29 May 2006

The End

The day has finally come when we leave Dubai.

Moving to New Zealand is turning out to be a drawn-out process. We moved out of the flat in Capricorn Tower three weeks ago, with the help of Crowne - again, and after a serious clear-out. It will take two months for our belongings to arrive in Wellington after a journey by container ship via Singapore, so we decided to pack up early. I hated leaving our amazing flat and still miss the view down Sheik Zayed Rd every day. We spent our remaining time - until Stuart finished working at DIFX - living at Donna's house in Jumeirah, which also helped enormously with the editing of the documentary. Donna looked after us magnificiently, and we have never eaten so well.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to the friends we've made. Even after the leaving-do Claire and Carla arranged for us on the Dhow at Mina Seyahi we still had a host of lunches and dinners organised. It was so good to see everyone again for one more time, and I realised how many fabulous people we got to know during our time here, a whole Dubai family.

This is the last entry in this particular blog. My intention in writing it was to show what our life was like here in Dubai, to dispel some of the myths about expat life in the Middle East and to keep in touch with our friends in Europe (and elsewhere). Still, if you are interested in our adventures Down Under, Stuart is taking over and has already started his blog. Much more technologically advanced, it features an RSS feed so that you can make use of your news reader to keep up to date with us. Go there now!

Goodbye!