Nov 2007

Do not laugh, this is serious stuff, but with less than 24 hours before we were to depart for Dubai, Noel lost his passport. I kid you not, our poor little 60m2 Fool em Flat was nearly demolished in the process! We pulled everything apart, but Noel's little blue NZ passport was no where to be found. After notifying the Police to obtain a police report, Emirates to change the flight (at extra cost), obtain new photos and complete 10 pages of passport application (yuck), Noel's boss to tell him we would be another day getting there, NZ House to organise an emergency passport, Dennis & Liz Signal who were due to arrive to complete renovations in the flat whilst we were away, and our landlady, we were mentally and physically exhausted in every way. It has to said that this has been the most stressful time we have ever experienced, quite truthfully, the worst, all happening so quick and causing absolute mayhem. Luckily, New Zealand House were absolutely fantastic, the application processed after hours on a Saturday evening, and Noel got his new passport before 9am on Monday to fly out from Heathrow that day at 2pm! Of course, the least of our worries at the time was to have an entry visa for Noel to get back into the UK, another story!

Dubai is a unique city, with its population of approx 1.3million, the population is made up of only 20% locals - with 80% made up from the Phillipeans, Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankians, Egyptians and ex-pats. They expect the population to increase to around 3million by 2017, and I would believe that after seeing all the development work and job opportunities there are in the city. Of the 20% local population though, only 8% are women!!

Despite being a desert climate with lower than average rainfall, water shortages are unheard of. The arabs have a complex of desalination plants (the biggest in the world) in Jebel Ali to boost production. All the gardens and parks (of which there are many, with still an abundance being built) all have irrigation systems in place using copper piping (no cheap pvc here mateys it would melt!) and the gardens are plush and green!

Every time the leader is mentioned in any newspaper he is recorded like this: " His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai." Yep, every time in print that is how he is recorded so if his name is mentioned more than once in an article, thats how it is! He is a visionary to achieve socio-economic and political development for the area, and his aim is to join the ranks of the more advanced countries in all fields. There is construction work going on everywhere, with roads and motorways and a new rail system and high rises everywhere you look. I counted 21 high rises under construction within a 1 mile radius (view from the bus window!). Incredible stuff don't you think? And the Emirate is to host the world's richest golf tournament with prize money in excess of $10million (American) in 2009 - wonder if Noel can qualify for that?

I went on a walking tour through the Textile, Spices and Gold Souks (markets) and crossed the Creek (the main river through the city) on an old traditional wooden "abra" (water taxi). The Creek water is so clean, emerald green, and is the life blood of the city with activities going on everywhere. I was mesmerized by the aroma of the fragrant spices with huge sacks filled to the brim with every type of spice, herbs, dried fruits, dates, nuts, chillis, vanilla pods, saffron strands, it blew me away! And the textiles, layer upon layer of beautiful materials, hanging in doorways, outside on the footpath, beautiful ornately designed gorgeous colourful fabrics in every direction - amazing! And gold everywhere! Jewellery, gold, chains, sparkling, yellow, white, diamonds......ahhhh what a dream!

I spent a day on Jumeriah Beach, a golden sanded palm laden stretch of coast to the Arabian Gulf, spotlessly clean water with nets to keep out the unwanted sealife! It was "Ladies Day" and as a result the locals as well as expats (not many other races, they were all working) were there on the beach. The Arab women are absolutely stunning, and most of them wore there designer incey wincy bikinis adorned with jewellery etc. Stunning! No photos allowed although I did take some! There were many though that remained covered from head to toe (and swam like that!).

Dubai is out to be the world biggest and busiest commercial den of the world! The Arabs are doing all they can to make it a fast paced commercial centre, their traffic is shocking. Every single Arab has these huge big brand new European 4WD's and they all go at speed along the 6 lane highways, there are accidents all the time which cause huge traffic jams (worse than Auckland) but no one takes any notice, they all still continue to speed and lane change and dodge through the traffic with great haste! Horrible! And you will see so many young Arabs driving expensive high powered european cars (especially the Arab women) with mercedes, masceratis, lotuses, ferraris, lamboginis, jaguars, bentleys, etc etc Amazing! I couldn't stop staring!

We are captivated by Dubai, we will return here, I regret we didn't get the time to do the Desert Safari trip which involved 4wd over the dunes followed up by dressing in traditional costume and having a meal on a carpet with belly dancing at night in the desert - next time Dubai, We will be back!!

We arrived back in London to 10deg. (after Dubai at 31oC) and Noel impressed the immigration officer waiting for him at Heathrow that he has been granted a temporary 6 month visa, that should give him enough time to deal with the Home Office to secure his ancestry visa - or will it!!

During our 10 day absence from London, we have noticed how dark it gets here now, by 4pm its pitch black and cold, I've packed away the bathing suits, beach towels and sunblock but wondering for how long - there are great deals to Goa, Tenneriffe, the Carribean and Kenya and Christmas holidays are nearly here ....hmmmmmmm watch this space!!

Noel Moundie and I caught an Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh ok, so it may have been 2 hours late in leaving, but we reached our destination, the handsome capital of Scotland, in the dark, but ready to find our "stunning 2 double bedroom prestigous apartment with spectacular water views" in a newly developed and upmarket area called Leith Harbour in Edinburgh. Midnight, with no map, we drove round in circles, constantly having to stop and ask for directions, getting more tired, and grumpy, until the decision was made to find a new hotel and take any bed on offer!
Thank goodness for the Holiday Inn at Queensferry who had a lovely suite available at a decent price, and for their late night bar being open for a much appreciated cold beer - at 1.30am! Boy did we need that!

Next day bright and early, the boys headed off to play golf at the Ancient Course at St Andrews. They had put their names into a ballot - all very formal - but regrettably had been told they had been unsuccessful in getting a tee off time. However, not to be outdone, the boys were determined to play, after all they had not come all this way not to play golf, nor see the famous old course. But luck was against them, there were absolutely no free tee off times available. The boys meandered around the course and explored the pro shop, and drove out with their hearts heavy and heads hung low.

As for Elsie, well, she met up with a very old acquaintance whom she worked for in 1977! Nigel Davies. It had been 21 years since Elsie had seen Nigel, an ex-lawyer who now lives on the Scottish Borders and is now an amateur farmer. He apparently is the "beater" in a local pheasant shoot, (which means he uses a broom to shoo the birds out from under the bush!), he owns a couple of acres of hardy land that isn't much use but but otherwise it was a pleasant afternoon spent with him in the Dome, a converted old Bank building with huge high stud plastered ceilings and fancy chandaliers, all very posh. A stroll through the famous Princes Street gardens, then some pub grub in a quiet backstreet pub. A fantastic afternoon! Til next time Nige....

Edinburgh is a "sobering" city, we did find it quite dull and colourless in its surroundings, perhaps because of the medieval and georgian architecture and the ancient stone buildings, and there are two distinct areas, one being the Princes Street area, the main thoroughfare and commercial centre with the adjacent Princes St Gardens under the proudness of the majestic Edinburgh Castle.

Then the other being the Old Town with most of the city's medieval history clustered in the alleys of the Grassmarket and Royal Mile areas. Edinburgh is of course a beautiful proud city, its a shame we never quite warmed towards it

Back to London and next day a trip to the famous British Airways London Eye - - what an engineering masterpiece. It stands 443ft high, 32 capsules each allowing unobstructed 360 degree views - each holding up to 25 people, luckily, we only had another 5 or 6 other bods in with us, and it takes a gentle 30 minutes round trip. On a clear day the Eye affords a unique 40 km view which sweeps over the capital in all directions and on to the countryside and hills beyond. Our day was rainy and cloudy unfortunately, but we had a most enjoyable "flight", see photos below. Some stats for you: 80 spokes made from 6 km of cable hold the structure in tension, two cables 60 metres in length suport the entire structure from concrete bases, the wheel rim was floated down the Thames in sections and assembled on site, and more importantly, it cost 14 quid a ticket!

Noel and I have enjoyed 2 full on weeks with our friend Moundie, as the photos depict, we had so much fun, visiting Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Gordons underground Wine Bar in Charing Cross, (our kiwi visitors know where that is), the local Peterborough and The Ship Pubs, Mama Mia musical, Picadilly Circus at night, Tower of London and a visit to the jewels, a curry meal with our friend Maria and her friend Judy, drinking loads of red wine and listening to music til the wee small hours, and generally having a fun and memorable time. Moundie heads off to South Africa now and we are sorry to see him go. Come back soon buddy!

More adventures follow....Noel is off to work in Dubai for 10 days and I am joining him, what will be in store for the Houghtons on this trip.....?