Signing out from the Abu Dhabi experience

As they say all things come to an end and John and I have decided to leave Abu Dhabi. It's been an interesting year and a life experience that I wouldn't have swapped for the world but we both feel that the time has come to move on and take the next step in this fascinating adventure they call life!
We decided this when we returned from another fabulous trip to the UK and it has all happened very quickly (as things have a habit of doing round here once they're agreed!) We are due to fly back on the 24th July so that didn't give us much time to get things packed, tidied up and generally finished up. Of course we've acquired an apartment full of furniture which just won't fit in the rather smaller apartment in Manchester so that has had to be sold and what an experience that has been! I posted photos and listings on dubizzle and within seconds of hitting 'send' on the final posting the phone started to ring and people descended on us. Clearly we underpriced certain items, judging by the speed with which they were sold. I could have sold the sofas and chairs about 6 times over and of course everybody wanted everything immediately. We had to beg the guy who bought the living room stuff to leave us a sofa to sit on for a couple of weeks and the lady who bought the washing machine keeps calling to see if she can have it sooner. As for the TV I had to take down the posting within the hour and turn off the phone as I was so fed up with getting calls. However, we've so far failed to sell two of the bedroom sets and the desk and are having to resort to a second hand furniture dealer who will no doubt not give us much. It's a shame watching so many beautiful things going for less than we paid for them but at the end of the day it's only furniture. Within a couple of days the apartment looked very empty and we have to eat our meals at the patio set but I'm glad that nothing has been wasted. It started to feel like living in a shop as people wandered round asking for the smaller items. I think in the end I sold a couple of IKEA chairs and table lamps for more than it would have cost to go to IKEA and buy the same items brand new!
The smaller bits and pieces and our prize (and very large) mirror are being shipped back to Manchester. I just hope the mirror will fit in the lift. Somehow organising the shipping seems to have been much more complicated than it was at the other end, despite it being the same company but then why should I be surprised by that!
We sold the car to Helen and John next door so I'm glad to think of it staying with people we know and since Helen works at the same place as me it'll know the way. We're taking it to Dubai at the weekend to get the scratch fixed where I managed to misjudge the entrance to our car park slightly. I would have loved to have brought the Jeep back with me as I adore it but the steering wheel on the wrong side would have been a bit inconvenient.
I'm gradually getting all the other bits and pieces sorted out. I don't know whether disconnecting the phone and the internet will be as traumatic as getting it installed but I daren't let them know too soon in case we find ourselves disconnected before we're ready. We also have to close our bank accounts as you aren't allowed to have an account here if you don't have a visa. I am really fretting about this one as we still have bills to pay and money to move about. Again I don't like to raise it too early just in case but it's something of a worry. We plan to complete the circle by moving to the Shangri La for the last 3 days since that was our first experience of Abu Dhabi and where John stayed when he first came out here. I'm looking forward to everything being done and spending Thursday and Friday in their beautifully chilled pool.
So what next? Well we can't go back to the UK immediately unless we want to be faced with a sizeable tax bill so we're busy planning some pretty extensive travel and enjoying our tax exile status as much as possible before coming back in the Spring. It'll be amazing to have time for trips which have never been possible in the 2 week space allotted when working. August should see us jump in the car and head for France to wander about as the fancy takes us. Autumn will probably be Europe, finishing off with a return visit to Abu Dhabi when Rachel and the family were due to come and stay so we'll all visit together. After that we might take a look at the Far East before returning to the UK in December for an extended Christmas break. Jan to March are earmarked for the Southern Hemisphere. The outline plan is Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Rio though we've yet to work out the practicalities. It's all very exciting and a whole new chapter for both of us. It's also going to be wonderful to be able to spend so much time together since John came to Abu Dhabi so soon after we were married that we've been rather preoccupied since.