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FEATURES
More from the Muddy Island
As South Africa winds down into winter, spring has sprung in the UK and Renay Pattinson is making the most of it. Having settled into expat life in a town near London, she heads out into the countryside to explore some of England's mountains green.

Abu Dhabi to London
Renay Pattinson swopped the scorching deserts of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the snow-covered dales of rural England. Apart from the obvious climatic differences, she tells us a little about the highlights of moving to the 'Muddy Island'.

Construction time, again
November, and as the hours shorten and cool descends, peacefulness seems to enshroud Abu Dhabi. The autumn winds are starting to strengthen and clouds of fine cement dust from demolished buildings and current construction goings-on blow around the city and settle as a thick layer on every surface.

Emirates road trip
The United Arab Emirates is a small country and without too much effort, you can take in most of the sights in a couple of days. Public holidays are plentiful, and as they are usually determined according to sightings of the moon, they are not always marked on calendars, so you may find yourself with a spare day and no plans. It’s a great time to hit the road…

FEATURES
Wild, wild wadi...
The gushing fountains of water theme parks are not the first thing to spring to mind when one thinks of the Middle East, but our expat in the UAE discovers that the time honoured tradition of whooping-it-up on waterslides is alive and well in Dubai.

Defining culture shock
Before our move to the United Arab Emirates, we bought a book on it and read it cover to cover. It terrified us. Amongst warnings of limited amenities, possible negative social attitudes and restricted public behaviour, it mentioned Culture Shock, which sounded rather severe.

Shopping in the UAE
Dubai is synonymous with shopping and this occupation is the spotlight during the annual Dubai Shopping Festival. But, Abu Dhabi is not far behind, and rather similar shopping experiences go on here too.

Of skyscrapers and pavements
Expat Renay Pattinson has taken time out from under the air conditioner in her Abu Dhabi apartment to warn us that when in the United Arab Emirates capital, to not become enticed with the steel and glass of the omnipresent high rises, but to carefully watch your step on the pavement....

Hey, taxi!
The first person to greet me in the UAE was a taxi driver. I either can no longer recall his name - or I never caught it in the first place, but he was great. Apart from having waited at the airport from 1.30 that morning, six hours later he was still chirpy enough to jabber away and point out the Burj Al Arab on our way to Abu Dhabi.