Post Holiday Post.

I'm back in the Kingdom and, for those of you the least bit interested, this is my "What I've Been Up To On Holiday" post.  Before getting into that, I have to say it's quite nice to be back.  Travelling the globe is awesome and I would encourage anyone thinking of seeing the world to do so, but it's also nice to have your feet back on home ground  - for recuperative purposes, of course,  before heading out again.

So, where did I go and what did I do?

First I flew off to Townsville in Australia.  My daughter has moved to the Big Smoke of Bris Vegas for work, but her hubby and kids were still in T'ville so I went there first to help finalize moving house and to keep an eye on the grandkids who started their school holidays the day I arrived.

It was lovely to be back in Oz (I don't admit that to too many Australians!).  And while out walking the dog one evening I came across Townsville's very own Christmas Lights strip down Greenwood Drive.  It was so nice seeing streets of houses done up in their twinkling, sparkling, sometimes singing, best.  It's been a while since I went looking at Christmas lights and I'd almost forgotten how magical rows of houses elaborately decorated in their Christmas finery can be.


Before leaving Townsville I had time to help daughter number two kick start a minor home renovation project by pulling up bathroom tiles.  Whoever thought I had come to T'ville for a holiday had certainly got the wrong end of the stick!

Then it was time for the grandchildren and I to head to Budapest.  We flew via Dubai and picked up Hubster on the way.  I have to say, for youngsters they are very good travelers.  It helped we had a night flight so after a dinner, a movie and a game or two on the LeapPad, they tucked themselves into their seats and slept a good part of the way.

Budapest wasn't as cold as we thought (well, not for the first three days).  We were hoping for a white Christmas but unfortunately this part of Europe was having an unseasonably warm winter, so snow was scarce on the ground in Budapest in December.  Although the temperature did eventually fall below zero, it only snowed a couple of times, just enough for the kids to see snow falling and have a little play around in it.



The lack of snowfall didn't detract from our holiday though.  We had a couple of friends living in Budapest, so we got to have Christmas Day dinner and New Years Eve celebrtations at their home so the Christmas and New Year season still felt like a special family affair.  We also had a great time visiting hot baths, zoos and model towns, walking the hills, riding the trams and metro, searching for outdoor skating rinks to get in a spot of ice skating and sussing out all the kids parks.  In fact, the kids had the best time because of all the parks.



One day we took a day train trip to Vienna because it's only a couple of hours away and because Vienna has all sorts of kid friendly stuff to do.  Dressing up in the kids museum at the Schonbrunn Palace was a real hit, as was visiting the Imperial Zoo.

It is fantastic seeing things through the eyes of young children.  They are so excited and/or honest about every new experience and having them around reminds me on one hand how jaded we adults can get, but on the other how wonderful life is.

After 15 days of sending photos and video reports home to anxious parents it was time to leave Budapest and head to Saudi Arabia.  So now my grandchildren are with us here in Riyadh, (and the parents are even more anxious!)  Our grandson has asked if we are still on holiday or if this is our real house now.  And we are on a 'What Is There To Do With Kids In Saudi' learning curve!  I had a few ideas in mind before they came but am fast finding that most things I thought were available currently aren't.  Although there are a number of fun parks about that the kids would no doubt be quite happy being let loose in, I'm more interested in structured activities, like art, music, sport and dance.  Such activities for youngsters seem to be few and far between.  I'm confident there are suitable activities for the kids out there, it's just that knowledge of them is typically buried in 'Inner Circle' email lists.  If any of you has any suggestions at all about activities for two under 9 year old's here in Riyadh, they will be gratefully accepted.



Ka Kite,
Kiwi

Out Of Saudi For A While

Riding Townsville with the dog

Hey all, my blog has been a bit quiet recently for a couple of reasons, the main one being I've been out of the country for almost a month now.  I left before the start of Ramadan thinking it prudent to get out before the expat rush put pressure on the number of outgoing flights available (I didn't want to miss out on a flight now did I).  I spent a day or so in Dubai, then headed off to the sunny winter in Townsville Australia.

Baby Chino's with the grandkids

Wouldn't you know it, I arrived just before the beginning of school holidays (that was great planning on my part, of course), so have spent the best part of my time here spoiling the grandchildren, just a little, while their parents are at work.  In between my child minding stints I've been looking after the dog because one of my daughters headed off to Borneo for a couple of weeks, I've been cycling around Townsville which is an extremely cycle friendly city, and I've been undertaking a couple of projects - building a kennel and upgrading a couple of bicycles.

One of the bikes mid repair job.

I bought two cheap as chips bikes off the local buy and sell site Gumtree for $60AUD each.  They have been well utilised by their previous owners (two Uni students from Europe), but are still in fairly good knick and came complete with lights (back and front), helmets and chain locks and baskets.  I figured while riding one I could give the other a bit of a clean up, and vice versa.  To be functional they only needed a spot of oil and they would get me about the place, but for an even better ride I've decided to replace the tyres on one of them as they are a bit worn and give both chainrings and chains a wash and oiling.  One also needs the crank looked at.   A quick and easy project really.  I figured paying this price was cheaper than renting a bike for a month (which is what I've done on previous visits), and at the end of my stay I'd leave the bikes for the daughters to use and when Hubster and I come back for another visit, the bikes will still be here.

The Kennel.  Love the paint job.  It says "Go QLD".
The kids had State Of Origin fever.

The kennel I decided to build because the dog has no outdoor housing.  He is not an indoor dog and, though in evenings he gets put in an area downstairs, during the day if no-one is home when the weather turns bad he has to try and find a dry spot out of the rain beneath the stairs.   To buy a dog kennel is kind of pricy, so instead I decided to use the palings from an old fence to make the kennel.  It hasn't rained yet so we can't test it!

The moral of this story is that, since being away, I've not spent a great deal of time in front of my computer.  In Riyadh, the computer is almost an escape from the hassles and hoops I have to jump through to do basic everyday stuff - even walking to the local shops.   It's just as well I'm busy because if I did want to spend more time on the net, it would be an expensive exercise.  Neither of the daughters have WiFi at home (they both use their phones for internet use), so to get my internet fix I've had to buy a prepaid WiFi device.   (Naturally I forgot to bring the device that we bought on a previous visit here.  Obviously I was far too excited to be going on holiday to think about that, wasnt I!)

Yes, for the past month I've been out of Saudi Arabia, in Townsville, Australia and I'm feeling free as a bird.   I cycle most days.   I have a car at my disposal so can drive whenever I want, where ever I want.  The days are spent with the kids and the evenings with the family and together we have been to the beach, been fishing at the river,  walked the dog, cheered on the girls basketball team,  cheered on the mens basketball team (go Lello!), been roller blading and to the movies, and spent an evening watching women play touch rugby and generally enjoying a fabulously normal life!






Ka Kite,
Kiwi