It’s hot. Don’t fight it.

As a self-proclaimed warm-weather-lover, I came to Dubai from Australia with what I thought was an advantage. I already liked the heat (by which I meant anything up to mid-30s. Aah, the naivety). That had to put me ahead of those who preferred warm coats and log fires. Right?

Well, predictably, no.

Wrong.

I’ve come to believe that people who grew up in freezing cold climates, who are used to shutting themselves in for half the year, are at a massive advantage here in Dubai.

Close the doors and windows, turn on the air and sit tight for the day? No problem. The only outings you can take are to air-conditioned malls? Hey ho, we’re used to it. Organise ‘indoor play’ for three active children for a weekend? Sure, got this. A week? A month? An eleven-week summer holiday block at 50 degrees, with Ramadan thrown in for triple points?

Well, no one likes it, but some people manage better than others.

As in, me. They manage better than I do.

But I am – slowly – learning. So as I approach my third hot season in Dubai, I decided to share a few things I’ve come to understand about surviving summer.

Don’t fight it

After I arrived, as the weather warmed up, I persisted in doing things my way. Windows and doors always open for ‘fresh air’. Dinner at the outside table. A morning trip to the beach.

The trouble is, an open window can’t catch a breeze that was never there. And even if it was, the houses are designed to be unbreachable bunkers of refrigerated atmosphere. Air-flow is the exact opposite of what they promote.

And no matter how much iced water you drink, dinner in the garden at 38 degrees is no fun for anyone. Ditto swimming in the intensely salty, bath-like waters of the Arabian Gulf in July.

Just give in. You can’t win.

Sometimes more is less

To my mind, a floaty summer dress is just the thing for a hot day. Uh huh. Rookie error. If you actually have to do anything – walk, carry stuff, drive a car – you will sweat. A lot. And sensitive Celtic skin like mine (and my children’s) will come out in every kind of fiery rash you can think of. So now I try to dress to absorb sweat. T-shirts with fitted sleeves to protect my underarms, leggings to protect my (ahem) legs. I even get a rash from the rubber strap of my flip-flop. (I’m Australian, so I want to say ‘thong’ here, but then everyone will be wondering about my rash from another kind of thong, and I really don’t want that.) I even have to make sure there is fabric between my décolletage and my seatbelt if I don’t want a terrible itchy blotch just under my neck.

Over-sharing? Just telling it like it is…

Re-invent exercise

I could probably just sit in stunned silence for the five very hot months, but the kids don’t really go for that. And it would give new meaning to the words ‘sedentary lifestyle’. So we have developed some strategies to keep active.

For instance, every summer my eldest son turns the dining table around against the wall and uses it for table tennis. Genius. I couldn’t care less about the inconvenient angle, the marks on the wall (they wash off) or the endless tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock of the ping-pong ball. At least he’s keeping busy. And he’s like a dog – he needs ball sports at least once a day.

I try to walk or swim as early in the morning as I can, except for the very hottest months. It’s about the only way you can connect with nature during this time, and its good for the soul.

Also, I’ve forsaken the expensive local gym to do stretch classes at home via my laptop instead. At least two of my children have pledged to join me daily when the holidays begin. That’s exercise, an hour or so killed, hopefully a bit of fun, and it’s free!

My friend Inga told me that last summer, heavily pregnant, she would sit in the empty mall (it was Ramadan) drinking water (which she was allowed to do because she was very obviously pregnant) and say to her two little boys, “Run!” They would peg it up and down the halls of commerce for a couple of hours, then go home tired and happy. So clever!

Finally

I've learned you can never drink too much water, but I still haven't learned not to set up elaborate indoor play my kids are too old for (e.g. something from here - I really want to do that Entrapment break-in scene one).

So what is your best strategy to cope with the weather?

Five reasons to spend summer in Dubai

Yes, it’s hot. Like, really, really hot. Even I think so. And, yes, the children are on school holidays. Every day. Yes, most of our friends have left town. Yes, this year summer has happened to coincide with Ramadan, so even if there was something to do, it couldn’t involve the public imbibing of fluids or eating of food (although bending over and pretending to tie your shoelace while surreptitiously swigging from a water bottle is working out quite well for us so far).

But there are a few wins to spending the summer holidays in Dubai. Here are five of them…

1. There are no queues

Now is your chance to visit every Dubai attraction that is normally too crowded to enjoy. Put off taking the kids to the ice rink because of the crazy teenager speed skaters playing tip between the toddlers with over-sized penguins? Worry no more. They have all gone home to Europe or Africa or wherever, leaving the ice free for your precious offspring. Don’t want to spend half an hour in the line for every ride at Wild Wadi? Visit over summer and the whole water park is yours. Etcetera. WIN!

2. There are no cars

Honestly, the roads are like Nowra on a Sunday afternoon. Vacant. Empty. Deserted. Over summer, you only feel like you are about to die once a day. It’s a big improvement. WIN!

3. Your family will bond

In Australia, summer holidays mostly consisted of driving the kids to their friends houses, or else picking the kids’ friends up to bring them to our house. In between, there were trips to Sydney, people to stay, work and all sorts of other reasons to spread the five personalities in our family around more thinly. But at the moment, we really only have each other. Okay, Graham actually has a life, but the rest of us don’t so much right now. No one can say I am not spending enough time with my children. And actually, we quite like each other. WIN! (Now, if I could just convince them that lying on a bed reading a book all day was a good use of holiday time, we’d all be happy.)

4. Lunch is the new breakfast…

We’re encouraging serious sleep-ins, seeing as the hot, empty days are harder to fill in than the relatively pleasant evenings (only 39 degrees. That’s under 40!). Turns out cricket after dinner is quite possible in the park by that time of day, finished off by an evening swim in the pool (which currently is for our exclusive use). This means that the first meal of the day, for those of us without livelihoods, is more like a (very slightly) early lunch. The kids eat afternoon tea, and then a good dinner, but so far no one has noticed the fact that we’re eating one less meal a day. This saves both time and money. WIN!

5. …And you can eat it in your jimmy-jams

If it has to be done in the morning, then it has to be done in pyjamas. That’s the new rule at our house. Whether we’re playing cards, playing Wii, playing Trivial Pursuit, cooking, cleaning (oh wait, that’s just me) or building houses both real (Lego) and imaginary (Minecraft), our pjs are de rigueur. And, because there’s no one in town, there’s no chance of the front doorbell ringing. WIN!

And finally, if I ever start counting down the days to the new school year, I just have to look at our friendly Springs 14 lifeguard (what? You’re pool doesn’t come with one?). He spends the whole day outside in temperatures around the mid-40s, and not only is he fasting for 16 hours a day (that’s no water, folks. NO WATER) he does it all in long pants.

What are your surprising holiday upsides?