Umamiblog

I left Wellington for my 5 week jaunt to Europe last Friday but it already seems like an age ago. I decided weeks ago that even though my flight from Auckland was on Saturday I really need to leave Wellington on Friday in case the airport got fogged out. I figured at least if it was fogged out on Friday we could hop in the car and drive all night to make it in time – leaving on Saturday didn’t afford us that option.

So leaving work on Friday was a bit manic, as well as the normal pandemonium involved with having to leave projects and work, I needed to give a little presentation at our weekly end of week meeting. After finishing that I had to fly out of the office with Trey and make our way to the airport.

We made it there on time, but of course, Trey forgot his passport. That wasn’t an issue per se for that specific flight as it was domestic but he was definitely going to need it to get out the next day from Auckland. Origin Pacific, who we were flying with in this incredibly long and skinny plane, agreed to courier the passport up when a friend could drop it in for $60.

So after a mild moment of panic, things appeared to be under control and we were still on track to make our flights the next day. Of course when we wake up the next morning, Wellington airport is fogged in. After much anticipation and several phone calls to airlines and the American consulate, the passport arrives shortly after the airport finally opens in Wellington.

Flying with Emirates was reasonably pleasant. The aircraft is new and includes the latest interactive display units for all seats. It was a great way to kill time and kill time I did. There were probably about a hundred different films on there and hundreds of music albums and radio shows, heaps of games, cameras below and in front of the ship, and even a module that let you call and send emails (although at a hefty price). I watched V for Vendetta for the first time and if you haven’t seen it I would recommend it.

Punters watching France beat Brazil at the gate lounge in Bangkok

The first stop was Sydney, and then after that Bangkok, after that Dubai. We arrived at Dubai early in the morning and the temperature was already about 40degC. The sun was just coming up and somehow you could look at the sun for the first few moments it was rising – it was stunning and huge.

From what I hear Dubai is growing at an astonishing rate and I’d hazard a guess that no where is this more pronounced than at their airport. The airport itself is huge and there is construction everywhere. Our plane was one of a dozen that we disembarked from at a “temporary” terminal. This meant climbing on three huge buses that took you to the real terminal. The real terminal is massive and you can see them extending it for about a kilometer in every direction. Still they don’t have enough space for all flights.

A small section of Dubai airport

At 6am, Dubai airport is chaotic and very busy. I found Trey waiting towards our departure gate. He was talking to a US Marine coming back from Iraq and making small talk. This marine suggested the only way to succeed in Iraq was to wipe the civilization out completely because that let you start again. Of course, and I think I might label this “Trey’s Luck” but the time that he happens to talk to a marine about Iraq it’s with a nutter who thinks wiping out civilizations is palatable and of course he talks to him IN the Middle East. After beating a polite but hasty retreat we made our way to the terminal. Kudos to Dubai for putting on free WiFi access. All airports should follow suit. I can’t wait to visit for a few days at the end of our trip.

Watching the flight track, we left Dubai, flew over Iran until we reached the top of Iraq and then headed towards the UK. Having not slept that much on the previous 3 legs I grabbed a few hours before landing at Heathrow.

We received a bit of a grilling from the customs official, and then made our way to the Tube station at the airport. About 45 mins and two line changes later we found ourselves at the hostel we had a booked. It had received a few good reviews online but was a bit of a dive. Not that I cared. At about 2pm on Sunday I climbed into bed for about 15 hours…