I first tasted the water of the Nile in 2005 (not sure if I meant to) and subsequently I have been irrevocably tied to the Middle East. Arriving in Istanbul in 2007 – that first chilly morning, at 7am, with a light fog surrounding the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia – I was a goner. When I am not wandering around Balat, my local 'hood in the 'Bul, I am in the middle of New South Wales at the family pub. I love a life of contrasts.
