A day at the seaside

Today we went down to the coast at Rockingham, which about 30 minutes from where Age and Tracey live, and where they're looking to buy a house.

I had my first play with Age's jet ski and found out that this was the most fun ever to be had sitting down, after an initial reluctance to have anything to do with water. I thought I'd better put at least one picture of me on the blog to prove I'm actually here (yes, that is me).

We then had some lunch and went out for a short ride along the coast on Age and Tracey's boat. We had a good view of the place where their wedding reception will be held on Sunday and the apartments where we'll be staying Saturday and Sunday night.

Perth City

As dad and Age's friend Derek were flying in to Perth today from Singapore and Bangkok respectively, Sally and I decided to spend the day exploring the city of Perth by ourselves.

We took the train from Armadale for the short ride into Perth. The weather was really good - not too hot or cold - and we took the bus to King's Park which overlooks the city and gives cracking panoramic views. After the really rubbish summer in the UK it was great to take a stroll in the sun through the Botanic Gardens.

We walked back down to the waterfront on the Swan River and had a cold beer before doing a bit of shopping. Prices seem a bit steep compared to the UK so we didn't buy too much - but did enjoy sitting in the sun with a coffee watching the world go by.

We shared the train with local commuters for the return journey so it wasn't quite so relaxed, but we had seats by the time we got back to Armadale.

Shortly after getting back to Age's house the new guests arrived and we spent the evening sitting on the patio drinking (just for a change!).

And the dog eats apples..

Am I the only one to find this strange?

Dressing for the occasion

Age still had to work today (and tomorrow) and I had to choose a suit for the wedding. The suit hire shop was near to the engineering company that Age manages so we combined a trip to the shopping mall, a pub lunch and a visit to his place of work with choosing the suit.

Sally seems to have an overwhelming need to buy things that are either extremely heavy, fragile or impossible to pack - so by the time we've been to all our destinations we may have to charter a special aircraft to get everything back to the UK. I can imagine shopping will become increasingly stressful as the trip progresses!

When I was measured for the suit I realised that I should have stuck to the diet for just a little bit longer - I just hope the suit I was measured for today still fits me by Sunday.

After hearing a lot about Age's work it was really interesting to go and see where it all happens. The company makes things out of steel (I'm sure he could give you a better description) for the thriving WA mining industry.

As you can see from the photos, the modern Australian businessman knows how to look good - whether working hard or playing hard!

The patio heater worked well

The 10 hour flight from Dubai to Perth wasn't up to the same standard as the first leg of our trip - but we managed to get quite a bit of sleep.

We were about 30 minutes early arriving in Perth. We declared the Branston pickle to customs that I'd brought over for on request and our passage through was uneventful. The drive from the airport to my brother Adrian's house seemed to past very quickly and when we arrived he, and his bride-to-be Tracey, were there to greet us. It was good to meet Tracey after chatting on the internet and to introduce them to Sally.

We spent a very pleasant evening drinking beer and watching Age (as we him) assemble a new patio heater. I drank rather more beer than I'm used to these days and Age and Tracey had a bit of practice doing the bridal waltz.

Goodbye Dubai

We decided to have an easy day on our second day in Dubai - we did go to another mall but didn't take the camera - I wish I had as it was spectacular. I've been so impressed with the friendliness of the people and the standards of service everywhere here.

We came back and had a walk along the white sandy beach by the hotel and a cold beer by the pool - what a tough day!

Our chauffeur picked us up on dead on time to take us to the airport for our flight to Perth at 2:35am.

Dubai - Wow!

My hearing did return and we got up on a beautiful morning to look out from our balcony over the Arabian Gulf.

After breakfast we decided to take a taxi into the city and do some site-seeing on the way. Dubai is a truly amazing place, and it's still being built. We stopped at a number of places to take photos, including the 7 Star Burj el Arab Hotel (the Sail), The Palms, and a 170 storey building, still under construction, that's intended to be the tallest in the world (they won't release the final height in case somebody beats it).

We were dropped off in the centre of the City but, being on a Friday, most shops were closed, so we had a walk up to Dubai Creek and along the waterfront. This was a very different Dubai from the high tech wonderland we'd seen up to now - the creek was busy with boats of all shapes and sizes and we took a ride on a water taxi to see the souks on the other side of the Creek. The Gold Souk was very busy and just what you'd expect of an arab market - every trader trying to drag us into his shop.

Our last stop for the day was at The Mall of the Emirates. This is a huge air-conditioned shopping mall with all the well-known high street names, Virgin, Debenhams, Harvey Nichols, Next etc but at tax free prices - plus loads of coffee shops, restaurants and, of course, skiing.

We're Off

So far everything has been pretty stress free. The chauffer driven limo arrived spot on time - driven by a Richard Gere lookalike - and we had a very comfortable ride to Heathrow Terminal 3. There was no queue at the Emirates Busines Class check-in and the Fast-Track through security would have worked well if Sally hadn't have had a couple of bottles of liquid in her hand luggage.

We settled down in the Emirates Lounge with plenty of time to enjoy several courses of excellent food and a few glasses of wine - watching the planes come and go on a tyically grey London day.

Our aircraft, the Boeing 777-600ER, had been chosen on the basis of the internet reviews of the Business Class seats and entertainment system, and it certainly lived up to expectations. We had a very enjoyable, and extremely pampered, 6 and a half hour flight to Dubai.

When we landed we were told the outside temperature was 29C - which is a bit warmer than we're used to at midnight!

In the terminal building Sally's broken toe was spotted by an eagle eyed airport worker and we were given a ride on an electric buggy through arrivals and then fast-tracked past the very long queues at Passport Control.

It was about 2am by the time we reached the Jebel Ali Hotel and we were both ready for bed. The hearing in my left ear was affected by the combination of my cold and the flight and I was really hoping that it would return by the morning.

Last Post (before we go!)

OK - we're being picked up in less than 10 hours and I've not packed anything yet. Still backing up the laptop, charging batteries, and burning CDs and DVDs for the trip (got to get my priorities right).

And now we've started on the Baileys - it could be a long night!

T-minus 36 hours

Still loads to do. Backing up my laptop and clearing space for holiday photos right now.

Only tonight and tomorrow night left - leaving 9am on Thursday!

Only 4 Days to go!

Well it's nearly here - just 3 more days of work and we'll be leaving for the antipodes. It's been a long time coming but now it seems frighteningly close - and it seems like there's so much still to do.

The weather's starting to get cold here and we've lit a fire tonight. It'll be so nice to get some real sun before the winter really takes hold.