Dubai 2008
On Sunday 20th April we left Gatwick Airport bound for
Dubai to spend some time with Colins daughter Anna, her husband Mark and granddaughter Hebe (affectionately referred to as The Desert Princess)
We arrived in the evening to a very warm and humid atmosphere, quite a shock after the cold and wet we had just experienced during our visit to the UK.
Mark met us at Dubai Airport, we were a little early landing and he arrived on time, it was great to get into the car with an A/C and make our way through the hectic traffic to the British Embassy Compound where they live.
Joyful meetings were had all round followed by a slight snack and the odd drink before a good nights sleep.
Jeannie was over the moon since this is the first time she has been warm in the last 5 months and said "Yes bliss", it was warm just like a Brisbane summer night. The next morning Jeannie was again excited to see Frangipani and many other plants grown in Australia.
Most of our time was spent being with the family and making sure that we didn’t disrupt their usual daily routines.
We went to the 'Club' pool almost every day and by the time we left Jeannie could float the width of the pool with her face underwater, something she had never done before.
Hebe continued her various activities during which we toured some of the many wonderful shopping malls of Dubai city.
After Hebes activities we usually met up and had coffee or lunch before returning to the villa.
Most evenings we took a stroll along the side of the Creek (Dubai River) it was lovely to walk in the balmy evenings after the heat of the day. Here all the restaurant boats were anchored ready for the evening trade. The lights were very pretty.
The 21st April was The Queen's 82nd birthday and we were lucky enough to be invited to the formal birthday bash in the Embassy grounds. This took place on 22nd April, the trees were all lit up, everyone was 'dressed', some speeches, Prince Charles Troup of the Guards Band, just back from Afghanistan, came in all their red finery and played for us. The food was in huge silver containers and served by chefs, it was typically English, including roast and fish and chips etc. Being a sweet tooth Jeannie particularly liked the pudding and custard
It was an excellent evening and very interesting to experience such a formal function.
Friday 25th there was an informal picnic on the lawns of the
Consular General's residence to celebrate St. Georges Day (23rd) . This time it was attended by many of the Embassy staff, children and their friends. Everyone took their own food, drinks and rugs etc. After finding a space we sat down to eat and listened to a concert given by the band. The weather was great, sunny and hot, and meeting other parents, especially Dave & Pam from Northumberland visiting their daughter and son in law, was a bonus.
On the 27th we went on a guided tour of the Jumeirah
Mosque, the oldest mosque and by far the largest and most decorated in Dubai. The various customs were explained and after removing our shoes we were allowed inside.
On the 30th we went on a Desert Safari, it was great, a
convoy of about six four wheel drive vehicles across the desert. We were picked up at the Embassy about 3.30pm and dropped back at 10pm. We had hair raising dune rides, we went up dunes and could only see where the earth met the sky, not knowing what was on the other side, descending quickly down and so on. We stopped to see the sunset in the desert, which was a bit of a fizzer, we were expecting more. This was mainly due to the construction haze over Dubai City.
Then we went to an 'enclosure', timber walls in a square, called a Bedouin camp, where we had a dinner of traditional food which we ate sitting on large cushions, it was very well presented and organised.
In the middle was a stage with carpet for the belly dancer she was very good.
Another indulgence for Jeannie and totally out of character was that she had a Hena pattern painted on her foot, (now gone). She had it on her foot then it could be covered up with shoe and sock if necessary, which it wasn't. Quite an eye-opening experience.
Other things of note included the river taxi (abra) crossing of the creek, which is not for the faint hearted and the beautiful parks and gardens, very well maintained and in full bloom. Visits to the beach were great, white sands against the blue Gulf with weather to match were all very impressive.
During our stay we attempted a couple of caches but luck was not on our side this time.
The meals we had at various restaurants etc. cannot go unmentioned, all provided excellent food and value for money in their own special way.
After a visit to the gold souk for a look round and buy a couple of "momentos" it was time to pack up and leave.
A big thank you to Anna and Mark for their hospitality and making our visit a memorable one.
We left Dubai 8th May, at 8.am. We were all seated on the plane, the Captain said we should be ready to leave in a couple of minutes , 45 minutes later we took off, there had been a problem with a pump which had to be fixed by the engineers. We arrived at Gatwick, rang a friend's wife who came to pick us up, had a cuppa, thanked them profusely for their hospitality and drove to Portsmouth to catch the ferry.
We arrived in Portsmouth at 5.30pm checked in through the gate, was told where to park the car, then went to sit in the afternoon sun for a while. The ferry did not start loading until 7pm, late, it was 8.pm by the time we were loaded on, put our bags in the cabin and went up to see the departure. Jeannie didn't know how these ferries float with all the weight on them. There must have been over one hundred laden semi-trailers on plus hundreds of vehicles of every description.
We had a relatively good nights sleep in the cabin with Jeannie on the bottom bunk , which is no more than 2ft wide and Colin on the top bunk which was 2ft 6in wide. We went up for breakfast at 6.30am and docked at 7.30 am in St. Malo. From here it was a pleasant three hour drive home.
