3rd february - in Nils' words........

03/02/2007 We landed in Dubai at 0700. The weather was a bit hazy, and it was chilly outside - only 20 degrees C. The Emirates provided their own pushchairs at the terminal building, which was quite handy. Our own pushchair was checked in all the way to Perth. Dubai is supposed to be shopping heaven, according to Lynn, and the taxfree shop was good. However we were tired and not really interested in shopping. The first challenge was to find a toilet. The first we found had no toilet paper, and Lynn was desperate, so I had to watch Oskar whilst Lynn ran around the building trying to find one that worked. Another challenge was the type of toilet. The first I found was only a hole in the ground, however after looking some more, I found one normal one that worked. The terminal building was crammed with people that seemed to have been waiting for a long time. Most Europeans were pacing up and down, but the Africans took it more relaxed, and had got some blankets and were sleeping on the floor. At lunch time we searched for a restaurant, and did not find any. We spotted a Mac Donalds sign, and thoght that we might as well go there. It appeared that all restaurants were in the same area, so we did not have to go to Mac Donalds. We got seated ouside a Lebanese restaurant and Lynn bought some food from a French pastisserie. After that, we walked around in the Terminal building and Lynn managed to get seated in a not too crowded area and discretely feed Oskar. Then we went to the gate and waited for the departure. We landed 0330. Unfortunately the plane was 4 hours delayed, apparently because of a sandstorm the previous day. When waiting for the plane, a little 2 year girl, Ashley spotted Oskar, and approached him. Their parents were on the same flight as us to Australia. Ashley was really fond of Oskar, and even hugged him! There must be something about Oskar that girls fall for, because both little girls and women seem to fall for him. Even a couple of stewardesses from the Emirates in the terminal building stopped and wanted to talk to him. We eventually got on the plane, and Oskar must have thought “Oh-no – not another plane! When will they stop torturing me!” Oskar was even less happy during this flight, which lasted 10 hours. Lynn and I were exhausted as well. Going through immigration was a hassle as well. Lynn had not filled in the immigration cards properly (did not see the white boxes we were supposed to tick due to poor lighting on the plane), so we had to re-fill in them. After that, we had to go through the quarentine, since we had reported that we came from a rural area. You are not allowed to bring in any food or wood materials, and we asked about Oskars favourite wooden toy, but that was OK to bring in. Eventually we got through immigration, and in to the arrivals hall, where Lisa, Derek, Drew and Elise were waiting for us, and all were really glad and emotional when we met. The weather was warm and humid. We went to bed as soon as we got back to Lisa and Dereks house. Since we all were exhausted, we all slept well until 1400.