Well, we were a little concerned about the length of time the flights (7 and 11 hours) however our fears proved unfounded. Emirates did everything they could to entertain kids and parents alike with their ICE Entertainment system (over 100 movies, which start when you want them to) and many computer games. It isn't every day you can challenge seat 36D to an in-flight game of Poker or Backgammon.On the first flight Marcus fell asleep before we even left Manchester. Georgia settled down to 101 Dalmatians, with a Kit Kat, some M & Ms and a packet of Hula Hoops. Emirates were out to impress, obviously in the knowledge that if the kids are happy the parents are delighted! The rest of the flight was unremarkable which equates to a pretty great journey. The staff were attentive and even gave Matt extra wine for complimenting their service.
We landed in Dubai at 12:15 am local time (21:15 GMT), feeling fairly refreshed, no major toilet incidents (and the kids were okay too). Dubai International Airport has to be seen to be believed... like the Crewe of the Airport world. There must have been 50 flights within the 2 hour window we were there. Shopping was amazing, gold everywhere, with deals to make Mr T envious (the one from the A-Team not Matt).
After a brief 2 hour stop-over, we set upon our 11 hour haul to Perth which sounds awful, however, all of us were asleep within half an hour of take off and none of us woke up properly for 7 hours, leaving only another 4 hours to entertain ourselves and the kids. Matt was convinced that Louis Theroux was sat in the seat behind him, which provided some on board hilarity as I think he looked more like Uncle Noel. Fortunately Matt didn't pluck up the courage to ask for either an autograph or a photo.
We landed at Perth half an hour ahead of schedule at 16:30 local time (9:30 am UK). After a swine flu quarantine and 4 separate queues we finally got to the hire car at about 18:15. A short 30 min drive to Sorrento Beach Resort and we had arrived at our destination.
