Some of you may recall that our first attempt at camping in the UAE was a bit of a disaster (more details here). Well a couple of weeks ago we decided to have another go, but this time we thought it would be nice to head into the desert.
Diary
Diary
ABU DHABI DIARY (7)
I can’t quite believe that in a week it will be Christmas Day. Henry headed back to Scotland in the very early hours of this morning, and has made it there safely despite a missed connection in London. Archie and Flossie finished school this afternoon, and I only have two more days of work before finishing for a few days.
ABU DHABI DIARY (6)
This week started with a trip to Amsterdam for a work conference. As always with this type of thing there wasn’t too much time for sightseeing, although I did manage to spend an hour or so wandering around the Christmas markets on Sunday when I arrived. And on the Monday evening we were treated to a boat trip by our Dutch hosts, which took in a number of the impressive displays forming part of the Amsterdam light festival. There was a bit of a panic on the boat when the beer pump was found to be not working, but after some frantic tinkering by the crew there was a huge sign of relief as the drink began to flow.
AL AIN ZOO
I took a couple of days off last week so yesterday we decided to visit Al Ain Zoo. We had annual passes to Blackpool Zoo for a couple of years, which we enjoyed using, so Al Ain Zoo had a lot to live up to.
YELLOW BOAT TOURS
Having been on something of a roll in September things came to an abrupt stop in October when I got a bad case of “blogger's block”. I suspect there were a few reasons for this, but here I am again, dipping my toe back into the water.
ABU DHABI DIARY (5): DOLPHINS & GEOCACHING
With Jo back in the UK last weekend to attend her parents’ golden wedding anniversary party, the kids and I were left here to entertain ourselves.
THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0
A quick review of “The Illusionists 2.0” at the Emirates Palace Hotel, just in case anyone is thinking of going over the next couple of days, or next week when it is in Dubai.
ABU DHABI DIARY (4)
Just checking in to let you know we returned safely from our kayaking trip yesterday, in case any of you were worrying! Looking back sat in a comfortable air-conditioned kitchen 24 hours later I can say that we had a great morning. At the time it didn’t always feel that way.
ABU DHABI DIARY (3)
Another week ends and it has been a reasonably quiet one as life gets back to normal in the sandpit. It’s certainly been quieter than the same week last year, I was reminded yesterday by my “timehop” app (great app for you social media users) that yesterday was the anniversary of my “accident” in the compound swimming pool, which resulted in being rushed to hospital (when I say “rushed” I may be exaggerating, Jo recalls it as more of a leisurely drive) and receiving a number of stitches. You can read about the incident on my previous blog here should you be so inclined.
THE ABU DHABI STONE
For those that saw the title of this post and clicked on it thinking it must be a cultural post about a historic monument in Abu Dhabi, you are going to be disappointed. In fact the “Abu Dhabi stone” refers to the amount of weight that expats traditionally put on in their first twelve months in the country (more generally known as the “expat stone” as it happens elsewhere as well).
