We were picked up at 3 .00am by the Emirates chauffeur.

The bodies are tired but we are excited as we set off on our holiday to UAE and then to Norway. The trip to Melbourne Airport takes 40 minutes, we are checked in 10 minutes later but cannot progress through customs and immigration, because these facilities don’t open until 4.00am.

We quickly profess through both areas although Ken has to be scanned.

Into the Emirates lounge before boarding at 5.15am. All smoothly and efficiently with Jeanette in a window and Ken slightly behind on this A380-800.

Departure is about 3 minutes early, we enjoy a drink, before Ken has his bed made and proceeds to have 4 hours sleep, missing the breakfast service. Jeanette enjoys breakfast before lightly sleeping.

We then each watch 3 movies including Bohemium Raphaody and Momma Mia.

We are then served lunch and it is a superb meal including superb French red wine.

Our14 hour flight has been most enjoyable and we are prepared for landing. We exit the plane being very impressed with Emirates in every way. We are through immigration pretty quickly, walk to the Emirates Chauffeur area, where our booking is confirmed and we exit via gate 4 where we are greeted and taken to the vehicle area, where there is a fleet of Mercedes Statuon Wagons. Our luggage is loaded, we are greeted by our driver with cold drinks. We are whisked to the One and Only Royal Mirage, Arabian xxxxx, where we are greeted, taken in through an amazing entrance vestibule, seated and checked in. It is a stunning hotel, we are in room 1004 on the ground floor, which is 2 levels below the reception area. We are some distance from the reception area.

We are walked to our room, our luggage arrives some 10 minutes later. We checked in at 13.45pm and we are in our room inside 25 minutes. We are tired but want to work our body clocks around.

The room is simply stunning, with views out to the pool and our beach area. There are manicured gardens everywhere.

We unpack and there is terrific storage for all of our gear. Ken decides to go for a walk to the pool and beach.

Dinner tonight is in the Rotisserie Restaurant where we enjoy the amazing Arabian ambiance and superb buffet. It is one of 5 highly rated restaurants at the 2 hotels that we have access to with our package. During dinner which we enjoy we both feel ourselves slowly wavering.

Following dinner we both turn n quite quickly at about 9.00pm. It has been a terrific start to our holiday.

We sleep very soundly!

We awale at 7.20 am after a long sleep, but even so we still feel somewhat jet lagged.

Breakfast is in the Rotisserie Restaurant with a choice of inside or out. We choose inside, it is a beautiful breakfast.

Following breKfast we get a taxi tu Dubai Marina Mall, then pay for a hip on hop off day tour on the Red Bus. We do 3 different routes taking the yellow initially to the Palm Island and Atlantis. The size and scale is simply amazing. Then we catch the Yellow line to Mall of the Emirates, where we transfer to the Red line which is the Ild Dubai and most of the Museums.

There are many highlights but the Dubai Marina the Dubai Mall, the Palms and the amazing Atlantis are just a few.

Having had an amazing day seeing so many new attractuons and developments, we came back to Royal Mirage by taxi, changed after hot showers for our 7.30 pm dinner at Olives Restaurant at the Palace Hotel which is the sister adjoining hotel all within the one large beautiful property.

We are taken by shuttle to the Palace Hotel an wven more up scale hotel than ours.

The restaurant is superbly fitted out to reflect the Mediterranean style. We enjoy the meal very much, but we again are tiring very quickly.

Back to our room, then Ken watches EPL for about 90 minutes.

Morning does come very quickly, we sleep well and our body clocks are adjusting.

Breakfast is in the Rotisserie Restaurant, very good.

Jeanette decides to relax and stay in, who.st Ken catches the tram to Dubai Mall then does an hour’s cruise which travels along theremarable Marina showcasing the development. Just simply amazing.

He returns to Dubai Mall, enjoysa coffee at Starbucks. Before returning to the Royal Mirage forlunch andantes afternoon relaxing before dinner at the Rotisserie Restaurant. Simply superb.

We pack make sure we have awake up call for 3.00am with our chauffeur car to pick us up for our 7.45am flight from Dubai to Oslo, Norway.

But before dinner we went back to Dubai Mall and arrived just in time to see the wonderful Dubai fountain and it’s perfrmances in front of the amazing Burg Khalifa. There were thousands of people but we managed to get a very good vantage point. Simply amazing very much like that in Las Vegas at Bellagio.

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The morning and wake up call came too quickly.

Driver arrived at 3.45am, we delayed the Royal Mirage at 3.50pm, and we were deposited at Emirates First and Business Class check in area at 4.20am. We proceeded very quickly through check in and immigration then to the large business lounge.

Boarding with a text message and then an excellent flight to Oslo on 777 ER. Just first class, we both slept. Excellent meals and service. Then as we approached flying over Russia, near Moscow we started to see the amazing snow covered landscape and this continued all the way to Oslo.

Landing was excellent, we disembarked quickly, were processed through Inmugratuon, then through Customs, exited there was a person with an Emirates sign, who took our name, we waited 5 minutes for our chauffeur to arrive, luggage loaded into the new Jaguar and 45 minutes drive through snow covered fields on a clear perfect spring day.

We checked in to our hotel and we were initially shocked. It is a very modern hotel in an old station building. Contemporary in every way.

We unpacked as best we could went for a walk. No dinner and into bed at 7.00pm