We started 2008 with New Year’s Eve at the Club in Abu Dhabi – and this is how we plan to start 2009 too...I wonder if 2009 will be as busy a year as this has been?
Abu Dhabi has been both Sue and Kevin’s permanent address for more than two years now, although Kevin has been in the Emirates longer. The construction industry here is huge so Kevin’s work for Cardno keeps him very busy. Having said that we are watching with baited breath to see what impact the credit crisis will have here. At this point we expect to stay some time longer and cannot see when/where the next move will be...
For much of February, March and April, Sue was out of Abu Dhabi. Sian and Roger came to stay for ‘February half term’ and then immediately afterwards Sue set off for a month in Hong Kong and Taipei. This was the final part of the Peter Pan Asian tour – in fact, in Taipei, Peter Pan was performed for the 100th time. Sue enjoyed chaperoning the child cast yet again and was happy to see some of Taipei, Hong Kong and all her Hong Kong friends...
Sue returned for 5 days over Easter when Sue and Kevin spent three days sailing the Sheikh’s Regatta off the Corniche in Abu Dhabi.
After Easter, Sue and Kevin set off on HOLIDAY – well Kevin did have a conference first and a conference to end but otherwise it was three weeks off! First, it was off to Brisbane and then the conference at a hotel near Noosa. Kevin had to work but Sue enjoyed the resort hotel with its spa and walking through the National Park at Noosa!
Then it was down to Sydney to do all the tourist bits, then Melbourne to see the boys. We stayed with Tom (who was recently promoted at work and now manages the workshop). We had fun with Aiden, who is now 8. He was trying to teach us how to play with the Wii! While we were there Matt and Nikki moved house from Chelsea to Eildon (which is handy for Matt’s work in outdoor education) – so we helped with the move. Dan’s news was that he had decided to go back to Uni – in fact he has now just signed up to do an Associate Degree in Engineering Technology (Design and Development) which he will start in February 2009. Dan has just moved back to share a house with Tom in Dingley.
The next part of our trip was to China (Kevin’s second conference was in Shanghai) and we spent our time split between Shanghai and Beijing. I think a highlight for both of us was walking on the Great Wall!
At the end of April we returned to Abu Dhabi – back to earth! We both got involved with the rehearsals and set building for an OLD TIME MUSIC HALL at the Club. We were both on and back stage for the performance in June. At about the same time Sue did a month teaching English as a Second Language.
On June 21st Matt and Nikki’s baby, Jasmine Louise, was born. When she was two weeks old Sue nipped over to Australia for a week to see her and the rest of the family (spending the time half in Eildon, half in Melbourne). The ‘Aussies’ are all well although Dan has had another fracture – this time his ankle – apparently his knee gave way and he turned his ankle badly. The ex-ray photo on facebook looks pretty horrific with the plates and pins – almost matches his arm...
Back in Abu Dhabi there was a small window for Sue to get a new passport...each one only seems to last 18 months these days! Then it was off to the UK for the usual Menai Straits Regattas. On the way we stopped in the Netherlands – Sophie had been studying in Nijmegen for 6 months (for her Masters in Life Sciences – her research involved experimenting with fish). We had an excellent weekend with Sophie and then helped with her luggage as she left there to return to the UK with us. She is now at Nottingham Uni starting a PhD in pharmaceutical research. Before and after we travelled to Anglesey, we visited Kevin’s Mum in the home in Findern and found her quite well. As usual we took her on little trips out – the local garden centre is a favourite.
Menai was lovely, the sailing, seeing lots of family and friends...BUT it was probably the worst weather we have had for years. Rain? I think we had sunshine for two days out of the fortnight! Sue, Kevin and Sophie were camping at the usual spot with Liz & Pete and Andrew, Kathryn, Caroline and Stephen. Andrew very kindly brought over 3 boats for the holiday so Kevin and Sophie sailed an Albacore in several races – and Sue joined them for the race round Puffin Island.
During the summer Sue volunteered to help with WIAD (Women in Abu Dhabi) – a group mainly for ex-pats. This has started to take up rather a lot of time what with admin work and coffee mornings and so on...
In September we started preparing again for more Am Dram performances. In November Kevin was a dwarf in the panto, Snow White – Sue was backstage crew – both had worked hard on building the set. We also really enjoyed taking part in a Murder Mystery Evening at Hallowe’en.
Sue flew out again at the end of November – a whirlwind tour of the Midlands and Devon. It was lovely to see lots of family and friends, attend John’s 30th Birthday party, and see where Sophie is living in Nottingham. I think this apartment is the best she has stayed in so far. She seems to have made lots of new friends and seems very happy. Sue enjoyed spending some time with her Mum and Dad who both seem well – in particular Dad is walking much better – at the beginning of the year he was really struggling.
We have enjoyed quite a successful sailing year here in Abu Dhabi – sailing one of the Club Kestrels. We had one or two disasters – one notable Sheikh’s regatta when each one of us fell out of the boat and we capsized spectacularly at a mark, and then another time when we broke the mast in high winds. But the good times far outweigh these – recently when we crossed the finish line 6 minutes ahead of the next boat or this weekend when we sailed round Lulu Island and at one point were accompanied by a school of dolphins, close to the boat! We now look forward to another Sheikh’s Regatta just before we return to Breaston for Christmas Week.
We are just putting up our Christmas decorations – the tree is usually up before Kevin’s Birthday on the 13th. We are currently on holiday in Abu Dhabi – first it was National Day on December 2nd (the UAE is 37 years old) and now it is Eid al Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) – we saw lots of doomed sheep and goats for sale by the port yesterday. So far much of December has been public holiday!
If you are on facebook you will have seen much of our news and many of our photos – we will try to get the photos on the website up to date soon.
Wishing you all the very best for Christmas and 2009!!
Love Sue and Kevin XX
Abu Dhabi has been both Sue and Kevin’s permanent address for more than two years now, although Kevin has been in the Emirates longer. The construction industry here is huge so Kevin’s work for Cardno keeps him very busy. Having said that we are watching with baited breath to see what impact the credit crisis will have here. At this point we expect to stay some time longer and cannot see when/where the next move will be...
For much of February, March and April, Sue was out of Abu Dhabi. Sian and Roger came to stay for ‘February half term’ and then immediately afterwards Sue set off for a month in Hong Kong and Taipei. This was the final part of the Peter Pan Asian tour – in fact, in Taipei, Peter Pan was performed for the 100th time. Sue enjoyed chaperoning the child cast yet again and was happy to see some of Taipei, Hong Kong and all her Hong Kong friends...
Sue returned for 5 days over Easter when Sue and Kevin spent three days sailing the Sheikh’s Regatta off the Corniche in Abu Dhabi.
After Easter, Sue and Kevin set off on HOLIDAY – well Kevin did have a conference first and a conference to end but otherwise it was three weeks off! First, it was off to Brisbane and then the conference at a hotel near Noosa. Kevin had to work but Sue enjoyed the resort hotel with its spa and walking through the National Park at Noosa!
Then it was down to Sydney to do all the tourist bits, then Melbourne to see the boys. We stayed with Tom (who was recently promoted at work and now manages the workshop). We had fun with Aiden, who is now 8. He was trying to teach us how to play with the Wii! While we were there Matt and Nikki moved house from Chelsea to Eildon (which is handy for Matt’s work in outdoor education) – so we helped with the move. Dan’s news was that he had decided to go back to Uni – in fact he has now just signed up to do an Associate Degree in Engineering Technology (Design and Development) which he will start in February 2009. Dan has just moved back to share a house with Tom in Dingley.
The next part of our trip was to China (Kevin’s second conference was in Shanghai) and we spent our time split between Shanghai and Beijing. I think a highlight for both of us was walking on the Great Wall!
At the end of April we returned to Abu Dhabi – back to earth! We both got involved with the rehearsals and set building for an OLD TIME MUSIC HALL at the Club. We were both on and back stage for the performance in June. At about the same time Sue did a month teaching English as a Second Language.
On June 21st Matt and Nikki’s baby, Jasmine Louise, was born. When she was two weeks old Sue nipped over to Australia for a week to see her and the rest of the family (spending the time half in Eildon, half in Melbourne). The ‘Aussies’ are all well although Dan has had another fracture – this time his ankle – apparently his knee gave way and he turned his ankle badly. The ex-ray photo on facebook looks pretty horrific with the plates and pins – almost matches his arm...
Back in Abu Dhabi there was a small window for Sue to get a new passport...each one only seems to last 18 months these days! Then it was off to the UK for the usual Menai Straits Regattas. On the way we stopped in the Netherlands – Sophie had been studying in Nijmegen for 6 months (for her Masters in Life Sciences – her research involved experimenting with fish). We had an excellent weekend with Sophie and then helped with her luggage as she left there to return to the UK with us. She is now at Nottingham Uni starting a PhD in pharmaceutical research. Before and after we travelled to Anglesey, we visited Kevin’s Mum in the home in Findern and found her quite well. As usual we took her on little trips out – the local garden centre is a favourite.
Menai was lovely, the sailing, seeing lots of family and friends...BUT it was probably the worst weather we have had for years. Rain? I think we had sunshine for two days out of the fortnight! Sue, Kevin and Sophie were camping at the usual spot with Liz & Pete and Andrew, Kathryn, Caroline and Stephen. Andrew very kindly brought over 3 boats for the holiday so Kevin and Sophie sailed an Albacore in several races – and Sue joined them for the race round Puffin Island.
During the summer Sue volunteered to help with WIAD (Women in Abu Dhabi) – a group mainly for ex-pats. This has started to take up rather a lot of time what with admin work and coffee mornings and so on...
In September we started preparing again for more Am Dram performances. In November Kevin was a dwarf in the panto, Snow White – Sue was backstage crew – both had worked hard on building the set. We also really enjoyed taking part in a Murder Mystery Evening at Hallowe’en.
Sue flew out again at the end of November – a whirlwind tour of the Midlands and Devon. It was lovely to see lots of family and friends, attend John’s 30th Birthday party, and see where Sophie is living in Nottingham. I think this apartment is the best she has stayed in so far. She seems to have made lots of new friends and seems very happy. Sue enjoyed spending some time with her Mum and Dad who both seem well – in particular Dad is walking much better – at the beginning of the year he was really struggling.
We have enjoyed quite a successful sailing year here in Abu Dhabi – sailing one of the Club Kestrels. We had one or two disasters – one notable Sheikh’s regatta when each one of us fell out of the boat and we capsized spectacularly at a mark, and then another time when we broke the mast in high winds. But the good times far outweigh these – recently when we crossed the finish line 6 minutes ahead of the next boat or this weekend when we sailed round Lulu Island and at one point were accompanied by a school of dolphins, close to the boat! We now look forward to another Sheikh’s Regatta just before we return to Breaston for Christmas Week.
We are just putting up our Christmas decorations – the tree is usually up before Kevin’s Birthday on the 13th. We are currently on holiday in Abu Dhabi – first it was National Day on December 2nd (the UAE is 37 years old) and now it is Eid al Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) – we saw lots of doomed sheep and goats for sale by the port yesterday. So far much of December has been public holiday!
If you are on facebook you will have seen much of our news and many of our photos – we will try to get the photos on the website up to date soon.
Wishing you all the very best for Christmas and 2009!!
No comments:
Post a Comment