Mark Yeandle often complains about all work and no play (he doth protest too much:- ed.) but amongst his other commitments during a recent trip to the UAE, Mark reports that was lucky enough to see the sun rise over the desert from a hot air balloon courtesy of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This was the inaugural flight of the DIFC branded hot air balloon made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the centre opening. The party also took a falcon up in the balloon with them and let it fly round the balloon at 4,500 feet. The whole experience was truly beautiful but Mark has already inaugurated jokes about ‘Yeandle and hot air’ around the office… (leave the captions to me - ed. We'll use "Yeandle High As A Kite Again")

Mark was also able to try his hand at falconry when he landed - what amazingly beautiful and skilful animals birds these are. From the smile on his face, Mark seems to be enjoying it but as James Pitcher commented “ he is always happiest with a bird on his arm”… (I said leave the captions to me - ed. We'll use "Falcon Around With Yeandle").