Tunisia - Day 3 Quad Biking

It turned out that Day 3 of our holiday was a bit of a special day in Tunisia as it was the day of celebration for their independence from France. Not only that we had a quad biking excursion booked which the kids were all really excited about.  

For the independence day the whole nation seemed to celebrate with flags going up everywhere. The restaurant prepared special food along with a cake that was decorated with the Tunisian flag. The evening entertainment was also all about Tunisian culture including the pot balancing on the head along with lots of local music and dancing.

The quad biking was incredibly and such good fun. Initially things didn't look great as our pick up from the hotel was 20+ mins late and then when they did arrive, the 5 of us had to squash in to a tiny little car to get there. Luckily it was only 5 mins up the road. We had to wear these silly hair net things under helmets which actually made a lot of sense afterwards as it stops a lot of the dust getting in your hair and from the helmets getting all sweaty. We managed to get Tina to go on the quad bikes, the boys both had their own bike (now Josh wants to buy one) and then Holly rode on the back with me.

We were out on dirt track roads for around 2 hours in total and even got to see a load of camels. The trails got trickier and as we gained confidence we were even trying to get a bit of air time on some of the little jumps. Once we returned from the quad biking it was straight in to the pool and sea to cool off and get some of the dust and dirt off from the quads.

At breakfast one of the waiters had taken to Holly and gave her a rose.

The hotel was prep'd for their independence day with the Tunisian flag.

Family picture with the Tunisian flag at our hotel.

It still amazes me that Arabic writing just looks like 2 year old scribble.

Tina and Holly sporting hair nets ready for quad biking.

Not sure this look will catch on!

Helmets on and ready to go.

Time to get some quads.

Josh was so up for this.

Amazingly we talked Tina in to doing the quad biking.

Brandon's outfit made him blend in with the desert surroundings.

As always he has to try and look "cool".

Getting a littl hot now waiting and just waiting to set-off so that the wind can cool us down.

Off we go, starting slow so that everyone can get their confidence with the qauds.

Brandon was just in front of me and H so loads of pictures of his behind!

Now you can see why the hair nets and sun glasses are essential.

Passing by some camels enroute.

Some of the places we drove through looked like desert war film sets.

The camels didn't bat an eyelid with the quads tearing past.

More of Brandon's behind.

Whilst single file, it did open up in places so you could let rip with the throttle.

And bits of the track had lots of little turns, dips, ramps, figure eights etc.

It wouldn't be Tunisia without passing one of the 82 million olive trees.

I tried to get a many pics as I could whilst driving one handed and making sure Holly is safe.

Tina seemed to enjoy the quads, except burning her bum on the hot leather seats!

Josh was in his element and would have done this every day on holiday given the option.

Every now and then I have to remember to take an abled photo to please Brandon.

Follow the leader.

Brandon navigating around a tree.

Quad biking just seems right in this environment, I don't think it would be the same back home.

As Holly was behind me it was difficult to get a picture of her. But here is her gun!

Getting faster and more technical as the day went on.

Super dusty going down this stretch of track.

Quick selfie to prove I was actually driving one as well.

Fun weaving in and out.

Josh was a complete natural.

Now the big man wants to buy his own quad bike!

Tina got the pretty orange bike for the tour.

Another shot of Brandon blending in with the background.

The gun show.

The glam show.

The "I'm so cool" show.

The "I want a quad" show.

Holly absolutely loved th experience even though she was too young to drive.

Great experience and we all had fun. Now in desperate need of a shower!

Back at base and normal service resumes.

Just covering his face doesn't stop me taking pictures.

Back down on the beach.

Holly took her donut.

Just look at that water.

Josh trying to do handstands in the sea.

Not quite.

So he resorts to his brothers tactics.

Give me the sea over the pool anyday.

How dare you wear my shades.

My bald spot under water.

Holly swimming underwater.

I realised I hadn't taken the obligatory pictures of our hotel rooms (not that we spent much time in them).

In the restaurant there was a Tunisian cake for their independence day.

Good selection of food as usual.

Some Tunisian entertainment during dinner.

For a small group they were very loud.

Warding off any evil spirits.

People were leaving the restaurant to get pictures and videos.

After dinner we took a nice walk down to the harbor at Port-El-Kantaoui.

Sun setting over the entrance to the port.

More Tunisian flags.

There were some weird looking boats in the port.

And there were 4 big old pirate ships which we saw going out nearly every day on excursions.

This was my favourite of the pirate ships.

Trying to capture a good sun set picture on the trusty old Dad cam.

Brandon doing the distant look in to the sunset pose.

Our hotel entrance all lit up of a night time.

Stairway to heaven.

Another full on day and things starting to catch up on Holly as she crashed out for the evening show.