‘We’re actually doing this’ I thought, trudging onto site the last morning of construction. It had been 15 days since we first started. Where once there was an empty lot, now sits a house that we’ve only seen in models and partly built on temporary lots. I think some of the team are perhaps a little surprised we managed to get to this stage, whereas others never doubted it. For me… well, I think I only really understood where we were and what we were doing in the last two days.

I’m of course referring to the opening ceremony and first day of touring, and my first real day off. Since I arrived in Dubai, everything has been a whirlwind of action – or should I say a sandstorm, as we’ve had a few of those? As Videography Manager I shoot and edit our video content, with the help of the rest of the Communications team. Even when I’m not on site, I’m often doing something related to the job like buying spare batteries or sorting through our content.

So, when someone suggested that we go ‘dune bashing’ and camel riding – touristy I know – I jumped at the opportunity to get away from our site and hotel. After spending the morning working through video content, I headed out with a group from the team.

We were collected at the hotel by the drivers who took us out into the desert. When we stopped, some of the group chose to take a dune buggy and race around for a bit. I looked at the tourist shops with a friend and ended up buying a scarf from a very patient shopkeeper.

Having deflated our tires, our guide took us out on the dunes. As someone, I forget who, in my car said, ‘it’s like a rollercoaster without the track’, and possibly more comfortable and scenic I might add.

We stopped and had a group photo on top of a sand dune, looking out to the flat valley behind us and the mountains in the distance, and then it was back to dune bashing. A short trip along the highway later, we found ourselves in a mock-up fort with a whole bunch of other tourists for a quick camel ride before watching belly dancing and fire twirling whilst we ate some dinner.

It was whilst we were eating that I reflected on the crazy day I had, and all the ones that had come before it, both in Dubai and at home in Australia. I realised we had pulled it off. Our house was sitting at the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 site, ready to be toured and judged; and I was sitting in the middle of the desert, celebrating that accomplishment with part of the team that got it there. It was the perfect end to the construction phase of the competition.

– Allison Gillespie, Communications Team