Life in the gilded city.

I am trying to be Social Media savvy to stay in touch, a friend suggested I write a blog - this is me trying...

I’ve been in Dubai now for over 7 weeks, how time flies! Neville asked me recently if I missed home, my answer was - that at times I did miss my family and friends and sometimes felt a very long way from Australia…but not as much as I had missed being apart from him. I am very happy to be here and enjoying every day.

It certainly helps being able to use messaging services, Skype keeps me connected and for that I am very grateful. Tabitha still calls me on her way home from work in the late afternoon a couple of time a week (using Skype call without the video), and I chat to my sister each week. For those of you that want to catch up - I'm not great on Instagram (yet) but WhatsApp and Messenger are great for sharing photos and messages but they are blocked here for video calls so find me on Skype for a face to face chat - rosemaryecooper

Please let me know if you have some time to share, we are 6.5 hours behind Adelaide. I am happily booking coffee dates, or G&T sharing time, or 'it's 5pm somewhere in the world so let's have a glass of wine' time. This is the view from the balcony where we sit and have our G&Ts.

The Dubai Mall & the world’s tallest building (The Burj Khalifa) are literally across the road. I have the most wonderful views from the 19th floor, I lose time just taking it all in. It is certainly not leafy Leabrook – only date palms and potted petunias for colour. The weather is divine although it gets a little cooler in the evening than I expected but I am enjoying their Winter days all about 25 - 27C.

I am really enjoying having access to the pool here at Neville’s apartment, I swim my laps 2-3 times per week. You have a view of the pool from the apartment, the other photos

are taken late in the afternoon when I start my swim, by the time I finish it is often almost dark. I have found a great Pilates studio just a 5 minute walk away, it took me a couple of tries to find the right instructor but I am now happily challenged by Claudia’s classes twice each week.

I am getting used to looking the wrong way as I cross a road & left-hand drive cars, although I doubt I will ever get used to the appallingly, crazy driving – especially on the freeways. Neville has learned never to let his guard down when driving and I just won’t drive. We have driven to Ras Al Khaimah twice now (an Emirate about an hour's drive away) where there are liquor stores with reasonably priced alcohol. It is extremely expensive to buy here in Dubai both in liquor stores and restaurants, so we tend to have a drink before we go out and then once we come home. I am really enjoying the Middle-Eastern food when we eat out (maybe once a week) and having fun with new recipes at home. I am loving the labneh, moutabal, hummus and wonderful grilled or slow cooked spiced meats. We have found a fresh food market that we can walk to every weekend, also the choice of fresh produce at the supermarkets is astounding!

We have walked down the Canal to Jumeirah beach several times – the water is crystal clear and a divine temperature. It is over a 10km round trip, we caught a taxi home the first time I walked it! The amazing architecture in this city extends to a couple of the walking bridges across the canal. The photos below are the Dubai Canal Hanging Bridge and the beach where we swim. The view over the headland that you cannot see has dozens of kite surfers with the Burj Al Arab in the distance. After a very refreshing swim, I can now walk back into the city with the Burj Kalifa ever present on the skyline.

The UAE has been experiencing a real surge in Covid cases over the time that I have been here and have recently put in place more restrictions. It really has little impact on our daily lives, less people allowed in dining spaces and more space between equipment at the gym/pilates. I am now used to having my temperature taken every time I walk into a building and wearing a mask (thank you Bettyann for my Australian, made with love masks) as soon as I leave the front door. Everything in and around public areas is cleaned, polished and sterilised several times every day & people are very compliant. Vaccination is happening here at a great rate – Neville is having his second jab this week. Whilst I do not qualify, the risk will now hopefully reduce as more of the population are vaccinated. He had been going into the office 2-3 times per week but due to a Covid case, the office is now shut until March 1st. Whilst the UAE has remained open to tourists, more and more European countries have been closing their borders to the UAE. This could be a problem for me, on a tourist visa after 60 days I need to leave the UAE and then come back to reset my visa. There is not many places left open that we can go, but we are working on that. Neville is looking forward to a break from work so hopefully we can escape for a few days at the end of this month.

Yes – I am staying in the lap of luxury, in a gilded city that is full of excess, currently living a charmed life in the middle of a pandemic! I do not take it for granted for even a moment, I have so much to be thankful for...sharing life with Neville is top of my thankful list. The plan is still that I return to Australia on my booked flight on the 22nd of April, clearly there are many factors that may influence that. Hopefully there will be enough places in quarantine as I come back...Neville's daughter Elissa is currently in quarantine back in Brisbane after being in Melbourne as it locked down.

I have taken well over 2 weeks to get this Blog together - having lost it all once when using a different platform. I have lots of other photos and things to tell you but I will keep that for the next instalments! This is not being published on-line, it is just a way for me to keep you updated. I look forward to hearing how life has continued on for each of you.