My Island Home...

(Entry 2... scroll down for first entry)
For those of you who don't know, I am now living in Dubai. That's the middle east, 15 hours away, 12,048kms from Sydney, 5 movies, three meals, lots of sand, 45-50 degree heat, Saudi Arabia to my left, Iran to my right and the Sultanate of Oman only an hours drive away. The land of hummus and tabbouleh, where camel milk is drunk in coffee, a place where it can be 45 degrees outside, yet -2 degrees on the in-door ski slopes at the Mall of the Emirates, a place where you can get matching diamante decorated white goods including fridges, washing machines and air conditioning units, a place where brands count and Ferrari make laptops to match peoples cars, a place where Corollas are modified to have Lamborghini doors, a place where you don't lose your license if you speed and a place where it is illegal to have alcohol in your home yet you are able to buy 5 litres duty free at the Dubai airport which is twice the amount allowed in Australia- yes, this land is now my home.

We live on The Palm. Lured, perhaps by the location, but who wouldn't be? For those of you who don't know, the Palm is an artificial island built in the shape of a palm tree. We live on the trunk which is lined by a beach and looks over the Sheikh's palace and his private guest island. After living in London, this was the destination of choice- it was one of the first places we saw when we got here and when I saw there was a bar by our pool, it sealed the deal. Its an amazing place to live and very beautiful, but really I am looking forward to being able to tell my kids one day "once upon a time, mummy and daddy lived on an island in the shape of a palm..."- Still on the look out for Posh and Becs, though the beat on the street is that they were given their villa on the Palm, and it wasn't their holiday home of choice- so I dont get to see them all the time as I had hoped. Hey, its good PR - if you've got the money to do it, why wouldn't you?