A Flying Kiwi in Al Ain

We've had the wonderful pleasure of our friend Anne's visit from New Zealand whilst on route to England.  It is hard to explain just how awesome it has been to see her and have a little someone special from home to show around our new sandcastle.

Back to childhood for Anne

Anne arrived last week early in the morning.  Jason made the early morning trip (setting off at 4am) to Abu Dhabi Airport.  The kids and I, when we woke, waited excitedly for Anne to arrive.  Unfortunately I was still in the throes of the end of the term and had to head to work just a few minutes after Anne came in the door.  Lily in particular was so excited to see 'Anne from the farm'. She had spent the previous afternoon getting Anne's room and bathroom ready.  Lily decided a flower sticker on Anne's pillow was an important addition to the decor.

Dinner at the Indian Curry

Thank goodness I was still only doing half days at school though, so I could spend the afternoons with Anne.  On her first day Anne, Jason and the kids headed up to Jebel Hafeet to do some site-seeing and to give the kids an opportunity to play in the playground at the Green Muzzabarah while I was at work.  Later we organised an extra rental car and took Anne up to Bewadi Mall for a looksee.  The expedition was topped off in the best way with a couple of rug purchases at the carpet souqs (markets) just adjacent to the mall.  Anne even entered into the haggling over price and we managed to come away with two awesome purchases for the kids' bedrooms.  That afternoon while we headed around the block to sit with the neighbours, Anne gave way to a much needed sleep.  She reckoned the next morning that she slept right through despite sleeping on a giant airbed!

Mist to cool us down at Al Ain Zoo

On Thursday they all headed out to Lily's new school, Sunflower School, for the regular playgroup session. After that Anne headed back to Bewadi Mall to have a look on her own and later Jason joined her to have a look at the plant souqs outside.  They returned with a tomato plant and a rosemary plant and one other.  The rosemary came in handy the next night when I made our first roast lamb meal in our new gas cooker.  Somewhere in all this time Jason took Anne around to see other sites.  They managed to cram in Jahili Park at night, the Al Ain Fort, a trip to Dubai for a desert safari (but they came back when they couldn't find the rendezvous point!) and the Al Ain Museum.

The Al Ain Museum Palace

Having finished school I was able to accompany the group to the Al Ain Zoo.  It was the first time I had been there and I have to say I was more than impressed. Wow, what a zoo!  The animal enclosures were terrific and the animals were in such good health.  One of our favourites was the white tiger; and of course Anne took many a photo to send to her sister Jean who would be mighty impressed with this grand man.  The organisation of the zoo is superb and we thoroughly enjoyed each section of the zoo which has been carefully landscaped and thought-out for maximum viewing pleasure.

Our final adventure was back to Jahili Park on Saturday for the Falconry Festival.  It was awesome to see the little Kiwi falcon as part of the worldwide contingent of birds! It is a very well respected little fella within world Falcon-handler circles. It was neat to visit the Oceania tent and hear the Aussie and (especially) Kiwi accents!  The kids (including Sasha and Brooke) had a great time playing on the huge number of bean bags set out on the grass for people to sit and watch the big screen as the falcon handlers did their thing.  The weather was great and a round of ice-creams topped off the day.

The kids had fun at the falcon festival

Four days seemed to pass so quickly.  It just seemed that Anne had arrived and she had to leave.  It was frustrating for me to have my back still not right for her visit.  It limited the number of things I could do and places I could go.  I wish I'd had more time, but the time we did have was cool.  Lily summed up everything that morning after Anne and Jason headed back to the airport.  She was laying on Anne's bed and said "Anne is such a nice girl mama".

Anne outside the Aussie/NZ tent at the
Falcon  Festival

Po Marie Anne.  We wish you a Happy Christmas and New
Year with whanau in England.  Enjoy the cold, the turkey, the
 presents and the warm arms of family.  Thank you for visiting
us and bringing us a little piece of home. We already miss you.