don’t dare think he’d say Argenteen like the rest of those Philistines- its Argentine (rhymes with nine).

I might have been suffering from a few late nights when I wrote that, but the point is still the same: Your country needs you. Now is the time to rise up and declare that you are interested in watching good looking men run around in shorts (look out for a glistening bare chest now and then too!). Or you can just say you have a sudden passion for soccer. Either way is fine. Tuesday SBS 7.30pm.

lucasneill.com

Lucas says thank you. :)
SM

Oahu

Early morning Waikiki Surfers

Hi Surfermums,

Was too busy on Oahu to post, so here's a picture of two surfermums paying homage to the Duke after an early morning surf... at Waikiki.  The next day the surf was bigger and we had other tours booked so I had to leave the surfing to the Grommie (thanks for the loan of the board Glen). I had fun surfing in the warm water in a bikini, we had to leave it as we hadn't had breakfast and were getting cold in the early morning breeze (I did see people paddling out to the break at 5.00 am and in the evening twilight!...

Also had a tour of Pearl Harbour (Arizona memorial, USS Missouri etc), Hiked up Diamond Head, ate Malasadas (just like a jam doughnut but instead of jam had a chocolate filling - great breakfast after a surf), and also hit the shops......great trip - see you in the surf!

Mighty Mo's Big Guns