Well - we're home now. It's ridiculously early Sunday morning, and we had a nightmare getting onto the flight in Dubai. Nic saved the day because this time, I couldn't work my charm and dodge the excess baggage. In the end, after complaining and whinging and moaning and holding up the queue, Nic came through. (I got banished to the naughty chair because I was tired and was loosing my cool). The flight itself though was a lot of fun. But I'm gettiing ahead of myself.
Arriving in Dubai we got a cab to our 5 star resort. Not really knowing quite what to expect other than it would be good, when we arrived we were astounded. After spending the last six weeks living out of a tent (except a few days in a hotel and one night at Patrick and Paulettes) anything was going to be good - but the Kempinski was superb. Suddenly, we didn't have to carry our bike boxes! Gold Jerry. Ushered to our rooms, sans suitcases, our porter showed us where everything was, took us on a little tour of the resort and made sure we had everything. The room was magnificent - and even had one of those things that sit next to the toilet to "wash your feet in". Very French.
After my flight to Dubai I was exhausted (I had to sit next to Mr. Fidget the whole way), so Nic and I grabbed a quick shower and crashed on the bed. About two hours later, we were interrupted by a knock on the door (mental note to self - remember the do not disturb sign) , as the room service guy came in to change the towels. It wasn't even the next day! How'd he know we'd had a shower? Apologising for interrupting our sleep, he gave us some chocolates, and headed off. Nice work. We spent the rest of the day down soaking in the hotel pool. Luxury!
The next day was off to Wild Wadi. Getting there was a little interesting. The taxi driver only spoke Arabic, funnily enough, and couldn't understand our English. Even funnier, Nic decided that perhaps he'd understand English if she spoke it in a French accent. Combine that with agreeing with the few words he spoke of English by using the French "Oui" and it's a miracle we arrived. Probably put the taxi drivers English back two years too if the truth be known.
Wild Wadi is very cool. It was 47 degrees celcius that day, and we spent the entire day floating around in tyre tubes. Brilliant. It has a maze of interconnected waterslides and uphill watercoasters. You get on at any number of points, and you rocket up the coasters into different holding pools. From each pool, you can go down any number of slides. And with that, you can navigate your way around the park. The only time we got out of the tubes was to eat. There's also a really cool waterfall where you can take your tube and just sit underneath the waterfall. Tonnes of water fall down on you and it's like getting a massage as it pummels the back and shoulders. By the time we returned to the resort, we were feeling decidedly relaxed. We kicked back and drank wine and ate cheese in the resort pool. Beautiful. The last day was more of the same. Relaxing in the hotel pool, eating and drinking. We also managed to make it past the hotel pool and into the beach, but that didn't last too long. The water temperature was 32 degrees celcius. Too hot! Amazing - the water was too hot to swim in. Was good fun though, and returning to the hotel pool was heaven. That evening Sujatha, a friend who lives just out of Dubai came and took us out to show us the sights. Saw the old 'dhows' and a lot of the older parts of the area. She also showed us one of the more traditional style souks. Finally, took us back to her place where we had a meal fit for a king. Apparently, that's normal eating for them. Wow! About midnight, she drove us back to the resort (it was still 37C outside!) as we had to leave early the next morning.
As I've alluded to up top, getting onto the plane was an exercise in frustration. One of the reasons we flew Emirates was because after discussions about sporting equipment, the Emirates lady in Australia informed us that bike boxes travel free as they are an item of sporting equipment. Sure enough, checking in at Melbourne, no problem; Dubai transit, no problem; Paris, no problem; Dubai on the way home - big problem. Apparently in Dubai a bike isn't an item of sporting equipement. This was extremely disappointing. The lady behind the counter immediately abdicated all responsibility for decision making, instead deferring to her supervisor. Nic volunteered to handle it, and upon speaking to the supervisor it became abundantly clear that he was unable to make a decision either.
So, Nic went higher. (She would have to to Sheik Mohammed in the end!) This time, the guy still said no. I was getting hot under the collar by now, as the rest had all proceeded smoothly, and after interrupting one to many times (creating a scene of course) I was banished to the naughty chair. Nic got ready to jump the counter and show the guy on the website where it said "Sporting Equipment" and explain about the Olympic games and how one of the sports was cycling. After 30 minutes of arguing, discussion, constant "No", the guy ended up relenting, accepting that "as we hadn't paid it before and as we were in the middle of our trip, it was OK". Now - if he'd just made that point earlier and listened to us, it would have saved EVERYBODY some grief. Just before I get off my high horse - my bike weighs 7kg. It's packed in an "airline" happy size box, and weighs less than the golf clubs or scuba equipment that IS explicitly listed. Why the discrimination? I'm all for Ben's idea. Have a max weight limit for everybody. You and your bag stand on the scales, any amount over - say - 110kg, you have to pay for.
Anyway, the upshot was, we flew home without paying excess baggage, and arrived today at 5:00am to a wet, cold and grey Melbourne morning. Welcome home. All in all, an absolutely sensational trip which was a real eye opener for me. Great fun, great riding, great hiking and great food. Can't wait to go back!