lullabelle

Let's just wait and see. But if it all goes well the drinks will be on me. As soon as I get me licence...

Bahtatboy

Rumour has it that you don't need a licence in AD...

If anyone wants to test the veracity, PM me.

Tillybean

Lullabelle

Sounds like you had a blast and that its all looking positive. Definitely negotiate hard for your package and ensure that it includes all the bits that you need - good housing allowance, transport, schooling, medical, return flights for the family etc.

With regards to where to live. I have only lived in Abu Dhabi, but I really like it. It is definitely family orientated and there are options of where to live where you would be with more families - if that makes sense - such as:

Mangrove on edge of Abu Dhabi - eye wateringly expensive and a little bit too Desperate Housewives for me, does have a pool, small beach, little supermarket with fresh meat, veg, pork but no alcohol, lots of ex-pats, room to dock a boat etc. Houses are large and as I said, not cheap. Good access to Al Raha.

Khalidiya Village - centre of Abu Dhabi. Friend lives there and says its fine. Good mix of ex-pats. Villa quality quesitonnable.

Oasis Palm - down town Abu Dhabi but not quite the centre - lovely villas, no idea of costs.

Sas Al Nakhl - out of town, new development, pool, supermarket, very nice villas.

Or you could look at renting a villa with a pool in somewhere like Bain Al Jasrain which is just off island so easy for Al Raha, has shops, great hotels so access to nice wines and food, no beach unless you are at the hotels, but you could drive to one easily, mixture of locals and some ex-pats. Prices are coming down and you could bargain hard.

Al Raha Gardens - I have lots of friends who live there and say its fab with shared pools, open spaces, villas with gardens etc and the prices are negotiable. I wouldnt live there myself just yet, but have a look.

Khalifa A and Mohammed Bin Zayed City - again, lots of villas for rent and well worth a look.

Have a look on here for some ideas for current prices etc http://www.leaserentuae.com/eng/pages/index.asp

I shipped my stuff over from UK in a container. I got a decent allowance and realised I would be here for a while and would prefer to have my own stuff. It took about four weeks to arrive and I used http://www.adsa.ae/ who were great.

There are lots of media lovies all around with many an ex-pat ex-BBC'er scattered throughout, including myself.

Good luck with your decision.

lullabelle

Tillybean that was a wonderfully comprehensive post. And I've pm'd you.

Somewhere to live is a big headache for me (and for eveyone else I'm sure). I'd never heard of Bain Al Jesrain so I'll investigate that and I wasn't aware that Al Raha Gardens has shared pools.

I'd already discounted Mangrove for being too pricey along with the larger properties in Golf Gardens and Sas. I'd pretty much got in in my head to look into a townhouse in Golf or a place in Sas but it now seems the kids may be going to a school right up at the other end of the main Island... plus although the offices are currently in Al Raha, they will eventually relocate to Mussafah. BUT it looks likely that half my working day will be right by the Marina on island and half in Mussafah...

Someone suggested finding a school first and then looking for a place to live... might be good advice in this case.

Lovely to hear from a fellow media luvvie. Shame there isn't a smilie for a luvvie air kiss/hug!

soukie

Sorry no shared pools at Al Raha. Sas has facilities but the whole compound is very very near electric pylons so not ideal! Golf gardens may be the best option but it all depends on your budget. Palm Oasis and Khalidia Village are good but are expensive and probably more than Mangrove. There is also Sea Shore Villas near Mangrove and I believe that they are cheaper than Mangrove.

Ethos83

You may want to consider joining the British club. It's supposedly a laid back affair and has its own pool and beach and not very expensive at all. AD suffers in that despite all the waterfront there's very little open public beaches unlike Dubai which has kilometres after kilometres of them.