So, I landed in Newcastle after 30 hours of travel in which I befriended a few other travellers, including a Dutch (very hot) devorcee heading to Holland to see his little boy; two Australian chicks called Kristina and Scorcha who were also travelling alone, a Parisian called Gabriel (very hot, but married) who was living in Dubai, travelling to Newcastle and then going home for a few weeks; and lastly, an old lady who I joined up with in order to skip the horrendously long ques in Dubai
The flight was a bit bumpy at the start from Auckland to Dubai and left me a bit shakey and wondering what the hell I was doing on a plane. However, I had the two seats beside me free, a hot Dutchman in front of me and a whole lot of in-flight entertainment. We landed in Sydney, and two hours set off again, but this time I had two partners on the plane. A 16 year old girl who was very VERY excited to be travelling and a 22 year old, the first words coming out of her mouth being 'thank god your not some creepy old guy' followed up by 'if you need sleeping pills, I have heaps'... great... cough. They were really friendly and I enjoyed having others around who were equally excited about travel, if not a bit exhausting. The 22 year old made me feel better and yet worse at the same time when she asked me how old I was and I said I was 26. She replied with "Wow! You look good for your age." Uh... I wasn't quite sure how to take that. I felt honoured that she thought I was here age but kind of insulted that she assumed that at 26 I should be old and wrinkly apparently.
When we arrived in Dubai, the three of us girls decided to stick together. I was trying to look casual, like I knew what I was doing and they were trying their hardest to look like tourists. Sigh. We got off the plane and then had to go through security yet again. The lines were massive (well, when I say lines, I mean big piles of people all moving and swaying like seaweed in the tide, push back, move forward, push back). We were at the back of the cue and it did not appear to be moving. Anyway, being the keen and surprisingly alert traveller that I was, I heard this old woman saying that she needed to get to her plane, which just so happened to be the same one I was one. I sideled up beside her as she was talking to a security guard and when he was looking elsewhere I said quietly that I was on the same flight and I would like to join her family, as she was travelling with her daughter already. What was one more daughter. The guard whisked her into a wheelchair and pushed her through the crowds, me and her real daughter trailing behind her, all the way to the front of the crowds. SUCCESS!
I meet up with the old lady at the gate, her other daughter was on a different flight, and had a good old yarn with her, keeping her company. I also meet a South African woman when waiting at the gate and the first thing she did when I sat down was to turn and complain about the chairs, and the tables, and the fact that she had to eat a chocolate bar for breakfast, and how poorly run the airport was etc etc... on and on she went. You know that old saying, 'If you ain't got something nice to say...' - I embodied that rule at that point. I was tired, I was unclean and I just stared at her making 'I understand' faces while really wishing she would leave me alone.
Oh! And when in Dubai, I used the loos. Hillarious! In the women's toilets beside each loo is two things: toilet roll and a shower head hose. Now, I assume it wasn't for taking a full shower, and as much as I would have liked to freshen up my nether regions there was no way in hell I was using THAT! But while I am sitting on the loo I can hear the sound of showers on either side, and was trying desperately to contain myself.
I actually expected to see a lot more berkas and the such but didn't see much like that. It was very international, though when we got off the plane it was 6am and there was muslim prayer music playing and a whole bunch of tourists milling around having no idea what to do.
Anyway, I arrived at the other end, in Newcastle and have been enjoying the cold weather. Hayley, Grandad and Aunty Jen picked me up from the airport and I managed to stay awake till 6pm before crashing and sleeping through till 8am the next day. I was exhausted.
But the story does not end there...
