Holiday home in NZ

Well again it has been a very long time since I updated this blog. The excuse is great however I got a holiday- yeah. I surprised everyone by turning up in NZ from 4 to 25 August. The photo above is Emirates business class on their new huge plane - it was amaxing the seat reclies down to a bed.
It was great , organised at the last minute and only Myra knew. It was wonderful to see everyone even it if was briefly. The looks of surprise on peoples faces were truly wonderful to see. I also managed to unwind somewhat and enjoy the August weather which was getting warmer. I still have difficulty with 14 as a temperature, I kept wanting to reverse the figures so it would make sense to me. I did have a truly wonderful NZ day in Petone and had to go and buy some short sleeve tops. Wellington Harbour from the Petone foreshore looking across to our capital city.
Rowers on the harbour on a Saturday morning
The city and harbour from a high rise on the Terrace.
Myra and Kel's house in Petone - my home when I am back in NZ - thanks guys and especially for buying the extra firewood.

It was good to catch up with the NZ shops and see lots and lots of things that I liked - many of them have followed me back to Qatar. I was wined and dined and enjoyed my times with you all. I checked out our home in Stokes Valley and got the huge blue gum tree cut down from the front yard. It looks so open now. This photo isn't that good I was obviously on an angle - the house isn't.

I even managed some days in Auckland and enjoyed it very much. I had some great tour guides (friends)who took me around and showed me the sites. I even managed a ride in a convertible with the top down, so you can see we did get some great days. I would need a GPS if I lived there ,it is such a big city.
The Auckland skyline from Devonport

Mission Bay, a very nice place for lunch.

The Skytower from Ponsonsby and yes I did go up it. I was a thorough tourist while I was there.

I am blessed with wonderful friends and family who are lovely enough to stop their busy lives for their friend who drops in once a year to catch up. Thank you all so much you mean the world to me . Well we have holiday next week Eid - it makes the end of ramadan and we are off to Zanzibar so the next blog will be an updat on that.

Sand Storms or Doha Dust

If you follow our emails or facebook you will have heard mention of sand/dust storms from time to time. They have been quite bad this year and we have an amazing one at the moment with no wind. It is unusual to get them at this time of the year but experts are saying it is because of the lack of rain in Iran and Iraq and then winds are blowing sand - dust from the dry riverbed areas round the Gulf. A strong dust storm hit Qatar yesterday along with temperatures of about 48 degrees. With virtually no wind this means the sand storm has settled and will take up to three days to go. The sky has a strange yellow glow through the haze. The sand - dust storm drastically reduces visibility especially when driving.

The storm hit the city early in the morning and settled. The means you really have to stay indoors as strong winds whipped up dust and sand, creating a dust haze in the city for long hours. No good going to the Dip Club, you would need dusting after being by the pool! I have managed a quick run into a couple of malls though.

The thick dust haze brought work at many construction sites to a standstill for a few hours in the morning. Workers at project sites in the West Bay area were seen running for cover from the dust-laden winds. These photos were taken in the middle of the day.

Today, the htird day. is slightly clearer but still unpleasant and you can feel yourself developing a "dust cough". My friend Dhabia and I joke about DDD - Doha dust disease which is fast being a reality

The Dip Club

One of the things that we really enjoy here is the "Dip Club" about half our consultants are members and it is the one place where we can easily realx outdoors. It was a palace but is now a club not just for Diplomats or expats. some local Qatari are members too. There is a gym, swimming pool, beach, restaurants, spa, salons etc.

It is the closest place that you can go and relax or sit in the pool and cool down. without having to drive a long way out to a beach. The pool is heated in the winter and cooled in the summer!

This year Monica and Haven joined our MSC team and they are sailors so the hobbie cat thingy and little yacht thingies got good use. You can see I am a sailor eh! I was very brave and went out on the bigger cataraman once with Haven. He was in the Americas cup teams so I was very safe. Steve went several times and in fact that is about the only time you got him to the club.

So enjoy the photos there are a few more on facebook too

Daily Doha

It’s past time for an update from the land of sand. Well I have been working and even with most people away it has been a busy July. However I have managed to do a few interesting things other than eat out which is of course one of my most favourite things!

My friend Dhabia and I decided we should have a massage so off we went to a Thai ladies only massage parlor. Well I had never had a Thai massage before. They give you what looks like a pair of loose pajamas and you put them on and then lie on a big mattress on the floor. They massage over these clothes and I was given a full body massage starting at my feet! I was pummeled to within an inch of my life but very expertly. When she got to the sore part of my back,we had to come to an agreement about what would happen there, and how hard it would be. This might sound an easy discussion but this was a no English or Arabic speaking person! Anyhow it was all good and they have done such a good job that I have been back each week this month.

On Wednesday last week Dhabia and I went together to organize her resignation from the Ministry of Education as she going to change her job. This process has taken a while and this was the second time she had visited. The first time we had to take a piece of paper from one office to another about 4 meters apart and then come back again after two days! I can’t imagine why they couldn’t have done that themselves!

Well the MOE building is twenty floors and we started on floor three. There are ladies lifts in these buildings which we were using. It became very funny as we kept having men get out of them as we got in. We spend nearly three hours going backwards and forwards between floors to get the resignation file signed. It went something like – 3rd floor, 1st floor, 4th floor, back to 1st floor, back to 3rd floor, etc, etc and we ended up on the twentieth floor. I was a bit worried by then that we had missed most of floors 10 to 20 and they might make us visit those too. We got lots of looks as I don’t think they could understand what this kiwi and Qatari were doing there together. We had to make it a laugh otherwise we would have both been boiling with frustration. So we enjoyed each other’s company as we did repeat tours of the building! And decided that governemetn departmetns are the same all around the world. After another day of Dhabia going to some other government departments it is all done and she is free to take up her new position – in sha allah.

Earlier in the day Dhabia had helped get my first bank account in Qatar. I now have an account at QNB (Qatar National Bank) at the Ladies branch. I am easy to spot as I am the only one not wearing an abeya. The staff are very helpful to their kiwi customer who looks fairly confused at times.

The end of Cohort V

We are fast coming to the end of what has been an excellent year for us in Multiserve/Cognition in Qatar. We have tremendous team here this year and are all sad that the end is in sight. The new contracts will come, but new systems here have made it a much longer and more drawn out process. It is very unsettling for all the staff.Anyhow, as good kiwis, we can party well regardless. So last Wednesday we had our end of contract dinner locally referred by us as "The Last Supper".It was a great night. What a magic team we have. The Doha Darlings - Cognition Wives- did an item (it’s videoed on my Facebook don't know how to put it here).

Then Marty Blackburn and Hazel Reddington did the most spine tingling poroporoaki which included a most wonderful challenge and haka from Marty and waiata from Hazel. It was exactly that New Zealand difference which reached everybody.We went on to enjoy a scrumptious dinner, then to karaoke and dancing. I didn't sing much, well not with the mic, so it was Ok, as you all know my vocal talents!

We ended with Palestinian dancing music supplied by Yasser on to the translators’ husbands. This is another area that I definitely need lessons in! Our translators are such an important part of our team and we have them from Qatar, Palestine, Syria, Jordon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Tunisia. Also I can't forget the amazing Philippines office staff, Cathy and Joan. I talk about our kiwi team but as you can see we have many honorary kiwis! We have even let in the odd Pom, Canadian and Aussie. The whole team makes for great across cultural understanding, the Qatar team is simply stunning - I am so lucky to be experiencing this.

Me and Marilyn Masemann one of our consultants.

Me and Catherine Vekasco our wonderful office manager. As you know, no school principal can function without an excellent secretray.
Steve and Abdulrahim ( a wonderful man from the Sudan and our other mandoob), and Basher (in the thobe) who is one of our translators.

Time for a catch up

I haven't written for a while but work has been busy and then I forget what we have been doing except for the boring stuff. I think facebook has also taken over part of my life!

It has got very hot here with every day in the high 40's and some hitting 50 degrees. I have the photo to prove it. This was on my car parked in the shade under the verdanah at the apartment! And yes it was 4pm as well.

As it is so hot we had to persuade Steve that it was NOT a good idea to go camping in the desert so he could go fishing! I thought that we would die in the heat. So we went down to the sanddunes after work on a Thursday and he fished will a friend and Inwalked to the top of a sand hill and then had swim. The sea is like a warm bath now - just amazing. We then had picnic in the dark which was fun as the temp dropped to about 39. We got back home about 10pm. No fish, I think they would of come out of the ocean precooked anyhow, but a fun night.

We went with other company managers to the Marriot Hotel yesterday for its gallery brunch. It was unbelievable. You have the choice of Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese and a buffet restuarant with lots of seafood. You sit in one place and then stroll around the areas getting whatever you feel like. Oh and there are dessert stations too. If you pay 285 riyal about $NZ125 as well as unlimited food you can have unlimited wine (sparkling or still) , beer or fruit juice with your meal. I needed a nana napafter that lot.

I am trying to do a lot of swimming to shed the excess cuddly bits. So today I needed to swim for half an hour to feel I might have removed some of yesterday's meal. I was good though as you can imagine it was mostly seafood for me. You can't go past those lobster tails and prawns.

Dusty Doha

Well today in Doha is NOT worth writing about. It is hot and windy and dusty. We are having a dust/sand storm and it just gets everywhere. You can easily see the air you are breathing - which can't be a good thing. I can't go to the Dip Club because I would need dusting if I lay outside. Mind you a good sand blasting might be good for the complexion.

So I will write about last weekends Athletic Mete.

Every year in May they have the international circuit of Athletics and we get quite a few international stars. I have now been 4 times! The ladies high jump has been my favourite and the woman who won the gold in Bejing has been here each time.

I like this photo with the two very different amounts of clothing that you can see!

Anyhow its neat night out and good to see these events close up. We especially like all the little things you don't see on TV like the remote control car that delivers back the hammers from the hammer throw and the javelins etc.

Some of the officials and a lady from the press.

The lady below is a 100m runner from Bahrain. She was at teh Olympics too. She is a great role model

Up Zekrit with two paddles

Title per courtesy of my friend Lynne, who is more creative than me! This weekend we went camping! Yes me with an aversion to places without proper toilets, comfy beds and room service! I am even the twit that went out and brought the tent so we could go on this adventure.

We set off at 3.30pm which was straight after work on Thursday and were going to our favourite picnic spot up the Zekrit peninsula. It takes about an hour and a half from here and as dark arrives about 6.30 we needed to be there and set up before that. We set out and Raewyn, who took Gaye’s daughter Anna, managed to get two flats tires so a diversion to Dukkan to get them fixed took up some time. The three 4x4’s (Lynne and Brian Thomas came too) then hoofed it up the rough peninsula tracks to arrived about 5.30 and Steve did the most important thing for him. He got the tire tub dinghy (aka The Titanic) organized and set a fishing line for overnight.

I put up the tent – which was very clever of me has I haven’t done this before luckily Lynne and Brian helped. This help was especially necessary as when I unpacked the new tent someone had cut the elastic things that held the poles together to create the dome! A bit of kiwi ingenuity and much swearing saw the tent poles assembled though.

During the evening the wind got up and so Steve tied our tent and the Thomas’ to the Suzuki. At once stage during the night we wondered if it would all hold together but it did. If you have ever wondered what sleeping in a bag of chippies would be like try sleeping in the wind in one of these nylon tents!

The wind dropped just before dawn and it was very pleasant about 36 degrees. Steve put together the proper boat christened Michael as in “Michael row your boat ashore” and the guys went out to check the line for fish. I got out the BBQ with anticipation of fresh fish for brekkie. We had sausages!!

After another swim, imagine all before 6.30 am we started to relax for the day. AND then about 8am wind came back. So eventually we had to take down the two big tents before they blew apart and ended up in Bahrain! This was a four man job in the wind and even then the Thomas’ tent ended up in the sea for a bit. We decamped for a second spot that was more sheltered for the days picnic and Monica, Haven and Jackie drove up to join us.

This new beach is spectacular and as the temps crept up to the low 40’s we spent much of the time in the water. Monica and I snorkeled and actually saw some lovely reef fish with yellows, silver and black around one rocky outcrop. These are the best we have seen. Brian and Steve were surf casting off this area but unfortunately no bigger fish took the lines.

Don't you just love Anna's (on the right) hat !

We lasted until early afternoon but then the night in a tent, the early start and the sunshine made us tired so we had a more leisurely drive towards home and guess what? Raewyn got another puncture!

I might do this all again mainly because I love that beach area and the sea is just so nice to swim in BUT I need to invest in some good airbeds as the ones I had were terrible. I am too old to sleep on the hard ground. I will just take another volatrin and I will be all go for the rest of the weekend

ANZAC Day in Qatar

This year as Anzac Day was on a Saturday we could easily go to the dawn service without a work day ahead of us. The dawn parade is organized by a group of Australians and was held at the beach in front of the Marriott hotel. We had to arrived by 4.45am which is very, very early for me! So we were up at 3.45 and away to the event. Around 27 of the Multiserve staff attended and I think there must have been around 200 people altogether.
John lay a wreath on behalf of ANZBIQ (Australian and New Zealand Businesses in Qatar) organisation that we belong to and as he walked forward Hazel started at karakia. It made it very special for us and gave the kiwi flavor to the gathering. Some of the Australians spoke to us afterwards, asked what it meant and that they had never heard one before and appreciated it.

The Australians forgot or didn’t organize the playing of the National Anthems so when most of us Multiservers gathered as a group at the wreath area we sang our anthem in Maori and English. It was quiet emotional and I must admit I shed a few tears then. I noticed the Aussies didn’t sing theirs at all. So it was the start of a very special New Zealand day in Qatar and it made us all feel a little homesick but also happy that we have such a neat group of people here to be with and support us.
Oh and then there was the rugby, we returned home to watch the Hurricanes win!! Told you it was an NZ Aotearoa Day in Qatar.

Dubai - All Malled Out

I have travelled to Dubai twice in the period of a month. The first time I went with my friend Ann to see Cirque de Soliel. I had never been before and it was an amazing experience, I would certainly go to any other productions. The one we saw was Alegria and it was astounding. The whole atmosphere is hard to describe. I can’t say I understood the story but I enjoyed the acts.

Next I went over with Lynne Thomas our ICT specialist to a conference on ICT. The conference was so - so but I did manage to get in some more sights especially as the Friday was a day off and some of the team from Abu Dhabi took as around in their car. The traffic is certainly lighter in Dubai and some of the building sites have just been abandoned because of the recession. I looked at lots of malls but didn’t help their economy much as we can now get nearly everything there in Qatar now. I did have a new phone follow me home from duty free though.

Over two trips I managed to get in visits to most malls. One of the newest and most interesting is Ibn Battuta Mall.
Ibn Battuta (1304–1368 or 1369)[1] was a Moroccan Muslim Berber scholar and traveller who is known for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla (Voyage). His journeys lasted for a period of nearly thirty years and covered almost the entirety of the known Islamic world and beyond, extending from North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, to the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary Marco Polo. This information is thanks to Wikipedia.
The mall is set out in five sections that show his journeys China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia. I don’t know about the shops but the displays are great. It is well worth visiting.

I have also managed to go to
· Dubai Mall (new with huge aquarium covering two levels and walk through)
· Mall of the Emirates (full sized ski field and other amenities)
· Festival City Mall (as quite new and nicely set out with inside and outside spaces)
· Wafi City – Egyptian theme and underground souq area that is impressive and covers many different groups such as Moroccan, Tunisian, Egyptian, Syrian etc
· Souq Madinat at Jumeriah which is lovely with canals of water around it and the Burj Dubai in the background
So I am all “malled out” for quite some time! Didn’t get to the Creek or beach area this time but I did that last year with Chris Jager. Time to go somewhere else I think , it was nice to get home to Qatar and I still like our Souq Waqif best.