At KAUST (Wednesday)

I am pleased to say that today I am feeling quite a lot better.  Regretfully, Trish hasn't really improved and as I type (around 2pm Kaust Time) she is grabbing 40 winks on the sofa.  I continue to get the occasional cough whereas Trish just feels lousy.

We are now 'officially' visitors.  We now have our own personal visitor ID cards. Security is extremely high in this compound, to get in anywhere you need a KAUST ID card on your person.

It is still hot today with an expected top for today of around 40º.  It drops back to a daily mid 30's after today though.  I expected the heat to be dry here but it is just the opposite, it is so humid.

The other evening we headed to what could loosely be called the city centre.  We had a choice of Turkish, Pizza, Burger King, Baskin Robins and maybe one or two others.  The Turkish was OK.  We sat out in the city square and ate our meals after being joined by several of Arj and Kate's teaching colleagues.

Needless to say the conversation got around to talking about issues at school, not too different to what you get in any Australian city when a group of teachers get together!

Everything here is maintained by a team of gardeners and general maintenance crews.  I saw a guy sweeping up a single leaf off the roadway today, Arj and Kate's gardens and lawns are maintained by teams as well.

If you click on the photo below left you may spot some of  the gardening team down near the white truck

The fight against dust and sand in and around homes as well as on the streets seems a continual battle.  The dust from the sand gets in everywhere.

We have discovered the local "Tamini" supermarket, a fairly large establishment with all the supermarket items you could ever want.  Nothing appeared to us as more expensive than at home.

The University buildings themselves must be seen to be believed.  No expense has been overlooked.  All the buildings have the latest mod cons and are magnificently designed.

Traffic here is non-existent.  (Top Left) You may get several vehicles per hour drive by the house.  I reckon any pedestrian hit by a car here would be extremely unlucky!

You can leave your home unlocked, the garage door wide open, or your son's bike lying in the front yard where he left it. (Photo left)

You can be sure nothing will happen.

The bikes and chairs in this photo have been left out the front every day we have been here,

The kids get home from school, have a bite to eat and are then off outside to ride their bikes or to play with their friends.

There are very few people on the streets.