We spent two weeks in Sydney catching up with friends and family....it's been a long time since we were back. It was well into summer, mostly sunny a few rainy days, but coming from AD we don't mind a little rain every once a while. Nick remembered how to drive on the wrong side of the road, we had our favorites like Paul's Hamburgers, did a massive walk from Maroubra to Bondi when the waves were incredible to watch (most of the beaches were closed), SUP'd at Cronulla Beach and in the Harbour where we picked out our multi million dollar home for the future, went surfing down the coast, saw old colleagues, met up with friends and ate a lot of food! It went by way to fast, but enjoyed every bit of it.

Nick had to work during Christmas and New Years, but thankfully they fell on the weekend so he didn't have to go to class on those days, future years will be different :( The middle of January was his semester break and we headed back to Sydney, first time in over 3 years!

What better way to travel back there, then in an upgraded business class seat! Thanks to Nick and of course the ticket agent at Emirates, we enjoyed the long trip with extra comfort and class. Originally, we had booked emergency exit seats and they were confirmed until we got to check in and we had been put way at the back in the middle. After a bit of complaining just wanting our original seats back, the lady had told us that coach was full, but to come back in an hour and we might be able to get business. Well, we didn't hold our breath, but we did hope for the best and she came through for us on this one!

Everything was great, on the big A380, yes this is the one with the bar on board. It's hard to go back once you've spent a long haul flight this way, but unfortunately unless we find a full proof way to get upgraded each time, I think this was a once off...at least for now!

Our friend Tara won a competition in the National newspaper to play tennis with Rafael Nadal, lucky her. Well not so lucky for her actually, she HAD to work :( Instead, she ever so graciously gave me the opportunity to spend the morning on the court playing with Nadal. I suppose there were a few other people there as well. This was all part of the Capitala Tennis Tournament in Abu Dhabi with Federer and Nadal battling it out for the Championship. It was an hour clinic, where we did a few drills, got a few points past him and had a little q and a after. Very cool! Definitely a highlight of the year and it appeared at the very last minute of 2009! In the video I'm off to a rocky start, but manage to get one by him at the end, it wasn't so hard!

Nick's parents, sister and her boyfriend, Andrew came to spend the holidays with us in Abu Dhabi. Not only did we have Christmas and the New Years to celebrate, but also many birthdays! Nick, Howard and Andrew all turned a year older here in AD and we celebrated each of them in style with Nick's request a bangers and mash night, Howard got a dinner cruise on the Corniche and we ate at The Meat and Co. at the Shangri La for Andrew's big day.

For Christmas we opened presents in the morning, of course the Mosque alarm clocks were a hit and in the afternoon went to a Christmas Day buffet at the Sheraton. Everyone was in the festive spirit and for a Muslim country, I think there were more decorations up and around AD, not just in the hotels, then other places around the world.

Being together with family and friends during the holiday, it definitely felt like Christmas, just a much warmer version then I am used to...for Nick and his family, obviously they've been used to hot Christmas' for many many years. The rest of the week was spent exploring Abu Dhabi, we even managed to get Pete, Tash and Andrew out on the SUP's one morning during some pretty windy conditions, but they all did great :)

Here are a few pics from their visit: