Sydney Opera House

OK - so we opted not to take the 6am flight back out! Thankfully, there was a flight at 21:10, so we managed to have a few hours off.

Slept till 10am (not sure what time zone tho!) and then took a taxi downtown.

First stop, the QVB Building for the best bacon and fried egg roll and coffee I've ever had. Boy I needed that!

Walked down to Darling harbour for a walk-around, then took the ferry over to the main "Circular Quay" and went for a walk round "the rocks"...arty and bohemian (like me?). The ferry was great - with fantastic views of the bridge and the opera house.

Walked up to the bridge - but didn't do the bridge walk (note to KQ! Did SD tell you how much it cost!!!!)

I don't normally do presents on business trips - as it would cost me too much! But I guess I had come this far - so should at least pick up some. I won't say what, in case people are reading and I spoil the surprise!

Ferry back to the restaurants in Darling Harbour, dinner, then cab to the airport.

So that's me "done" Australia :)

Looking forward to another 14hrs on board.

At check in tho....we asked to check our frequent flyer miles....I had never collected loads in any one year, but have been collecting steadily over the last 4 years, and had just hit silver this year.

So we asked...have we enough miles for a first class upgrade? Indeed we had! And there was space!!!!

So first class it was....

Now Emirates economy is the best in the world....business is awesome....

But first class....my pics couldn't do it justice...so look around here for the experience. It was nice having your own "Suite" that you could close the door on.

I think the hostess ratio was about 1 to every 2 passengers...and she insisted on explaining everything. There are no "employment laws" in UAE...so these stewardesses are pretty much hand picked :)

"Would I like dinner first?"

Then they insisted that everyone tries the showers after dinner before settling down for a sleep.

Yup, that's right....showers! on board an aircraft!

A nice dinner while reading my book, some Dom Berignon...then the stewardess came along to show me the showers. There were two at the front of the first class cabin. About the size of an average hotel room bathroom.

While I had a relaxing shower, she put out my mattress and made up the bed.

Goodnight......