Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 163

Our final destination before returning to the UK was Dubai where we spent just a couple of nights. It was a long flight from Auckland to Dubai, especially when our entertainment units packed up - a 13.5 hour flight with no TV - nightmare! We were given a glass of champagne, 2 bottles of wine and a pack of playing cards as consolation - how generous! Dubai was the only location where we had pre-booked accommodation. We tried a 'Top Secret' deal on the Internet. Fortunately we ended up staying at the Crowne Plaza, which was very comfortable. We took heed of lots of advice we'd been given about Dubai and avoided the beach or 'building site' locations as well as the busy city centre. Dubai really is one big building site - so much development ... read more

Well when we woke up this morning the sun was shinning and beconning us to the beach, so we set off in Jodie's car to Dhubai and the famous Jameera Beach. Well almost anyway. Jodie decided that we should have a few detours and after driving into a couple of building sites and seeing a few 'Deep Excavation' signs and 'Caution! Road Surprises' signs we made it to the beach. What is a Road Surprise anyway? The road from Abu Dhabi to Dhubai couldn't be any straighter if the Romans had built it and yet every now and again we would see these signs dotted along the road. Dis the road hold surprises for unsuspecting drivers, was this a conspiracy by the government to keep you guessing or someone's idea of a joke? We never ... read more

Fire, mankind's fifth oldest tool after knives, fishing rods, cricket bats and Black & Decker workmates. Much like women, fire is a wonderful slave, yet a terrible mistress. Come to think about it, there are quite a few similarities between fire and women, we all like to see them writhe and dance, they are harder to get going when it's cold, they get out of control very quickly - especially if flammable spirits are involved, they are both good at burning your dinner, it's great fun squirting them with water and they will both f*ck your car up if you let them near it unsupervised. Also, if one gets out of hand, you are best off ringing 999 sooner rather than later and they will calm down if you whack them for long enough with those ... read more

It was a short 5 hour flight to Dubai. Ed slept and Gemma didn’t. We also made time for the meals - whether it’s just a sign of being on the road for so long (and most recently in Africa) we don’t know, but the food was great. We had a 5 hour stopover in Dubai which wasn’t quite long enough to leave the airport so we just marveled at the no-expense-spared terminal building and marched excitedly to the shops. The advertising had led us to believe that if you couldn’t buy it here, it didn’t exist. And we were going to buy a new laptop. But we ended up leaving empty handed because their selection was rubbish and included just a single Sony, and not a very good one at that. We boarded our Dubai-Sydney ... read more

I know we had a few drinks with our dinner, but I'm almost certain I'd have remembered this being served. That's the last time I let Sherren order while I nip to the loo, although it does explain the unusual doggie bag she took home.... read more