YASALAM : A festival of beach concerts, outdoor cinema & Grand Prix Concerts....Abu Dhabi comes alive!! Abu Dhabi came to life in October with a month long festival of free beach concerts & entertainment in the lead up to the first Formula 1 Grand Prix at Yas Island. Slowly we emerged from our extreme heat & humidty hibernation of a Middle East summer and Ramadan. The previous months had seen many flee the extreme heat to cooler shores, and with Ramadan, the town was very quiet...not a lot to do except stay indoors by the air con or in the pool! [View Full Entry]

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Al Ain, is the oasis town in the centre of the United Arab Emirates, where for many years, tribes & locals from Abu Dhabi & surrounds, who worked on the coast for their fishing/pearl diving & trade, travelled inland to this oasis in the summer months for some cooler relief. What was once a long arduous camel ride is now a 1 & 1/2hr freeway drive from Abu Dhabi island. It nears the border of Oman, surrounded by the Hajir mountains which divides Oman & UAE....so that's a bit of background! We headed off, zooming down the freeway, passing turban clad [View Full Entry]

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The weather!.... At the start of September, AD was still unbareably hot.....like 45 degrees every day!..with high humidity.....so it was an effort or stupidity to go outside much during the day. The dash to your car or waiting for a taxi was a debateable scenario...do you bother or not? I am pleased to report that by the months end, the weather has pleasantly changed! We are still in high 30's, but that now feels like a cool day...and there is a breeze..which you dont often get. There has even been the odd sighting of a cloud or two.( seriously...we usually don't [View Full Entry]

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Tall towers of air conditioned comfort, generally shield us from the approaching desert on our doorstep. Abu Dhabi island is surrounded by desert, once you are near the edge of town, behind the smaller buildings & bitumen roads lies a vastness of desert, which links each city here. Driving to Ras Al Khaimah (Northern coastal Emirate of UAE) we pass a deepening orange sand spreading out into dunes, revealing groups of camels searching shade. The odd hut pops up in amongst the dunes providing relief for its owners, as relief for most of us travellers is in the comfort of our [View Full Entry]

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Ah......warmth, heat..no wait a minute, extreme 45 degree hot & humid! Well ,after a break from living in Abu Dhabi, back in Melbourne for a while, I was glad to be leaving the long dreary winter, shedding the hat, coat, scalf, gloves & constant carrying of umbrella that had been adding weight to my winter hibernation!.. Flying across the globe, my first views of reconnecting with AD, were from the plane window, after a turbulant & noisy flight.. of the desert below stretching for as far as the eye can see..and a haze of heat & sand. Off the plane, into [View Full Entry]

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Melbourne offers cool relief from Abu Dhabi's extreme summer heat. Freshness in the air,.. fog, not sandstorms!..some rain,..some clouds & a clear technicolor view as opposed to the dusty sandy haze of Abu Dhabi in summer!.... A chill in the mornings & evenings, and sunny days to enjoy those long cafe lates in the alley cafes around the city, Degraves Lane & Centre Place , cafe no.5 a must! Paul & I soaked up Melbourne in winter. A luxurious stay at the Westin.. divine dinner at Momo's, & from Movida birthday dinner to take away pizzas in Elwood... A visit to [View Full Entry]

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From a small outcrop island off the main island of Abu Dhabi, lies quietly, reminders for the modern trekker of what life in the UAE was like before the transformation from its desert, nomadic & pearl diving existance. With the discovery of oil Abu Dhabi & the UAE have had a rapid transformation since the early 70's. Today we have a modern metroplis constantly being upgraded & developed, with the newest of sky scrapers overtowering the older buildings still standing in often crumbling condition from the 70's. Reminders of their more humble past can be found at Abu Dhabi's Heritage vill [View Full Entry]

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Arabia.. exotic..mysterious..arabic influence designs, Morrocan style buildings.. veiling and unveiling.. illuminated by soft light..... sensuous domes... exotic fabrics... dreams & aspirations to experience & see all this....... Abu Dhabi's Shangrila offers a glimpse of this experience... [View Full Entry]

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Having recently returned to Autumn in Melbourne, I was more than happy to visit Abu Dhabi again in the heat & haze of May. Sandstorms seemed to be more frequent, adding a veil of mystery to the heated days, and especially highlighting the white domes of Sheik Zayed's Grand Mosque. The white marble seemed further bleached & polished, a white on white effect against the haze of the summer skies. The detailing & carving on the marble is stunning, the blue tiles & palms contrasting & accentuating all the sumptuous details. Seeing the Mosque in this white light was spectacular, the [View Full Entry]

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The air is thick with heat and humidity, dust & sand storms are frequent. The back streets are filled with men standing, waiting, lying in the shade, more waiting, hanging around... for work, reprieve from cramped living conditions, socialising with fellow countrymen, congregating for mosque. The back streets are paved with crumbling footpaths, towering highrises line the long grid of streets, dominating the longstanding older apartment blocks, probably soon to be redeveloped. Traffic, heat, haze, few reprieves from the soaring temperatures. There is the odd day of rain & windstorms, blo [View Full Entry]

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