I flew from Heathrow, with a visit to the Kath Kidston shop in Terminal 3 for some essential present purchases, & eventually arrived in Dubai for 2 nights. I had booked a ticket online to go up to the observation deck on the 124th! floor of the Burj Khalifa, a truly fantastic building with fabulous views over the city & towards the desert, loved that. I roamed around the Dubai Mall for several hours, without shopping, just looking at the exoticism of the place, especially the Souk area. Even took my first video ever, of the daytime fountain show at the foot of the Burj Khalifa behind the Dubai Mall. Next visit I'll try to get the evening show which is even more spectacular with laser lights, fountain & the Burj Khalifa lit up behind. Froze in my hotel room that night. The aircon was set on 17c!, got them to up it but it stopped at 20c. Way too cold for me & the room smelt damp, not my favourite hotel.
Dan, my young cuz, picked me up the next day & off to Abu Dhabi in the next Emirate where he is living. He has a nice flat there with a big balcony for entertaining (just getting bbq & outdoor furniture now that I'm back in Brisbane, lol). We went swimming in that lovely, warm, blue/green ocean, really it was nearly bath temp, just lovely. Afterwards, Dan's Dad, David, rang so we chatted to him in turns while showering & changing. Standing on the beach in Abu Dhabi, UAE, talking to David in Brisbane, Aus, sometimes things seemed quite surreal! Anyway after a lovely lunch, saw those smoking pipes!, Dan drove me around the city showing me the sights & the great buildings, including a fabulous mosque. (The pictures are on fb, I think.) Abu Dhabi will soon outdo Dubai with its unique, modern architecture which is fitting as Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It was a good day with Dan & after picking his lady, Lisa, up from the airport that evening it was time to drive back to Dubai for my last freezing night. Thanks, Dan!
I arrived back in Brisbane early in the morning on the 31st August & was picked up by Jan, of course, & 2 v excited granddaughters. Just as well I had shopped at Kath Kidston! So great to see them all again - I really had missed my own little Brisbane family.
My exciting, wonderful, dream-fulfilling 4-month OE adventure was over & it was so awesome! I visited fifteen fabulous countries & landed at/took off from one more, twice. Loved travelling, loved seeing new places, loved catching up with my friends & relations in foreign climes, loved the whole overseas experience immensely!
But it's not enough, future trips to come!!!!!
