Touchdown - United Kingdom.

27/5/12

No photos today peoples. We were all far to busy catching up with friends to pick up a camera.

After a quick seven hour flight we were on the ground in the UK in London. Paige saw a Harry Potter World brochure on the way out and just about fell over herself to get to it. Just reading it made her super excited. Then she asked when we are going and I told her it was on our last day in the UK. I think she would have gone there straight from the airport. Of course the first thing we had to do after passing through immigration was...go shopping. We didn't even make it out of the airport. So after picking up some supplies (Gin, Whiskey, and perfume for Paige) in the duty free shop, we were off to pick up our hire car.

Now this trip doesn’t have an unlimited budget so we hired a car from a smaller company that doesn’t have pick up facilities at the airport. We were to be picked up outside the terminal and taken to the offsite office to pick up our rent-a-rocket. So after about 30 minutes our lift arrived and took us to the office. Another 30 minutes of paper shuffling and then squeezing six suitcases in the car we were ready to go in our black Hyundai something or other.

No problems, plug in the Garmin sat nav with the brand new European maps installed, punch in the address, and we’ll be off. Half an hour later after cursing and swearing Suzanne went back into the office and got a Google maps print out with directions to our host’s home. Now, my Facebook friends will have read about the dramas I had with my Tom Tom and not being able to load the European maps that I had bought. I picked my Tom Tom up the day before we left after leaving it at a shop for two weeks to be sorted out, with no luck. I left it sitting on my desk at home and will contact Tom Tom when I finally calm down. I decided I’d take the Garmin to use in the car then buy a new bike sat nav in the UK for the trip. Now the #^*!@# Garmin wouldn't work. There was a little tension in the car as we followed Google’s directions and got lost a few times but eventually we rocked up at Julie (one of Suzanne’s publishers) and Brian’s house.

We haven’t seen Julie or Brian for a few years and they have been working extremely hard at losing weight recently. We've seen a few photos but when we saw Brian we were blown away. The results are AMAZING. Brian, with his 30 inch waist, looks super fit and I keep telling him not to stand next to me because he makes me look even fatter than I am. Julie was out at a family function and was due back soon.

An added bonus, one of our face painting friends was there to greet us as well. Carla-Jane (a real nut case) presented us with a mobile phone we can use in the UK and keep in touch. Carla is a crack up and has decided she’s coming to Disneyland Paris with us. I'm not sure if Paige is ready for this. 

We all headed out for a pub meal. Now, Aussies, hang onto your hats. Dinner for five people including drinks was….55 GBP! About $90. Everything over here is so cheap, except petrol.

Julie rolled up at the pub after about an hour. Julie has dropped 70 kg since we last saw her. That’s like losing a whole Paige in weight. It’s taking some getting used to because although it sounds like Julie, it definitely doesn't look like Julie. It is a little bit weird and like having a different person around. 

It’s so good to catch up with these guys. We’re pretty happy to be here .   : )

We're on our way - First stop Dubai, U.A.E.

24/5/12

After a 6am start and an all nighter finishing off most of the "must do" things before the trip,we finally loaded into a taxi and headed to the airport at about 3.30 am. The Emirates flight left spot on time at 6 am and our adventure was under way.

This is Paige's first time overseas and after ten hours in the air we touched down in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. We had planned a three night stopover just to break up the extra long flight to the UK. Boy am I glad we did.

Paige was a bit freaked out by the number of people at the airport (it's a little bigger that Perth's airport) and the range on nationalities all chatting away at maximum volume. It was sensory overload on top of  a very tiring flight and left Paige a bit uncomfortable. The fact that every male over the age of twelve was staring at her probably didn't help either.

We rocked up to our hotel, The Raffles Dubai, and were welcomed by the friendliest bunch of staff you could imagine. We were shown to the Club Lounge and introduced to Anup who was there to take care of us. Unfortunately when Anup showed us to our room there was a bit of a mix up with the beds, so Anup quickly raced us off to the Club Lounge for a comfy seat, some tasty snacks, and drink while he sorted it out. Anup came back with a beaming smile and asked us to follow him to our new room. He sorted out the problem alright. He transferred us to a suit that was about 140 square meters, with a spa, dinning room, lounge room,  three large balconies, and so on. 

Paige chillin' in the lounge while Suzanne Facebooks at the desk in the background

Suzanne's candle lit spa in our bedroom.

Slumming it. The night view from our room.

The views were 180 degrees from inside, but from the balcony you could see around about 270 degrees. It was soooo big Suzanne actually complained that it was to far to walk to the toilet! I pointed out she could always use the second toilet off the entrance hall. My favourite feature was the push button curtains. Push a button to open or close all the curtains in the suit. Magnificent! The butler was a nice touch, but not really our style.

There was a huge shopping mall next to hotel so obviously the first thing we had to do was go shopping. We wandered around a near empty shopping centre then down into the Souk which was a maze of little stalls and very "enthusiastic" sales people. As you would expect, the girls found something to buy. Paige bought a pair of shoes and Suzanne bought a pashmina. We did find a very interesting art shop that sold embossed aluminium, coloured, clear coated artwork. The stories behind the works were wonderful, but they just didn't suit our décor at home, which is early Australian messy.

By this time we were all pretty much exhausted, so after a room service dinner it was off for a good night's sleep.

The level of service by the staff here is exceptional – Aussies should train here

25/5/2012

After a delicious (late) breakfast we were off on a City Tour for the afternoon. We climbed on the bus and I sat next to Paul from Sydney who rides a Triumph Tiger 800 and bagged his local dealer. Behind me was another Aussie guy who rode a Suzuki VZ800 but was half thinking about buying a new Triumph Adventure 1200. He was a little surprised that I knew so much about the bike when I filled him in about it, but I'm pretty sure he will buy one now.

The tour took us through new Dubai to the museum. After the museum we jumped on a Dhow (small boat) and sailed across The Creek to Old Dubai. Here we visited a spice souk and a gold souk.

Dubai Museum

A Dhow similar to the one we were on. Health and safety? Life jackets? Yeah right.

This shot doesn't show the seething hoards at the gold souk. It doesn't show the stacks and stacks and stacks of gold in EVERY shop in the place either.

Spice souk. What a range of aromas there were in this place.

Paige struggled again with the pushy guys trying to sell us anything and everything and started to get a bit angry. We had a bit of a chat and I explained that they were just trying to make a dollar and this is how they do it here. The whole idea of travelling is to experience different ways of life. I told here to just give them a firm no thank you with a smile, and to keep walking. She settled down a bit a coped alright after that.

Suzanne had no such problem and promptly found a nice pendant. It was in the form of a snake and made of black gold and encrusted with black diamonds (no, I hadn't heard of them before either). Even after a little haggling I could only get it down to $15,000 AUD. No, you won't see Suzanne wearing it.

Now as you know, I'm a fairly friendly person and don't mind making the first move to get to know people, but...according to Suzanne it’s not the done thing to speak to the women who are wearing the full black head, face, and body covering outfit. I guess that’s why when I smiled and said good morning to one as she got out of the lift I didn't get a reply. How rude! : ) I was just trying to do my bit for international relations.

Back at the hotel it was off to the Club Lounge again for a few pre dinner drinks (A very nice Malbec from Argentina) and nibbles. Our new best friend Anup showed up. He is brilliant at his job. After a friendly welcome he asked where Miss Paige was then spent a lot of time chatting to us. When Suzanne looked at the wine label he said “You are interested in design” and we both thought “how did he know that?” He watched Suzanne look at the label but study the logo and run her finger over it, not read the back of the bottle. So he knew it wasn't the wine, but the label she was interested in. Like I said, he is VERY good at his job. Anup, if you are reading this, please tell your boss we said you deserve a raise,

After a fantastic Dinner at the Fire and Ice restaurant in the hotel it was time for a bit of fun. So on the way out I approached a table of Aussies, put on my best French accent (which one of the women thought was Italian, so it mustn't have been very good) and asked if they were Australians. When they replied yes I got stuck into them. You Australians are so arrogant, loud and obnoxious all night. I was trying to enjoy my dinner with my wife and daughter and you ruined it" and so on. After I thought they were uncomfortable enough, I just smiled, and said "Got Ya!" The looks on their faces were gold. After a few laughs we finished the day about midnight back in our room. A perfect way to finish off a night out, although Suzanne and Paige may disagree.26/5/2012

We're a bit sad today is our last day here as we love it. Paige is pretty keen to get to London though.

Paige and I did a dad and daughter thing and went to the Dubai Mall while Suzanne was getting pampered in the spa at the hotel. We found a pair of Paige brand jeans at Bloomingdale's. 

Winner. We had to buy a pair of those. We then spent four hours wandering around this huge shopping centre looking for a top, with no luck. This shopping centre is enormous and has an indoor ice skating rink, an underwater aquarium that houses thousands of fish with a glass tunnel in the middle that you can walk through, and some phenomenal shops.

That afternoon it was time for us to head out on our Desert Safari. Wow, you have to do this if you are in Dubai. It's a fantastic blast through the sand dunes in the desert in Land Cruisers (about 40) with a few photo stops on the way. Suzanne’s line of the day as we bumped up and down over the dunes was “I think I need a new bra” which got a good laugh in the Cruiser. Our driver Waqim was from Pakistan. Wokka as we called him was a very funny guy and obviously enjoys his job, a lot. Every time we came up to a speed hump on the way there or any bumps in the he’d say “Bumpy bumpy” and it is now a part of our vocabulary. He gave us a running commentary as we drove through the desert, with quite a few jokes thrown in. Did he really go to university and study “Camelology” so he could answer any question we asked? Suzanne and Paige loved it. Then we stopped at a Bedouin camp for a big feed and drinks, Falcon (bird) show, camel rides, belly dancing, henna artists, sand writing and more. Paige bought a glass bottle with sand writing in it. It shows a desert scene in multi coloured sand, complete with camel, and 2012 in a heart.  The Safari costs $100 a head and it is probably the best value you'll ever get for $100.

Yahoo! Four wheel driving in the dunes.

The falconing demonstration in the desert.

Four wheel driving in the dunes. Hang on Suzanne.

Our family in the desert. One of us doesn't need to lose weight!

Our little sand angel holding the sun in her fingers.

27/5/12

After an early 4.30 am start to go to the airport it was a sad good bye to Dubai. A last bit of shopping was done at the airport with Paige bagging a "Sleepy Camel” soft toy. We bought some camel milk chocolate and a couple of wooden carved souvenirs. Paige had obviously gotten over her culture shock and coped with the airport very well today and is very excited about getting to England.

One very noticeable thing we all felt in Dubai was customer service isn’t just a phrase, it is almost a way of life. Every single person we spoke to would go out of their way to help you however they could. We need to send anyone in Australia in the service industry to Dubai for training.

Three days definitely wasn't enough time to do Dubai justice, it’s so much more than I thought it would be. Next time we go it will be for a week at least. And we won't be staying anywhere else but the Raffles. Cheers Anup.

Product reviews:

Raffles Hotel Dubai. You know I love it. If you stay there please say hello to Anup for us. http://www.raffles.com/dubai/

Desert Safari by Arabian Adventures.  Bloody fantastic day out. A must do in Dubai and we'll do it again when we go. http://www.arabian-adventures.com/en/tours-and-safaris/index.aspx

Almost time to go.

17/5/12

Well we're off in seven days for the start of our family holiday, then the start of our epic adventure. There hasn't been much happening around here apart from organising the last details for the trip, and trying to finish the house renovation. The trip is coming along OK but the renovation has very been slow progress with only a couple of rooms finished. To make things interesting the internet went down yesterday for 24 hours, and I woke up to a pool of water on the bathroom floor this morning due to a leaking cistern. Just another couple of little jobs to take care of. Oh yes, my Tom Tom spat the dummy and refused to upload my new European maps so it was sent to the Tom Tom doctor who after a week said he can't get it to work either. This is all happening as we try to prepare for our going away party on Saturday. To say things are a little tense around here at the moment would be an understatement!

Luckily I escaped for a weekend ride on my Speed Triple last weekend. Twelve of us rode down to Margaret River and stayed over Saturday night. It was a lot of fun and the 550 Km ride in perfect conditions on Saturday soothed my frazzled nerves. There's nothing like a good ride to make you feel human again. The odd beer or two Saturday night didn't hurt either.

A couple of years ago I had a little run in with a kangaroo while I was out riding and spent a bit of time in hospital and a few weeks off work. I now get nervous whenever I see kangaroo signs on the side of the road. On the weekend ride we rode through a town called Collie and this sign greeted us on the way in:

A 'roo warning sign just for me.

Then to add insult to injury, we stopped at a brewery just out of Margaret River for a cleansing ale. It was late in the day and as we were leaving a young waitress came over to me and said "Be careful riding into town. We had a guy hit a kangaroo and come off just down the road a few weeks ago". Anyone would think they were out to get me. 

With a little luck the blog will get a bit more interesting as on next week. Check in and let me know what you think.

Well, back to work. My next post should be from the airport as we ready to board. Yahoo!

Side trip.

26/4/12

As we have so much time to spare and we are so organised (NOT!) we are now having a little five day side trip to Melbourne before we leave on our trip. Suzanne wants to go and say goodbye to her mum and dad and I don't need much convincing to go and see them either. I am very fortunate to have a family of in laws that are fantastic people and there are definitely no mother-in-law jokes around our house.

I might just have to have a Melbourne farewell get together while we are there.

Goodies for the trip.

One thing about our trip that differs from a lot of other people's is that I haven't been chasing sponsorship or support for anything. It mightn't sound like a big deal, but if you're a motorcyclist it is. As you can imagine we will use a lot of motorcycle and camping related products on this trip, from Helmets to boots, from sleeping mats to our tent. I'll be writing up products we use as we go and as I'm not committed to any brands I can write exactly what I think. If a product doesn't perform up to scratch, you'll hear about it. Suzanne will offer a pillion's point of view when it's applicable.

Rev'it Defender GTX jacket and pants: This gear consists of three piece construction, and outer shell, a Gore-Tex waterproof liner and, a thermal liner. The gear has a lot of great features and it's very well made. I've only used it once in 40 degree temperatures with all the liners removed and all the vents open. The venting system works very well, I was still hot, but a lot more comfortable than if I was wearing a normal jacket and jeans. I'm keen to try it in the rain as I've never found any clothing that is truly waterproof on a bike in the rain. We'll see. This gear had obviously been designed by people who ride bikes. Little things like the adjustable neck closure make this obvious. On the negative side Suzanne's jacket arrived with a few zip pulls missing which makes it a pain to use the zips with gloves on. I've contacted both the Revit and the retailer of this gear but haven't heard a thing back. So, jacket and pants good, customer service, not so good.

Rev'it website: http://www.revit.eu/

Counting down. Only 28 days 'till we fly out.

It's all starting to come together.

19/4/12

Since we managed to line up a bike things have been moving a little more quickly. Bookings for the family holiday at the start of our trip have been made; The Wizard of OZ, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Apple cart Festival, Blink 182, The Harry Potter Studio Tour, Disneyland Paris, and Moulin Rouge have been booked and locked in. Most importantly, I've managed to get ferry tickets to and from the Isle of Man for my bike and I so we I can go and watch the Senior TT. That's one big tick for the bucket list.

You can check out the Isle of Man page here: http://www.iomtt.com/

On the family front we've had a meeting with the lovely Agnes from the Red Cross Tracing and Immigration Detention section. This department focuses on reuniting families separated by war and given dad’s background they are taking on the case. Agnes is really on the ball and has contacted me three times in the last few days chasing more information. Apparently the Ukrainian Red Cross have a high success rate of finding family members in this sort of situation, so fingers crossed. I have a good feeling about this. Hopefully in October my sister Lily and I will be sharing Vodka with our as yet unknown cousins in Poltava Ukraine. Who knows, if dad was a bit naughty in his younger days I might even have a brother or sister I don’t know about. Stranger things have happened.

Only 34 days until we fly out of Perth and lots more to organise. I'll be back soon.

Yahoo! A bike at last.

11/4/12

After an early morning phone call this morning (one am) we now have a bike to ride when we get to the UK. A nice, shiny BMW R1200GS Adventure from the team at Park Lane BMW in London. I was starting to get a little worried because I had tried to buy three bikes in the UK and missed out on each one. This time things went smoothly and a deposit has been placed. The best news is the team at Park Lane are happy to keep the bike for us and let us pay the balance when we arrive.

Our home for the next 12 months.

Now girls, have a look at the silver box on the side of the bike. That is Suzanne's wardrobe / chest of drawers to keep all her goodies in for twelve months. Yes, that's right, all her clothes, shoes, make up, hair care products, jewellery, paperwork, face and body paint, brushes, and everything else has to go in that little box. That should provide a few laughs. This is the real reason we are travelling by bike on our trip. Due to the extremely limited space, Suzanne can't shop much while we are away. Can she?

Now I know I have a bike to ride it's back to the web to purchase my Isle Of Man ticket for the Senior TT race on June 8th, and a ferry ticket to get there. Suzanne will stay in London while I ride up to the Isle. It will give me a chance to get used to the bike. The bad news is that June 8th is Suzanne's birthday. I'll be at the IOM and Paige will be at a Blink 182 concert that night.

Anyone want to baby sit for me?

A little bit closer with baby steps.

8/4/12

Well we had some good news and some progress this week. The side trip to Ukraine with my sister has been sorted, booked, and a deposit paid. I've started digging out old info and letters of Dad's and it makes for very interesting reading. The things that he and millions of others suffered during a dark time in Ukraine's history should never be allowed to happen again. I have a large box of letters, all written in Ukrainian, but they do have names and addresses on them, so there is a start. I had three or four Aunties in Ukraine that I never met, so I'm guessing I have a heap of cousins to try and find. It will be a challenge, but we'll give it a go.

The whole visa drama looks like a problem created by misinformation. We were told we HAD to apply for a visa from Australia and the visa would only be good for three months from the date of issue. As we are leaving in May and won’t be in Ukraine and Russia until October that presents bit of a problem. Contact with both embassies proved very fruitful with extremely helpful people explaining I could apply for visas from a Ukrainian embassy anywhere in the world. Problem solved. As always, it's best to go straight to the source and ignore the so called "experts".

On the bike front it's not going so well. I’m pretty nervous about shelling out big bucks for a bike unseen on the other side of the planet. I’ve tried to buy three so far, but with the time difference and emailing back and forth, someone else snapped them up before I could close the deal. I’m sure the guys in the UK are a bit nervous about some bloke in Australia wanting to buy their bike as well. I really want to get one before we arrive though as last thing Suzanne and Paige want to do on their holiday is go bike shopping. They’d enjoy that about as much as I enjoy handbag and shoe shopping.

So with 46 days to go before we fly out I’m heading back on the web to look for a bike. Wish me luck.

For those of you who have been asking, the kitchen renovation and new floors have stalled. The tiler should be here this week (thanks Dave) and the kitchen cabinets shouldn’t be far behind (thanks Chris and Wayne). The loft conversion is complete and it’s an awesome storage area. The team at Attix are great and I’m more than happy to recommend them. You can see them here:  http://www.attix.com.au/