Dubai: A victim of its own success?

In most places round the world when people get together, the first topic of conversation is usually the weather. Here in Dubai there's only one hot topic and that's the traffic. Dubai has become a victim of its own success as an ever increasing number of cars coupled with constant road reorganisation cause traffic congestion which is slowly choking the city. While the roads cannot cope with the number of cars, the drivers cannot cope with the ever changing road systems, deceptive lane markings and road closures which usually happen without warning. A few months ago a taxi driver warned me in advance that we could get lost as he had been out to my destination twice already that day and the road pattern had been different each time. To give some examples, one morning recently Dubai drivers found that the fast lane on Trade Centre Road was blocked off by barriers just before the WTC roundabout with no warning given resulting in much screeching of brakes and swerving; further along the same road near BurJuman the fast lane was again blocked by witches hats, no warning, no obvious reason and much swerving. Up till recently if a driver followed the left hand lane on the Bur Juman roundabout they would find themselves directed straight into a wall opposite the Al Attair Building where the lane simply ends in the middle of the roundabout, no warning of course and laughable if it wasn't so dangerous.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't: we are forced to drive our cars as there is no public transport but when you drive anywhere it takes so damn long to get there. As an example, yesterday morning at 6:45am it took me 12 minutes to drive the 5kms from Satwa to BurJuman. The same trip this evening took a mind numbing 1 hour 5 mins including a 20 minute crawl down the road that runs down beside the Fairmont Hotel which is only 200 metres long.

The local rumour is that the Metro system is now 12 months behind schedule and will not now open until 2010. Unless the transport problem is dealt with, many people may have packed up and moved to Abu Dhabi by then (if there was any rental accommodation available in AD but that's another story........)

First Christmas Tree 2007

I've spotted the first Chrissy tree of the season at PlugIns at BurJuman. Also heard the first Christmas musak of 2007 in La Sensa also in BurJuman - a sort of funky Gloria Gaynor-ish rendering of the Bing Crosby song "Merry Christmas to You".

From the desert to the Tasman Sea (or "Two Weeks Without Laban")

Its hard to believe that after waiting so long for the trip back to NZ/Aus to happen, it's now been and gone. We left Dubai on 12 October on the Emirates direct flight to Sydney which takes 14 hours. We arrived early on Saturday 13 October and having used all available airpoints and travelled business class we had a Emirates supplied chaffeur and car waiting at the airport to take us to Colin's parents' place where we were staying.

Almost from the minute we arrived it was full-on the whole time we were there. I tried to catch up with as many people as possible but I ran out of time to see everyone I'd wanted to see, and I have to apologise that I eventually resorted to some last minute phone calls.

On one gorgeous day we "ran away to sea" and caught the ferry to Watsons Bay. We did a local walk up to South Head and along to the Gap. We wandered back down to the bay, had fish and chips at Doyles and sat in the garden bar of the Palace hotel enjoying the afternoon with a couple of schooners, then caught the ferry back to Circular Quay.

While we were in Sydney we went to the Motor Show and there are some photos here.

Between 19 - 22 October I went back to New Zealand and lurked around the Wild West of Auckland for the first time in probably 7 or 8 years. Photos are here. I stayed with Rae and Brad who drove me round some of the "old haunts" including a visit to the house at Steamhauler Track. Some things in Auckland have changed greatly, the development down at the Viaduct Basin was fantastic and it was also good to see the Britomart train station finally operating. The growth and expansion of the Western suburbs was amazing but further out in the sticks not much has changed at all. Bought an Edmonds Cookbook too!

The day after returning to Sydney I went up to the Gold Coast to visit my parents and lived. (James rode shotgun with me.) A couple of days before coming back to Dubai I had lunch with my former bosses from Maddocks at the Italian restaurant inside what was the GPO in Martin Place. I also quickly became a regular at the gym at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues.

The flight back from Sydney to Bangkok was surprising because it was nearly empty and most people in the economy section were able to have a row of 4 seats for themselves and actually get some sleep. It was 'flat bed' without the First Class price! Unfortunately after the stop in Bangkok the plane filled up and economy class reverted to the usual uncomfortable, crowded nightmare that we all know and hate. Only good thing is that the plane was a Boeing 777 which has a small gap between the window seat and the plane wall so you can lean your head on your pillow against the wall while attempting to get some sleep. On the Airbus there is a much larger gap between the window seat and the wall as a result the pillow falls down the gap and you can't lean against the wall. This is all very important in the cramped confines of Cattle Class where any seating position which even vaguely resembles comfort is a huge bonus.

Yesterday Colin won tickets for 'Jumana'. In November we're going to Oman to Bahla Fort for a special visit organised through the Architectural Historical Society; the launch of the new Honda Accord; a trip round the Bastikiya windtowers in Dubai and this Friday I'm doing a desert driving course in the Disco so I'll be able to scoot round the sand dunes like a professional. Cathy and Stan arrive next weekend and I'm looking forward to that. They are bringing chocolate fish and afghans - what more could a Kiwi want?

Welcome home.....

Yes, as a nation we Kiwis keep it all in proportion. Last time the AB's lost the World Cup we changed the government, but this time its personal..........

The Inevitable Tui Ad

It's a drag in Umm al Quwain

Last night we went down to Umm al Quwain to the drag races which are held there the first weekend of the month. There's more photos here. We 'accidently' got into the VIP parking and then wandered down pit lane looking at all the cars. While we were looking at the cars, we met Joe Lepone the American racer who is in Dubai to establish the drag races and train the drivers. He showed us one of the cars which has 2,300 horse power and has more take-off power than one of the space shuttles. The meeting didn't start until late because of Ramadan, scheduled start was 9pm but the first race finally got under way about 10:30pm. We watched the races until the driver of one of the Supras blew up his engine half way down the track and showered the track with oil and engine parts holding everything up. By this time it was nearly 11:30 and with an hour drive back to Dubai we headed for home. We'd already done a bike/car run to Hatta in the morning, we don't waste our weekends!

To Muscat and back

Last weekend we had a one night stay at the Barr al Jissah resort which is about 16kms out of Muscat the capital of Oman. The trip from Dubai takes about 4 hours by car depending on the time taken at the border crossing between the UAE and Oman. Getting across the border was relatively painless this time, though it irritates Colin that, with an Australian passport he has to (a) queue at the Omani border to get a form, take it away to fill it in then queue again to hand it back and get his passport stamped and (b) he has to pay 30AED for that process. Meanwhile because of my little old NZ passport I don't have to fill in the form and I don't have to pay a cent, nothing, nil, free, gratis and for nothing. My theory is that NZ passport holders don't have to fill in a form because there are so few of us that the Kiwi powers-that-be know where each of us is at any one time....

The Barr al Jissah is three hotels on the one site; 3 star, 5 star and 7 star. Being Ramadan it was quiet which made it even nicer. First we had a swim at the beach where the water temperature was 33 then went into the hotel pool where the water, at 31, seemed chilly by comparison. At poolside, there is one guy who comes round offering chilled faceclothes from a chilly bin followed by another guy who cleans your sunglasses for you. This is the life. In the evening we drove into Muscat and walked around Muttrah souq. When I was there a couple of years ago the souq had dusty unpaved paths, flies and a slightly raffish air. Now the paths are paved and the shops are being modernised and while its a more pleasant place to be fortunately it hasn't lost its 'exotic' feel. We drove round the waterfront and spotted Sultan Qaboos' royal dhow then took some photos of the royal palace and the castles.

Next day we drove out to one of Colin's favourite spots called Yitti and a bay next to it called Yankit. Yankit is so beautiful as you'll see from the photos. The effects of Cyclone Gonu which hit Oman in June were still evident as we travelled out to the bays. It was a shock to see the damage to a couple of villages we passed through. The villages were in the wadis and must have been hit by the surge of water coming down the mountains. Some houses had been demolised by the force of the water and many of those remaining were badly damaged. We saw some families who were living in tents next to their damaged homes. Some of the trees that had survived still had debris hanging from their highest branches. Yet we heard so little about it in Dubai.

We left Muscat and drove back to the border. In the car park of the Omani border post which looks like a palace (see one of my earlier posts for a full story) the sound of the Audi ticking over while we sat in the queue attracted the attention of some of the local boys so Colin gave them a little 'demo' to keep them happy. The boys were very pleased so what can I say except that it was "a drive-by thrilling" hahahahaha...........