Paris Picture Palooza (June 7th)

The tallest crew member in Emirates strikes again....


Trying to escape at 41,000 feet!

EIFFEL TOWER











NOTRE DAME

I lasted 11 days, and the winner of our little 'guessing game' has been notified. Thankyou to all who had a shot at it!

Crazy Hi-Jinx

To celebrate my reunion with Nicole and Dubai, we hit 'Double Deckers' last night, and bumped into an old friend of mine from Brisbane, Matthew. We used to work together in Myer and now he is in training college with good ol' Emirates.

Galley-vanting around

You may have heard I now live in Dubai (or DXB for airport-savvy folk.)

You also may not completely believe me based on the amount of time I have been back home in Brisbane of late.

I didn't take many pictures on this last little jaunt, mainly because I'm a blogging man these days, and I know my core die-hard fans are over seeing Brisbane pictures! I did have a great time once again, blessed with an excellent crew in economy to make the flying experience bearable. Nothing much to report on my passengers, except for the last sector of our journey on Wednesday night, from Singapore to Dubai. Iratxe and I discovered an unconscious woman in the toilet and had to treat her. She was 63 and spoke almost no English, but we managed to bring her back! I mean, HELLO! I have watched All Saints for a good 7 years! The upside of all of this was I got to sit in a passenger seat administering oxygen for four hours til we landed, which meant I didn't have to work! At one point I was so busy chatting away to the other girl sitting next to me that the poor old lady nearly suffocated - the oxygen almost ran out and she still had the mask sealed over her nose and mouth, but no harm done - nothing a few good weeks in intensive care won't fix!

I know how much you all love a good 'Daniel-on-the-aircraft' picture, so I've included a few from this trip.

Enjoy! or as they say in Russian - насладитесь


with Amber from Holland (preparing a beverage/cocktail cart for the dinner service)


Special Meal time in the aft galley (damn all you vegans, children and lactose intolerants!)


My first-class economy team (oh the aviation humour - when will it end?) L-R: Iratxe (Spain), myself, Amber, Nichole (Australia), Sleiman (Lebanon), Tareq (Bahrain) and Min (Korea)

12 hours and 45 minutes in Paradise

I am never complaining about my job again! It may have been short but it was oh so sweet! Mauritius has always been very high on my must-see list for the world, and on Saturday I was able to fulfill that dream of mine. After no sleep during the day, pick up from my apartment was at 12.30 am for a 2.55am departure... The one good thing about this was that the passengers slept the whole way and I go to sleep as well (3 hours in the back row - don't tell my boss!!)

We arrived in beautiful Mauritius (located off the east coast of South Africa on the other side of Madagascar) at around 10am and by 11 we were settled into our beachside hotel rooms. By 12 we had organised a 3-hour boat tour to a waterfall, with drinks, snacks and snorkelling included (for the equivalent of $30!) What a day! To be in your messy bedroom in Dubai at midnight, then be on the front of a speed boat on crystal clear turquoise water in Mauritius a few hours later is quite surreal.

We drove by one particular island and saw this mammoth tortoise grazing by the edge - amazing!!! Snorkelling was a real treat. The fish were everywhere, swimming all around us, all colours and types. Thankfully no sharks! In the distance you could see massive surf breaking over the reef. The temperature was around 28, with no clouds where we were. Jealous yet?!

When we returned to the hotel around 3pm it was time for a fresh seafood lunch. Unfortunately no alcohol allowed (one can't drink less than 12 hours before a flight - one girl last year was fired for having a glass of wine by the pool in Mauritius for this reason.) Then back to my room for 3 hours rest before I had to get dressed to fly back to Dubai.

At 12 hours and 45 minutes, it's the shortest layover the company offers, but we really felt we made the most of it. I will definitely be bidding for this flight in the future! I really hope you like the pictures.

Daniel


The view from my hotel room


Not bad for Emirates accommodation!






Before we set sail - with Yolande (South African)




Yolande...


Paradise! Click on the picture to enlarge it - you can see the surf in the distance.


The hard life...














My friend, Zaf. He's South African and works in business with Yolande.


The small reef where we snorkelled and fed the fish.




What a good look!


When I turned around and saw this tortoise, I believe my words were "HOLY F%$#!" It was enormous, hard to see in the picture.




This is someone's house. It is out of my understanding how good it would be to live here, waking up to this view each day...

4 days to go, can I make it?!!!!!

I don't smoke, I'm not a drug addict, so what have I given up, and how long will I last? My goal is eleven days. Could it be chocolate? Television? Picking my nose?!!! SEVEN DAYS DOWN and my defences are starting to crumble - but I have not yet caved!

Whoever guesses wins! Leave your guesses in the comments section. I'll update every other day with my progress :) And I'll really find out who reads this blog!!!

CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW AND HAVE CRACK AT IT...