Hello Dubai!

So I have safely arrived in Dubai!

We left Melbourne in the evening flying Qantas and have arrived in the early hours of the morning Dubai time (or about 1030am Melbourne time).

Originally when we booked the flight it had a 9 hour stop over and we got a complimentary night in an airport hotel during the stop over. However after it was booked we were informed that it was rescheduled to a later departure with a shorter stopover of about 5 hours and no hotel. Needless to say we were a bit cranky about that. In the because Nome had her Qantas club which meant her and a guest could get into the Emirates lounge for free, we would do that and I world organise a lounge pass for myself.

And so check in went smoothly (see previous post) and we all boarded. Then the flight was delayed for over an hour (computer malfunction) and the finally we took off. After we started flying the flight attendant came up and said here's your hotel voucher! So we got them after all! For some reason Joy didn't get a voucher but Nome and I did.

So the flight was 14 hours which have me plenty of time to try out my new travel pillow. The ultimate travel pillow which I bought online is blow up goes diagonal along your body and curves around the back of your neck. It has a strap at the top which either goes around the back of the seat or around you and the other bit clips onto the seatbelt. After experimenting i found that the strap around my neck and shoulder worked best (around the seat would've obstructed the person behind me view of their TV). The idea is you blow it up completely then lean on it and use a little pink valve to let it deflate slightly till it's comfortable to rest on.
So pros: really very comfortable, you can wrap your arms around it and curl into it. Great neck support and very good for someone like me who is a side sleeper. This ones that wrap around your neck bother me because you have to sleep sitting straight up. With this pillow you can lean to one side. You can also alternate sides. I was up moving every 2 hours so I alternated each side every time I moved. It would also be good as using as an ordinary pillow for sleeping on if I get caught out in an airport or somewhere. It rolls up fairly small, takes up minimal rim deflated and clicks together nicely.
Cons: it's bulky and takes awhile to set up. If you want to take a quick nap it's annoying because you have to get all set up. I was on the aisle seat and every time I needed to get up I would have unclip and detangle then shove it behind me to get up.

I paid about $30-$40 for the pillow and have decided it was definitely worthwhile. I wouldn't recommend it for short domestic flights but for long transatlantic flights it was a great idea. I'm also looking forward to using it on the long bus trips in Italy!

My back survived surprisingly well on the flight mainly because I moved constantly. I did take some panadol and ibuprofen before I went to sleep (got a good solid 3 hours sleep which was impressive!).

The things that I appreciated the most on the long flight was the travel pillow, my scarf, face mist, and eye spray.
The scarf was brilliant. At the start of the trip there was a freezing breeze from the air con down my neck and shoulders so the scarf was fantastic. Then when I warmed I used it first to sit on (got a very sensitive coccyx) and then when my back started to ache as a lower back pillow.
The fact mist was recommended by Kylie. I've got dry skin that gets very tight on flights and the vitamin E face mist from Body Shop was delightful, just sprayed it regularly (they also have vitamin c version which smells amazing-for next trip) and my skin felt lovely.
My eyes got red and irritated straight away -used the eye spray that you spray on the lids worked well and instant relief. Only downside is it's a glass bottle so I hope it doesn't break.

So we arrived safely in Dubai but an hour or two late. In the end we didn't use the hotel vouchers because by the time we got there it would've been time to board the next flight! We went to the Emirates lounge and batted our eyelids at the concierge Larry who let Nome bring both of us in so I didn't have to use my lounge pass. Ah Emirates lounge you are wonderful. Lovely long showers free shower caps and toothbrush and toothpaste. Massive buffet of meats, hot food, fruit, yogurts, juices etc. Big couches to curl up on as well.
This is the good life not sure I'll be able to go back to economy...

Next stop Copenhagen and the real adventures begin!!