Blogs from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 109

What an experience. We have a friend (Simon from Carson Group) over from NZ at the moment. So for that reason, as well as the fact that we have a virgin Jeep Wrangler, we decided to try a bit of wadi bashing. We picked an easy route out of the off road guide, which is also apparently the most spectacular Wadi in the UAE to visit. Its byline is " The Grand Canyon of the Middle East". However we wouldn't know. The route goes into Oman so you have to take your passports, however my cousin James didn't have his with him as it is away getting a residency visa, but we thought that we would try and blag our way through with a copy of it and his drivers license. Unfortunatly the border guards weren't ... read more

HHH in the UAE, Nothing beats Hazy Hot and Humid We let ourselves sleep in our first morning in Dubai - the temptation of a king sized bed, room with a/c and some residual jet lag was a serious sleep-in kind of cocktail. Mike had really enjoyed the pool time the afternoon before, so I was convinced that sunning by the pool (or shading by the pool for me) was a good idea for the day. When I booked the hotel room back in January, I had found a great deal that gave us an “executive” room for a good price. I knew that gave us a ride to/fro the airport but that’s all. We were really happy and surprised to find it also gave us access to a smaller pool than the main one ... read more

The Jimmy Dix Dave Dobbyn Concert Well we went to concert on Friday night for Dave Dobbyn ( a NZ artist who was doing a tour over here) and the music was so loud, and that base so heavy, that I can still hardly hear and every muscle and bone in my body still feels as though it has been through a giant washing machine - four days later. I have decided that it is sit down, peaceful concerts only from now on! Needless to say, the concert was not the best that I have ever been to. ... read more

All you can see in the sky line over here are cranes. They can actually be quite beautiful (check out the photos). The view is of the Burj Dubai being constructed in front of our eyes, its rather cool actually. We has a decidely quiet weekend, we tried to pop over to the gold souk on Saturday to have a look at some of the jewellery (since my 30th is coming up nice and fast I figured it would be a good idea to do some present scoping out). In the priocess of trying to get to the god souk we learnt a most valuable lesson, do not try and drive there, ever, as you will not find a car park for love nor money. After circling the area for half an hour we completley gave ... read more

SCUBA Saz and the wrongest day ever So they’ve now been in Dubai over a week and knowing that Ficks has his open water diver licence, knowing that they could go diving together as they travel round the world, knowing that she loves a challenge, Saz signs up for an open water course at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Such an amazing idea, such a beautiful location, such a professional bunch of instructors…such a shame she appears unable to blow out through her nose to clear her mask! 5 attempts later and close to hyperventilating she leaves the pool in tears…Ficks as always is amazing and they decide to get some food for dinner in Spinneys (the local supermarket) to calm her nerves, forget about the scuba for a while, relax…..the afternoon can only get better ... read more