After driving the dunes we ended up at a the safari camp that just appeared out of the sand. Here hey served a great buffet and put on a wonderful show of belly dancers and other Arabian dance. There were camel rides and a whole array of fun. They even served liquor that tasted delicious under the night sky.

Never seen a standard car been put thru the paces like these Landcruisers, the video doesn’t show the height or speed, it was like a roller coaster, the driver was amazing.

It’s Friday the holiest day of the week, so guess what the fully automated train system does not work or religious reasons before 1pm so it’s a long hot walk into old town area. It’s hot but the humidity is a bit better. it took about 2 and. Half hours to reach the creek, by that time we were pretty buggered and the trains were about to restart so back to the hotel for quick refresh, two pints of tiger and off on our desert safari.

To give you some idea how big this is Melbourne’s Rialto is 270 meters, New York’s World Trade Centre towers were 417 meters plus antena, this thing is 824 meters. The visibility was too poor to go up it today, and it ended up being sold out anyway, with the haze you couldn’t see the tower and it’s in walking distance.

The size and quality of the shopping centers are breath taking. The Dubai Mall was the most impressive it would have been 4 chads tones in size and row after row of luxury brands. This centre featured a huge aquarium and even a full size ice skating ring while the mall of the emirates up the road had a snow field complete with ski lifts and skiing fields and even live penguins-was very tempting to escape the heat.

The architecture is spectacular but the weather is a killer it’s only about 36 (it was 46) last week so we should not be whining..the temperature is not the real problem it’s the humidify and the brightness, plus NO BEER! Well not entirely true beer is forbidden for Muslims and no where sells it except the international hotels, fortunately we have a nice sports bar here and luckily beer isn’t as dear as the $9 one our mini bar.

plane arrived in Abu Dahli at 6;15 pm and it was dark, baggage and immigration took seconds then climb aboard a shiny black Cadillac for hour drive to Dubai. Its 34 degrees out there but the humidity is worse than a sauna will be interesting tomorrow when the sun is out. Hotel is amazing beds 3 times bigger than London and you could live in the bathroom. toilet an duvet ur? bathtub and separate shower

well sadly we have left London and are now on our way to Dubai
a shiny black BMW 5 series was waiting at our hotel at 6 am for the half hour trip to Heathrow. The car pulls up at the airport and we are greeted by a lovely lady in pretty much a genie costume who welcomes us and walks us straight through checking in and security onto the lounge. we don’t touch our-bags they taken care of by another guy and checked in. Lounge flash as “breakfast sir? you have two choices full buffet or the chef will prepare you something to your liking”. “would you like to visit our day spa for a massage or perhaps a shower?”

The plane boards and you bypass the common people in  business and cattle and you are greeted by the chef the flight manager and rest of the first class crew, all bringing gifts, chocolates, pyjamas, toiletries, champagne and menus- wine, food and strangely tea (14 types). Then out comes the dates and Arabian coffee that has a taste somewhere between sand and a camel.

The food menu is out of control there is everything available..but the bacon is turkey and sausages chicken…suits me!   I can get used to this!

It’s our last night in London and the city looks so spectacular at night. many of the grand old buildings are highlighted by lighting.

The cellar bar dates back to a 13th century monastery, the place had a rebuild in 1667 (yes 1667, over 100 years before Captain Cook ‘discovered Australia) after the great London fire. Charles Dickins drank booze here as did Dr Samuel Johnson who wrote the original English Dictionary.

This pub also had a famous talking parrot. the parrot was so famous even the BBC broadcast his obituary when he finally fell off the perch after over 40 years of service.

The photo on the left shows the 15 monarchs who have ruled since the pub opened.

The Ye olde pub menu features such 1600’s dishes like chilli con carne, fetta and red pepper quiche and chicken nuggets with onion rings.

This was a fascinating place with some buildings dating back nearly a thousand years. The royal jewels were a highlight, never seen so much bling,, sorry no photos allowed, but here’s plenty of other ye olde fun to see.