Water Parks Aren't Just For Kids

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It’s Aquaventure water park day today!

Because its attached to the hotel, lucky us get it included and it also means we don’t have to queue up behind the 100 plus teeny boppers who have obviously got no school today!

The only thing we need to pay for is a locker, but with hindsight we didn’t need to get one. After putting all our stuff away in it we had a walk around and saw that most people left their gear under the pool lounges, so we trek back and leave only our good camera and my purse in there, I know, we could have just left them in our room - duh!

So we claim our piece of Dubai land to call home for the day, even if it is only 2 square metres, and set off to cruise the lazy river. It’s 2km long and has rapids and waterfalls scattered along it, so it’s a bit more exciting than your average one.

It’s even designed to get you around the park, like a water road, because it’s just too big to walk, it would take you too long to get anywhere. Si of you want to go on any of the tube or speed rides there’s no need to trudge up 6 flights of stairs carrying your tube to get to the top. Just float along the river until you find the exit you want and then there will be a conveyor belt that will carry you (still seated in your tube) to the top, which makes for very happy knees!

We went down the shark attack, on the pictures it shows you floating along through the aquarium on your tube, what it doesn’t show is that to get there you go through dark twisting tunnels. Tim went first and when I got through he was laughing so hard because he could hear me screaming the whole way down - where’s the love and support I say! But going through the aquarium was really nice, perhaps a little short because it was so nice.

There’s another ride that goes through the aquarium called the Leap of Faith. It’s 27 metres high and 61 metres long and you can get up to 35kph going down, it was in my plan to do it, really…

Tim went on another one that shoots you up with water jets, he really liked it, but I liked my lazy rapids too much to join him on that one!

AFTERNOON TEA AND MASSAGES

We hit the Club Lounge and have afternoon tea. They put on a huge spread, you’d be unlucky to not find anything you liked to eat. There’s cake, fruit, cheese, chocolate, biscuits, sandwiches, you name it! So after filling up we head off to our massages.

With our package we get a 2 for 1 deal, sounds great but really just brings it in line with what you would normally pay for 2.

The Spa area is exquisite. After reception you are walked down one level and then shown to the change room. Here they give you a locker, dressing gown and slippers. When you are ready they take you to your room, you walk along a pathway over water with candles all down the side. I was ready for a nap before I even got to me room it was so relaxing!

My masseur was a girl from the Philippines who had been here for 18 months. Tim had a guy. It’s law in Dubai that the person the same sex as the client does the massage, unless there is a chaperone.

So after what would easily be the best massage of the trip so far, I get shown to the ‘recovery room’, given a spiced tea with cucumber and carrot sticks on the side and put on a long lounge with my feet up.

Tim doesn’t drink tea so he goes and has a Jacuzzi. He’s even given a little bag to keep his thongs in, he’s really getting into this whole day spa thing!

We race back up to the lounge for the pre dinner canapés, only to be told Tim must change as he’s wearing a tanktop and he must be covered up! Too funny, as for the last 3 weeks through Egypt and Jordan I have been the one told to cover up! So after a quick change we head back. Little do they know we can turn pre dinner canapés into a meal!

Then it’s the sad task of getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. One of the staff in the Lounge is from Kenya so he had a good time reminiscing about home while arranging our checkout for the following day, complete with breaky in our room as we leave before the 7am breaky start time.

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