We're here!

Oh no! Emirates lost my buggy!

But they found it again. Phew!

Under the night time Andalucian sky. Actually, it's inside the Ibn Battuta Mall during the day.
Spooky.

And so far it's fabulous! We arrived early Wednesday morning and after a slight hiccup when the airline lost Daisy's buggy (but found and delivered it 4 hours later) we headed out via duty free. It was quite exciting to discover that you can buy alcohol at duty free. Not to mention premium spirits were only 8 pounds a bottle! A driver was waiting for us and we were soon heading to The Greens where we are staying for a month.

Our impressions of Dubai. Firstly, it's waaay bigger than we thought. Everything is super sized, the building, the developments, the roads, everything. What looks on the map like just next door is actually miles away. There is still huge amounts of development going on, the scale of it is mind boggling. It's also greener than I thought with lots of pretty pink flowers around. The people aren't super sized however, and the women are very glamourous. People are really friendly which is great. It's very car based and not easy to get around walking. Not in this area anyway, the beach area might be different. Another thing that we have noticed is that there are screeds of people working in shops and stuff. Restaurants have loads of waiting staff and supermarkets have people to not only pack your trolley, but unload it and (as I discovered yesterday) take your basket if you are also pushing a pram! All in all first impressions are definitely very good which is a relief.

The Greens, where we are staying is nice. It's quite new and has lots of apartments grouped around a recreation area with pool, gym, playground etc. It seems very relaxed and has a small mall with cafes, restaurants and shops. To my delerious joy, next to the mall there is a fabulous organic supermarket and cafe. It's quite big, rather posh and has everything to keep me happy.

Speaking of happy......yesterday we went to the Ibn Battuta mall. It was incredible. It is divided in to six zones and each zone is based on a country. China, India, Egypt, Tunisia, Andalusia and Persia. I think Persia was my favourite. Words can't do it justice so I won't try but I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. Apart from the mall itself, the shops in it were also amazing. There were lots of UK stores which made me alternate between being less homesick then feeling like crying. Daisy was agog at everything to look at although was slighty disconcerted when she got scooped up by a young arab couple for a photo with them. She's getting a lot of attention which she's enjoying.

Bx

We're off!

Air New Zealand flight information line: Clear flying, all the way to Auckland

We are flying to Auckland in a couple of hours. We have two nights there then we are off to Dubai early Tuesday evening. How exciting! We've all had a fabulous time in Nelson but I'm finding being homeless and jobless a little unsettling so I'm really looking forwards to getting a bit settled. So is Andy although I think he just wishes we were staying in Nelson...

Yesterday we went to Natureland which Daisy loved. There was a talking bird which had her VERY confused.

Better not waffle on as I have things to do. My next post will be from Dubai. Eeeeekkk!

Bx

And some more!

Daisy with Granddad Peter and Grandma Anna

Riding the chariot!

Here are some more recent pics. Daisy was very slow on pulling herself up to stand and only did so for the first time when we were in Christchurch a few weeks ago. She's making up for lost time however and is pretty close to pushing herself up to stand unsupported, rather than pulling up on something. She has managed a few stands not holding on to anything although she always collapses with a shriek when she realises.

We've finally booked our flights to Dubai and depart 27 February after 2 nights in Auckland. Hurrah!

Bx

A photo catch up

Daisy and Isabella. I should maybe have saved this one for Daisy's 21st......

Sleeping like a contortionist, with ever trusty Geoffrey.

Mowing the lawn kiwi style. None of this electric mower business here.

Slightly manic looking in Christchurch.

Sam on safari at Awaroa.

I'm doing a photo catch up so here are some pics of a while back of our NZ holiday.

Bx

Stansell Avenue

We very nearly became Kiwi homeowners last week, when we bid but ultimately lost out on an auction for 58 Stansell Avenue overlooking Tahunanui beach in Nelson. It is a lovely house, but we set ourselves a (fairly high) limit, then went $7.5K over this limit, before dropping out. There were only two bidders (including us) for the property for the last $15-20K, hence we were really close but the other party were obviously prepared to pay more than us.

In some ways, it is possibly a good thing. A house would incur costs and distract us from our next move across the globe. Plus we've still got cash in the bank!

The view from the house was lovely, so I've posted a view photos for us all to enjoy. Nearly as good as the real thing.

Birthday Party!

Daisy had a (late) birthday party back in Nelson, where she opened most of her cards and presents.

We gave her a necklace that we had made in Nelson by www.JensHansen.com (who also made the ring for Lord of the Rings). It is garnet, which is Daisy's birth stone, and silver. One of the photos above shows her trying it on for the first time.

Thank you on Daisy's behalf for all her lovely presents and cards.

Out the back of beyond

We had a fab time in Hanmer. Daisy loved the thermal pools, as did me and Andy. It's beautiful scenery there and our chalet had an amazing view over the valley. We decided to take advantage of the Mighty Mitsi on the way back and took the 4x4 route along the Clarence river and through Rainbow Valley. The road took 3 hours to drive and took us through creeks (which would be called rivers in the UK) , up and down steep hills and through herds of cows. It was a fantastic thing to do and took about the same amount of time as the main road as it's a much more direct route.

Above are some pictures from our 4x4 adventure. Daisy loved driving past all the cows.

I did a post for Katie and Vaughan's wedding a few days ago but the photos wouldn't load. I've just got them on now and the post is a few back.

Bx