Garrick

Ian caught up with Garrick by phone yesterday. He really misses Garrick.

Garrick is doing well at Waiouru, doing his officer's training. I thought I would show you some photos of him when I caught up with him at his boot camp graduation and show you our good looking army dude.

Into the Valley of Death

Every day as we turn into this road that leads to the boy's school I feel compelled to say, "Into the Valley of Death went the intrepid Kiwis". I took some pictures today on the way to pick up the boys from school. It was a very quiet drive compared to the hurly burly of the morning drive but the photos will give you an idea.

Qatar is a very wealthy country with a rapidly expanding economy. Ian's company, for instance, expects to double in size in the next year. This is common - all business is booming with the vast oil revenues the country is receiving. Roading and other infrastructure is expanding fast because of this and it seems when you drive around that every road is being torn up simultaneously and the whole country is a building site.

Because of the, shall I say, rapid and creative driving habits here most roads sensibly have a large barrier between the traffic tearing along in opposite directions. This road is being rebuilt into such a road but in the meantime cars and trucks mingle randomly from all directions. Drivers create their own temporary lanes and take any opportunity to move forward that extra metre, usually at speed. When the traffic gets too heavy, the 4WD drivers who are unable to contain themselves go offroad and scoot along on each side of the road. The cones on the side of the road have just been put out to discourage this but you'll see a wee pick up on the right hand side merrily roaring along off-road just for the general fun of it.

The uncontrolled intersection at the end of the road that leads to the boy's school. It is mayhem.

This is the road along to the main entrance of the boy's school. The two arches to the left are the gateway to Al Jazeera Academy. The wall to the left just beyond is Park House's wall which leads to the security guards and the entrance way to Park House English School. All of the schools and compounds have security guards - not that it is a dangerous country, it is very safe here with a much lower crime rate than New Zealand. However a couple of years ago there was a suicide bombing in Doha and since then security has been generally ramped up everywhere. When I was investigating the American School as an option for the boys the security was unbelievable there. I had to hand in some ID at the gate, give the name and appointment time of the person I was seeing at the school which was then verified by the security guards, was escorted to and from the school office and was given my ID back as I left the school. A bit different from Ohope Beach School and Whakatane Intermediate.














You will see a gateway to the right also - this is the exit gate for the Pakistani School. You might be able to see one of the parent's cars from the school hurtling at speed through the gate into the roadway. Because the schools are so close together, the start and finish times are staggered. You don't want to be around when the Pakistani School finishes, the driving around the school freezes the blood.

This is the front entrance way to Park House School. Kids from 52 nationalities attend the school.

This is the front entranceway taken from the inside of the school with Leo and Robbie lurking in the distance.

Easy Rider in the Sand Dunes

We recently went quad bike riding in the dunes at Mesaaid, south of Doha - here are some pics from the day