Having made the painful decision to leave the Icebreaker family in pursuit of the age old Kiwi tradition of heading on an OE (Oversees Experience) the first stop was to visit my father who is currently working in AL Ain in the United Arab Emirates.
After appropriately celebrating my 3 years with the company and my bags packed I was off. It was quite an experience cutting everything you own down to one back pack, luckily you can roll Icebreaker gear up pretty small so you can fit a lot in.
With a brief stop over in Brunei, I arrived in Dubai. The scale of construction here is almost overwhelming, everywhere you go you will find the biggest something in the world, be it the Burj Tower, or the largest aquarium which is found in the Dubai Mall.
Abu Dhabi was also thriving with construction. I was also meet with a lot of greenery which I was not expecting in a desert nation (there was a lot of irrigation going on to maintain this). I really admired the planning that has gone on in this city there have been a lot of family park areas created and these seemed to be very popular in the evening as the temperature cooled. They were also redeveloping the Corniche area (sea front) which looked to be a great place to hang out.
The 40 degree heat was a real experience and I was glad I had packed in a couple of my favourite Superfine tee’s, being so breathable these really combated the heat. Al Ain was a fantastic experience and great to catch up with Dad. He also proved to be a great tour guide, driving me around the local forts and organising trips through the National Museum and Zoo. We also enjoyed a desert safari which included driving sand buggies through the dunes, a short ride on a Camel, treated to some local cuisine and a belly dancing display.
If I had to pick one highlight it was definitely climbing to the top of the Jebel Hafeet Mountain in Al Ain. The views were staggering looking out over the desert and across to Oman, this was such a stark contrast to the New Zealand environment I have grown up in, here is where it really sunk in that my journey has only just begun.
Next stop London…
Jacob Horan, ex Icebreaker team member
