Living in Al Ain
Aug 9th 2009, 10:56 pm
#1561
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6
Re: Living in Al Ain
Hi Blenheim
Assume you are from Blenheim. I am from ChCh originally and latterly Wellington so Hi!! and welcome! The cost of living, I believe is directly comparable to your income. When we arrived we found it incredibly cheap living but in hindsight realise it was probably because our income here was so much more than NZ, but having said that some things are incredibly cheap such as eating out, We ate locally almost every night as it was much more affordable than cooking for two. The local restaurants are fabulous, cheap and tasty you just have to be adventurous. The most expensive thing is accommodation but that is all relative to your income. If your accommodation is more than 20-25% of your gross income then we would deem it 'too much'. Food is really cheap if you shop in local supermarkets. Power is cheap, but make sure you are not paying for the whole block of villas if you are living in an arab neighbourhood as we were LOL. Internet is also cheap and of course petrol is like 7 cents a litre!!! Alcohol is expensive comparatively speaking but that is comparing to NZ wine. Spirits are cheap as chips as are SA wine. NZ wine is daylight robbery as in $120 for a bottle of Montana Sav Blanc which I saw in the supermarket in ChCh for $11. But the lifestyle if the income matches is .like nothing you have experienced before in NZ, so go for it! The standard of accommodation is very good, although all rental accommodatioj excludes whiteware, but it is cheap as chips so don't stress just come and enjoy!
Assume you are from Blenheim. I am from ChCh originally and latterly Wellington so Hi!! and welcome! The cost of living, I believe is directly comparable to your income. When we arrived we found it incredibly cheap living but in hindsight realise it was probably because our income here was so much more than NZ, but having said that some things are incredibly cheap such as eating out, We ate locally almost every night as it was much more affordable than cooking for two. The local restaurants are fabulous, cheap and tasty you just have to be adventurous. The most expensive thing is accommodation but that is all relative to your income. If your accommodation is more than 20-25% of your gross income then we would deem it 'too much'. Food is really cheap if you shop in local supermarkets. Power is cheap, but make sure you are not paying for the whole block of villas if you are living in an arab neighbourhood as we were LOL. Internet is also cheap and of course petrol is like 7 cents a litre!!! Alcohol is expensive comparatively speaking but that is comparing to NZ wine. Spirits are cheap as chips as are SA wine. NZ wine is daylight robbery as in $120 for a bottle of Montana Sav Blanc which I saw in the supermarket in ChCh for $11. But the lifestyle if the income matches is .like nothing you have experienced before in NZ, so go for it! The standard of accommodation is very good, although all rental accommodatioj excludes whiteware, but it is cheap as chips so don't stress just come and enjoy!
Yes I am from Blenheim. Any more info about Al Ain would be great eg. how easy it is to get around either by car or public transport?
Aug 10th 2009, 4:32 am
#1562
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Its very easy to get around Al Ain either by taxi or by car. Its not a huge place and you will eventually come back to where you started or get to where you need to go. A GPS (Larnie stop laughing) is a help if you have one but you cant really get lost. Larnie used to laugh at me because I have one but I got to where I needed to be. Taxis are okay, the cream and gold ones, if you get a good driver who speaks English then you should be okay but they have now introduced the silver grey ones which are great, with polite English speaking drivers, the cars are clean and best of all the seat belts work.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Aug 10th 2009, 6:07 am
#1563
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Posts: 6
Re: Living in Al Ain
Hi Amazing Grace;
Thanks for this as the more information we obtain here the easier to decide.
I will be nursing at the hospital and the people who telephone interviewed me sounded very friendly.
Thanks for this as the more information we obtain here the easier to decide.
I will be nursing at the hospital and the people who telephone interviewed me sounded very friendly.
Aug 10th 2009, 6:14 am
#1564
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Which hospital are you going to be working for, my husband works in Al Ain Hospital. Any queries I can help please shout or PM me which might be a bit more private. Glad to help anytime
Aug 10th 2009, 6:16 am
#1565
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Hi Amazing Grace;
I am going to be working in the ED at the same hospital.
I am going to be working in the ED at the same hospital.
Aug 10th 2009, 6:17 am
#1566
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Cool some nice people working there
Aug 10th 2009, 6:21 am
#1567
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Re: Living in Al Ain
How many hours are they usually contracted per week as recruitment lady here in Chch not sure ? Hospital looks and sounds really good.
Aug 10th 2009, 6:42 am
#1568
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Just sent you a PM as you have 5 posts now
Aug 10th 2009, 6:46 am
#1569
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Re: Living in Al Ain
For all the new ladies to Al Ain and everyone else already here dont forget coffee tomorrow and every Tuesday at Cosi, Al Jimi Mall around 10 ish. For those of you who dont know Cosi is on the first floor right next door to Coffee Bean. See you there
Aug 10th 2009, 6:33 pm
#1570
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 12
Re: Living in Al Ain
Its very easy to get around Al Ain either by taxi or by car. Its not a huge place and you will eventually come back to where you started or get to where you need to go. A GPS (Larnie stop laughing) is a help if you have one but you cant really get lost. Larnie used to laugh at me because I have one but I got to where I needed to be. Taxis are okay, the cream and gold ones, if you get a good driver who speaks English then you should be okay but they have now introduced the silver grey ones which are great, with polite English speaking drivers, the cars are clean and best of all the seat belts work.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Aug 10th 2009, 8:54 pm
#1571
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Posts: 6
Re: Living in Al Ain
[QUOTE=Blenheim;7828210]Hi Amazing Grace;
Sorry can't reply to private message as not sure how this all works. Thank you so much for all the info as appreciate anything about Al Ain
Sorry can't reply to private message as not sure how this all works. Thank you so much for all the info as appreciate anything about Al Ain
Aug 11th 2009, 3:58 am
#1572
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 244
Re: Living in Al Ain
Its very easy to get around Al Ain either by taxi or by car. Its not a huge place and you will eventually come back to where you started or get to where you need to go. A GPS (Larnie stop laughing) is a help if you have one but you cant really get lost. Larnie used to laugh at me because I have one but I got to where I needed to be. Taxis are okay, the cream and gold ones, if you get a good driver who speaks English then you should be okay but they have now introduced the silver grey ones which are great, with polite English speaking drivers, the cars are clean and best of all the seat belts work.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Once you get here if you need a car with a driver for trips to Abu Dhabi or Dubai let me know and I will pass the details on to you. He is fantastic and is very reliable, very polite and he advertises through word of mouth. I use him regularly.
Aug 11th 2009, 4:51 am
#1573
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Re: Living in Al Ain
[QUOTE=Blenheim;7830435]
Blenheim if you look on the top of the page on the right hand side you will see Private Messages just click on that and then you will be able to see how to reply when you read the message.
Larnie it was a great day out and I learnt a lot of new words on the way LOL and we did have a great day out especially valet parking the car, it was a great laugh and look forward to doing it again soon somewhere. The roads to Dubai are a lot better now too.
Emptynester, taxis are fine but hiring a car is a definite if you want to go out and see around the place, if however you go over the border to Oman then you need car insurance for a hire car. When do you arrive, look out for the coffee get togethers its a nice start to meeting people.
Larnie it was a great day out and I learnt a lot of new words on the way LOL and we did have a great day out especially valet parking the car, it was a great laugh and look forward to doing it again soon somewhere. The roads to Dubai are a lot better now too.
Emptynester, taxis are fine but hiring a car is a definite if you want to go out and see around the place, if however you go over the border to Oman then you need car insurance for a hire car. When do you arrive, look out for the coffee get togethers its a nice start to meeting people.
Aug 11th 2009, 6:41 am
#1574
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Sorry about the naughty words AG I am on a mission to stop using those words before I return to the Desert Camp!!
Aug 11th 2009, 10:01 am
#1575
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Re: Living in Al Ain
Dont apologise it was all part of the funny, laughed a lot day we had out together and you certainly wont stop when you get back to the sand pit