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Published: December 18th 2008
Moving the dirt!
We moved tonnes of dirt to level the yard before we laid the turf. No 'tuckshop arms' for this girl.Hi there everyone - a long overdue update on the building process and a quick review of our 2008 as the Xmas entry. Last time I wrote things were going along swimmingly and have continued that same way, more or less. In actual fact we left our Peakhurst rental at the end of September and moved into the caravan on site. The upstairs of the building was close to being finished at this stage, bathroom operational, carpets in, power on but no window coverings. We were able to eat and sleep in the van and use the bathroom upstairs. Also had the lounge set up so we could watch telly and have some quiet evenings. The builders left on 3rd October and since then have had so much done that the house is 90% completed. We moved out of the van last week and are now living full time in the house. The painting is all finished both inside and out, the kitchen was finished today and the electrician is due tomorrow to switch on the ovens and dishwasher. I finally have a laundry and don’t have to schlep around town with baskets of dirty clothing begging the use of washing
Tess - testing the lawn
Our neighbour Nick and his dog Tess helped us lay the turf. Tess misunderstood the instructions. machines from friends and family. Still awaiting a shower screen in the ensuite and desperately need window coverings for the main bed and ensuite and then we can move into our bedroom. Last week we also moved tonnes of dirt and laid turf both front and back so the amount of dust in the house should be reduced markedly. We are both really exhausted and looking forward to Xmas and a break from building, dust and noise. Will add as many photos as I can so you can get an idea of how things look now.
Our main news may be a bit of a surprise to some of you - we had a 10 day visit to Dubai in October. John has been offered a job there so before making a decision we really had to go and have a look. The work involves strata titling some of the tens of thousands of apartments that have been built over the last 10 years or so. Talk about a culture shock. It is an amazing place. The most incredible buildings - it must be Nirvana to architects, and the whole place at first glance is a massive building site.
Almost finished
Nick, John and Tess on the homeward stretch Traffic is diabolical and everything seems to be “the biggest in the world”. We stayed 5 nights with our prospective employers and then 5 nights in a villa complex a couple of minutes walk from the Mall of the Emirates which is where you find Ski Dubai - an indoor snow skiing theme park! You have probably seen this on Getaway or some such show but seeing is believing. We didn’t ski, it’s not our thing, but lots of people were. Very expensive especially for a family but as I said it is very popular. The Mall itself was at that time the biggest in Dubai but whilst we were there another much bigger mall opened under the Burj Dubai which is a tower under construction that will be over 800 metres tall. All the shopping was expensive - plenty of designer shops and we didn’t buy a thing except for a pair of very sensible sandals for me. The difference between the malls and the old town and the souks (market places) was amazing. The gold souk was especially interesting - as were the textile shops selling beautiful fabrics and pashminas etc. Spent one day doing a “hop on,
hop off” bus tour, one day was barely enough and then did an “Evening Desert Safari” in a Toyota Land cruiser which was a real hoot! We knew Land cruisers were tough but not that tough!!! The drivers threw the vehicles up and down sand dunes as if they were on a roller coaster. As I said it was enormous fun. The photo of John in Arab dress was taken that night and we also had henna tattoos painted on. Thank goodness they washed off after a week - the only way to have a tattoo I think.
There were so many amazing sights to see - not the least being the size of the developments and the sheer numbers of them. Road maps are almost unheard of as their relevance is outdated as quickly as they can be printed so it is not uncommon to receive a hand drawn map from a client to show how to get to his office for a meeting. One development, the Palm Jumierah is built on land in the shape of a palm tree reclaimed from the sea. The trunk of the tree is the access road with apartment blocks and the
fronds of the palms are residential villas. At the top of the trunk is the Atlantis hotel (I will put a picture in), an extremely opulent hotel of 1500 rooms with an enormous (i.e. about 2-3 storeys high) fish tank in the foyer with a whale shark as a resident, a water theme park open to the public as well as a dolphin conservation centre. I just don’t have the time to describe it all! The Burj Al Arab is the famous hotel shaped like a sail. It stands on its own man made island and is supposedly the tallest hotel in the world and I think the most expensive. You can go to the cocktail bar for a cocktail or two - you pay to get in and we were told the cocktails start at about $40 so needless to say we didn’t visit. You can google all these places for the full rundown - suffice to say it was fascinating.
So shall we go?? We are taking a positive attitude but there are lots of pros and cons. What to do with our lovely new house being one of the major cons. Major pros are that the
The port on the creek in Dubai
How does anyone find anything in this mess. Boxes sit here for days unattended. It's been working for years - if it ain't broke don't fix it. work is really stimulating and very interesting for John, and then there is the opportunity to travel. Dubai is very close to Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and so on and only short flights by our standards. There would also be work for me so I wouldn’t have time to miss the grandkids that much. We both feel that it is a great opportunity so at this stage we look like starting a contract in Dubai on or about 1st April 2009.
As this has now become our Xmas blog had better put the family update in as well. There is not a lot to tell. Everyone is well - the grandchildren continue to give us enormous joy and so much fun. We currently have seven of these little wonders of the world and it wouldn’t be a Xmas newsletter without news of another little Stubbs’ on the way. Michael and Leigh are pregnant and due to have their second (our 8th) in the middle of 09. They are very excited and Blake is looking forward to a new brother or sister.
Kate and Brett and their four are terrific, Ben has settled in very well and Kate says he
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This is nothing. If it's not stopped it's going at 120-140 k's per hour. is a wonderful baby. Jack finishes his 1st year at school tomorrow - hard to believe he is heading for Year 1!
Tim and Janelle did a massive extension to their house this year and they are about at the same stage as us. They will be very glad that the year is over and the mess is finally cleaned up and they can settle down and enjoy their beautiful home. Zac and Maddison have both had a great year at school, Maddison has finished Kindy and is also heading into Year 1 in 2009.
We don’t see a lot of Ryan. He is still living in Pyrmont and doing bar work in the city. He works most nights and sleeps most days so it is a bit hard to catch him. He will of course be here for Xmas and hopefully stay for the Golf on Boxing Day.
Our latest news is that Lib and Greg are engaged and getting married in March next year. (Another reason for us not to leave until April). We are so pleased for them both and look forward to welcoming Greg into our family.
We are very much looking to Xmas night which
will be spent with all of our family (except for Lib and Greg) at our new home. The "Stubbs Cup" will again be hotly contested on Boxing Day before we adjourn to Peter's place for a well earned drink.
A week at Gerroa with Michael, Leigh, Kate, Brett and 5 beautiful grandkids will round off our year. It doesn't get much better than that!
We hope that your year has been satisifying and free of ills. A MERRY XMAS to all our wonderful family and friends. You are all what makes life worthwhile.
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griffos
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Thanks for the blog.House looks great! Congratulations on the completion.Interested to hear about Dubai & your decision.Wiil visit before you leave.Will show house to architect Ben for his critique.We are renting in Yamba, Mary has 5 weeks hols.Kate & Rob's lil Joe, 3months, is going well.Merry xmas to all yous .