Well, my cup runneth over as we stood in our 85th queue, this time outside the airport in Dubai in 32 degree humidity waiting for a coach to take us to a random hotel and my youngest child was crying because he was so unhappy not to be in London and I was hot and cross and really really wishing that I wasn’t wearing my Ugg boots and 10 layers of clothing (they were a perfect choice for 24 hours of travel starting in Sydney and ending in London when my feet swell up to nearly exploding proportions on long flights, but weren’t working at all for an unexpected detour to Dubai).
In addition whilst I was majorly over-dressed I had begun to suddenly realise (by the looks that the locals were giving her) that my gorgeous 14 year old daughter was hardly wearing any clothes at all for the unexpected circumstances we had suddenly found ourselves in. So I then had to explain to her that in a Muslim country it is entirely inappropriate to be exposing so much flesh. I started draping spare clothes around her shoulders much to her horror, but for some reason I couldn’t persuade her to swap her flip flops for my Ugg boots OR to put my cashmere poncho on.
Air Emirates have done a pretty good job so far of placing all 600 of us in hotel rooms around Dubai and I imagine they had a few other flights diverted as well. They have been very helpful and the hotel is great. We are getting our meals covered and a three minute international call a day so I think that is pretty generous. They are having to deal with some very irate customers – lots of people doing the whole “don’t you know who I am?” thing and finding that their gold/silver card status doesn’t work when there is a natural calamity of volcanic proportions.
As we had our evening meal I discovered that it was a dry hotel which put me into a mild panic. Thoughts of leaving my children in their room and roaming around the streets of Dubai on my own trying to find a glass of NZ Sauvignon Blanc flashed (ONLY VERY BRIEFLY) through my mind before I accepted that orange juice and water was going to be a lovely alternative option. Back in the hotel room, once the children had gone to bed I did have another really bright idea. I have two bottles of NZ SB in a sealed Duty Free Bag. I had established that we would be allowed to bring them back in through customs when we finally get back on a plane bound for London as long as the bag was still sealed, but I just thought I’d try and see how sealed the sealed bag was and whether unsealing it and re-sealing it would be a problem……anyway after a little bit of time my daughter shouted from the other room “WHO IS MAKING ALL THAT NOISE RUSTLING PLASTIC BAGS??”. So I had to give up on that too.
It is now 7am Dubai time on Friday 16th April. I have my first headache of the holiday which must be due to my anti-hangover and all three of us are currently sitting in one big bed watching the news. The huge plume of volcanic ash seems to be taking it’s time to go away. The report on the BBC news mentions nothing about Iceland itself and how the locals have been affected, so I’m hoping it’s mostly an airborne problem. The latest report says Heathrow airport is closed until 7pm tonight. BUT how many planes around the world are now waiting to get back? Looks like we might not going to get back for AGES.
Still. At least our flight didn’t encounter tiny glass particles that turned into hot globules and shut all four engines down in the air……
We’re all safe.
janelle
April 16, 2010bummer…i thought you’d be lucky enough to be stranded in sydney on the beach or something….bah. GO SHOPPING MAN! xxx j
Jo Blogz
April 16, 2010Oh poor you. At least they are taking care of you and you are comfortable. Lots of UK airports are still shut I think – have been thinking of you trying to get back. From the blog looks like it has been great trip xx J
Kelloggsville
April 16, 2010I watched ‘air disasters’ last night about the jakarta to Perth flight 747 where the ash shut down the engines. As bad as it all seems, be glad the air people have your safety at heart. The cloud is 18,000 metres up but the flights have to pass through it to go up and down. It is not moving quickly and is also hanging over Germany. Heathrow is being constantly reassessed but they expect it to be closed at least until 19:00 BST. I would do your upmost to make good of the situation you have. Go shopping for clothes!!! Best of Luck for an early slot and an easy flight here. xxx
Eclipse
April 16, 2010Good luck with the flight back and have a safe journey 🙂
Chic Mama
April 16, 2010Here’s hoping you won’t have much longer there.X
Jane Alexander
April 16, 2010Laura tweeted this to me. Oh hell, I’d break into the bag… But good point about Iceland itself – it’s all about ‘how are we expected to get here, there, anywhere’, ‘how it’s affecting our business etc’.
Hope you find your way home soon and, more importantly, break into the SB!
Jxxx
Muddling Along Mummy
April 16, 2010What a not great end to your holiday – latest I’ve heard is the airports are closed until 1am Saturday, hopefully after that you’ll be on your way back
And at least you are safe – horrid to think what could have happened
Gumpher
April 16, 2010That is a king size pain, but not quite as bad as being in a commercial jet that suddenly starts gliding.
Beeb site reporting UK airports closed until Saturday.
Here’s hoping your hotel has a pool and that you can break into your SB stash.
Jon Storey
April 16, 2010Latest reports here suggest that Heathrow may not be open until lunchtime Saturday at the earliest, I would just hunker-down and have fun for a while. I can think of worse places to have an enforced stop over.
How about Manchester Airport or Stanstead? I have done both……
Zane Mcatee
April 16, 2010How often do you write your blogs? I enjoy them a lot 7 4 8
Floy Krepps
April 16, 2010I like to check out your blog a couple times a week for new thoughts. I was wondering if you have any other subjects you write about? You’re a very interesting writer!
Jody Santangelo
April 20, 2010Hello, it sounds like you are in better shape than my daughter who is stranded in Paris. Aer Lingus her airline of choice is doing NOTHING at all for its passengers. Sounds like you lucked out. She has been emailing home…MOM help we don’t have a place to stay. To my horror she was in a cafe w/her suitcase. She is sick w/a sinus infection as running the Marathon de Paris to honor an 9 year old cancer victim. I was able to PAY for a room for her through this next Thursday. VERY expensive as the Euro and the American dollar is compatible right now.
Family Affairs
April 21, 2010That sounds Terrible – your poor daughter Lx
Thai Antiques
April 21, 2010Hi there!
I’ve been doing a lot of research online lately regarding online promotion and SEO since I just opened up an Thailand online shop with a couple of buddies.
The design of your website is sweet and I’d really love to exchange links with you. Have a look at our website if you want, we put a lot of work and effort into it and are dedicated to improve it constantly.
We receive a lot of hits already (contact me for visitor stats) and I think both our sites can benefit from one another. Anyway, just thought I’d share this with you – keep up the good work buddy and get back to me if interested!
Family Affairs
April 21, 2010thanks and will try and look at your site once I’m back home! Lx
Jerry Curless
April 27, 2010Morning, It is nice to stumble upon a good blog like this one. Would you mind if I used some of your info, and I’ll leave a link back to your website?
Chantal Gruesbeck
April 27, 2010lolol where’s a beer when you want one
Watch Twilight Eclipse
May 3, 2010im continually jumping throughout the online world almost all of the evening so I tend to read a whole lot, which isnt generally a good factor as some of the sites I discover are constructed of pointless rubbish copied from other web sites a zillion times, on the other hand I gotta give you props this website is indeed half decent and even delivers some original material, so kudos for removing the pattern of only replicating other individual’s blogs and forums, bye for now 🙂
Rubie Kallaher
May 14, 2010How often do you write your blogs? I enjoy them a lot
Family Affairs
May 15, 2010One a day mostly – thanks Lx