Word of the week - Brunch (Dubai Style)

Technically this was last weeks Word of the Week, but as I was still in Dubai at the start of the week and it's such a 'Dubai' thing to do, there's no harm sharing it now.

We used to do brunches quite often when we lived here. For Christmas Day (took my mum on the QEII, which is moored here) when visitors came, for birthdays, with friends and just because.

My favourite Brunch is the Wanderlust at the JW Marriot Marquis on the Sheik Zayed Road. 

I love their Wall of donuts (although it has got smaller) even though I can't eat them with having a wheat allergy.

Brunch was AED 299 for women and AED 349 for men. Yes the assumption is men eat and drink more.

Alcohol was included in that price and there were drinks stations of vodka, rum, tequila cocktails, prosecco, wine and beer you could just help yourself to.

Previous you bought drink packages on top of the food price and you wear wristbands to show you've paid.

At £60/£70 for all you can eat and drink between 1-4pm in Dubai is a very good price.

This is the dessert section. So much choice and no limit to what you can eat or in what order.

Brunch used to be more expensive, we've paid over £150 per person in the past. Brunch is very similar, it's often just the location that pushes the price up. 

Weekends have changed here in Dubai and Brunch was the 'Friday thing' to do and Saturdays were spent in recovery. Weekends are now Saturday and Sunday and it seems that Brunch isn't as popular or as expensive at it used to be.

The atmosphere was great, I selected a child free brunch.

This is what I ate and drunk, you tell me if you think it was worth it?

I did have Salmon, roasted potatoes and vegetables for my mains also, but forgot to take a photo.

28th-31st May 2021 - Post Comment Love - Hanging around in Dubai.

Welcome back to Post Comment Love this week with Stephanie and I. I was hoping this was my last update from Dubai and that next week that we’d be in a Quarantine hotel in the UK somewhere. Sadly it's not to be. Earliest direct flight we can get is June 15th. We can get flights via another country in transit only, but there is always the worry of borders closing and that's happened to us several times since March 2020.

But until final payments are made and bank account closed, we're just literally hanging around. We've rented an apartment near the Marina, which is lovely and not a bad place to be hanging around in, but we just want to get home now and start the next stage of our lives.

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A hotel stay with a dog - Travelodge

After 2 weeks in isolation and with summer drifting away rapidly, I decided to grab the opportunity to go away for a couple of nights with Bob to the beach.

Looking for dog friendly accommodation as it was too cold to camp, I struggled to find anything for less than a weeks stay. So I decided to contact a couple of hotel chains.

I initially booked to stay at Days Inn in Bridgend, but they went into lockdown. I didn't realise Travelodge allowed dogs to stay over night and you can add then to your booking online under 'extras' at £20 per stay.

Bob was a little confused about being indoors, but soon walked straight to our room as I wasn't allowed to leave him unattended so we have a couple of trips to the car to bring in bags, food bowls and his bed.

I had to put his water bowl in the bathroom as the rest of the room is carpeted

Bob was more than happy to sleep by the side of my bed

Although every single noise had him up and by the door to see what was going on, mind you, I rarely sleep in a hotel room with all the activity going on.

We spent a fab two days on the beach, social distancing and walking around 8 miles each day. 

I brought my now towels with me to wash Bob and I did clean the bath afterwards as I needed to use it myself.

I wasn't able to leave Bob unattended in the hotel room so I had to put him in the car when I went to the local supermarket as there wasn't anywhere suitable outside to leave him. There was also no where to let him go to the toilet or just have some time off lead. Early mornings on the industrial estate were fine for a quick run off lead but not so keen on walking those areas at night before bed.

Bob and I are new to travel within the UK together. He's originally from South Africa and has spent the past 5 years living in Dubai. 

One Daily Positive - Week 23. Eid Mubarak

Although Peter and I travel a lot, we don't have holidays together very often. I've been to the UK twice this year and Peter joined me for a week, but we had jobs to do, bills to pay and family to visit. Last month I was in South Africa, and although I had some time with friends and took myself on a self drive safari, my purpose for being there was to do some charity work. Later this month I'm off to Dublin with a friend then on to Northern Ireland to visit child 4 and 4a and next month I travel to Australia to visit child 3.

Ramadan finished on Monday and Peter had the week off for Eid so we treated ourselves to a two night stay in a hotel in Abu Dhabi. Bob went in for boarding and we left the cat at home with a clean litter tray, fresh water and plenty of food hidden around the house. I spent Monday night refreshing social media waiting for Eid announcement so I know what I can do on Tuesday in regards to eating and drinking in public.

153 Sunday Off to the dentists for the stitches to be removed and a deep clean, needed my whole mouth numbing. The rest of day was spent in bed feeling sorry for myself. We popped out to the mall in the evening for a walk, food court dinner and a coffee.

A new building at the World Trade Centre.

154 Monday Dr's at 9.30am for routine bloods, then collected Bob and visited the dog park for a couple of hours, then home to do nothing and a BBQ for dinner. Packed for our trip away.

155 Tuesday Up at 5am and hanging around waiting for a suitable time to drop Bob at boarding and set off to Abu Dhabi. Spent the afternoon on the beach and the evening in one of the bars.

Very few tall buildings in Abu Dhabi, more a traditional City.

156 Wednesday Had a long lie in thanks to black out blinds followed by a leisurely breakfast, time on the beach and a pub lunch followed by a massage and pool side and the evening spent in the pub.

Tidal sea water but an inlet, one of the many islands that make up Abu Dhabi

157 Thursday Left Abu Dhabi at mid day after time on the beach. We collected Bob on the way home. Pushkins was pleased to see us. In the evening we watched TV and just chilled out.

The Last exit food stop or drive through only in this heat, located on the border between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

158 Friday Coffee and food shop while Peter got the valve repaired on his tyre then off to brunch with friends at The Address Hotel in Dubai Marina, apart from that nothing else happened all day.

The hotel foyer.

159 Saturday A lazy day, too stuffed from yesterday to do much. Been thinking it's Saturday all week, I'm not used to Peter being off work. Spent 5+ hours wandering around Dubai Mall and only saw a small part of it.

The aquarium inside the mall.

On the blog this week:

Why I'm fed up of people telling me I should take vitamin supplements.

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After the fire. The Address Hotel.

Since these two photos were taken, the Address Hotel has undergone a full refurbishment after a fire on New Years Eve 2015.

You'll also notice the building on the left, which is part of Dubai Mall has altered from restaurant balconies to being filled in which is now the World's largest Apple Store.

The Address Hotel still smouldering on New Years Day 2016.

Week 158 Bluewater Islands and Dubai Eye. Man made island a 210m high Big Wheel
Week 159 Dubai Marina - Reflections
Week 160 Dubai Frame. A window between the Old and New Dubai and a 150m high glass floor.

Week 161 Dubai Marina 3 years apart.

Week 162 Dubai Water Canal Bridge Construction and reconfiguration of roads

Week 163 New Metro Line for Expo 2020
Week 164 Hoover Dam 2002 - 2010
Week 165 Dubai Opera House What a difference a year makes
Week 166 Unfinished buildings. The Pentominium
Week 167 Mixing the old and the new. Coventry Catherdral
Week 168 New Dubai Metro Station 
Week 169 Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa 

My Sunday Photo Week 3 Fat, frumpy and frustrated

Having unlinked My Sunday Photo from Project 365, where I'm using prompts from FMSPHOTOADAY and SnapHappyBritMums and including a One daily Positive, I now have the freedom to post one picture a week that just sums up how I'm feeling, the weeks events or just a spur of the moment snap.

This is me

Feeling fat and frumpy and frustrated.

I've been living in hotels since December 12th since hubby and I were relocated from South Africa to Dubai. The children came with us, as did the cat and dog. The 15yo returned to school in the UK the end of December and the 19yo returns next week. We had hoped to be in our new home by now, all our belongings are either in Storage at customs or still in South Africa as is the case with our air freight.

Hubby and I have 3 suitcases of our belongings between us, it's amazing actually how little one needs to live with, however we are getting frustrated at our selection of clothes, accessories and foot ware.

Hubby needs a tie for a meeting tomorrow, so a trip to the shops is in order. I've done some shopping and I'm wearing a new outfit in the picture above, but I've put on weight. We are eating out EVERY day, I'm opting for salads, avoiding the pudding menu and minimising my intake of fizzy, sugary drinks, but the damage has been done.

As I dressed this morning in a short sleeved top, I realised I'm not at the stage of life where I must wave from the hips, new jeans were bought in a larger size than I needed and previously worn to accommodate the weight gain, flimsy fashion shoes are a no go any more as my feet are in terrible condition, blisters and hard skin. The trouble with buying clothes in a larger size is you end up with an ill fitting baggy crotch. I found somewhere to get my eyebrows tamed, I died my own hair but it needs a good cut and as for my nails, I'm tempted just to wear gloves and cover them up.

I feel stuck in no mans land, I don't even have a visa to live anywhere, I'm just on a tourist visa. Travel and life in hotels (however fabulous they are) isn't glamorous, it's tiring, inconveinient and bloody expensive.

I'm craving beans on toast for dinner, a sofa to lounge about on, I'm hate having to get dressed before I can leave my room, I really want and need to be able to open a window.

I know it's short term, I know everything will be OK, that I can loose weight, be reunited with my wardrobe and my stuff, but in the meantime, I just feel fat, frumpy and frustrated.

How stressful is an expat, relocation move?

Very, it's not easy, you'll lose all control over your life, you'll be let down, plunged into difficult and sometimes dangerous situations, you'll be skint at the end of it all, no matter how generous your relocation package is and you'll swear blind you will NEVER, EVER DO THIS AGAIN (until next time)

Both our relocations to South Africa and to Dubai have gone wrong, very wrong, causing unnecessary stress at what is a very difficult time. Moving is one thing, but moving 1000's of miles from everything and everyone you know is hard work and can be heartbreaking.

South Africa was my home for 4 years and leaving my friends and my life was as difficult, if not harder than leaving the UK for the first time. For me, when I left the UK, I knew one day I would return, that it would become home again, I knew I could visit my family and friends and be there if they needed me, but leaving South Africa has a whole other set of emotions. I will visit, yes, but I will never return there, it will never be my home again.

A lot of the worries and anxieties can be removed with the right support, timescale and framework in place. however my experience of both moves says that HR is NOT the best department to deal with a relocation. They subcontract out to various companies for visa applications, shipping, renting housing etc and they DO NOT and WILL NOT deal directly with the accompanying spouse. The sub contracted companies when contacted will tell you the contract is with HR and not you and will not discuss anything with you at all, EVER.

This causes additional and unnecessary stress on your relationship. For us, I didn't want to leave South Africa, I wasn't ready, HR's timescale was too slow, they dragged their heels with starting the move and as predicted left us with an extremely short time frame in which to move. My husband is dealing with a new job, a new way of doing things, new and different cultures in the work place, he doesn't need me stuck in a hotel gently rocking in a corner because I feel left out, I'm not in control, I'm not allowed to do anything because NO ONE will speak to me, include me, let me do the stuff I'm good at. He also does not have the time to sort everything out on our behalf, we are a team, we have different skill sets, that's what makes us able to survive 2 international relocations and no amount of him asking, telling, begging HR to deal with me, let me sort the stuff, it's what I'm good at, they just won't shift. it's hubbies contract, it's with him, not me.

I've written a series of blog posts over the past few weeks, they've been added to and edited and don't really follow in any particular order, but if you're interested, please feel free to click, read, comment and share.

The whole process of applying to move to Dubai started in October, again we were told very little about what we were actually required to do, it took a lot of phone calls and we had to spend 3 weeks in the UK to sort out all the paperwork, which was submitted in Dubai on November 29th, after returning to South Africa to pack up our home, we returned on December 19th to discover the work visa application had been submitted as promised.
Applying for visas to live in Dubai

The first post is based on our experiences from using a relocation firm, although the woman who helped us with most of the stuff, was bloody wonderful, her hands were tied, there was only so much she could do to help us, where everything fell apart was despite her constantly emailing the company she worked for, they failed to respond and eventually told me, she was as fault, which I will not accept.
If I were a relocation expert

Next up are the consequences for the spouse, unable to 'do anything' due to the companies refusal to deal directly with me.
What happened to pastoral care?

This post outlines what was promised and what actually happened and is happening, this post will continue to be updated.
Timeline for an expat move

The following post is about life in a hotel for 5 weeks, I think we're actually in our 6th week now and our 3rd hotel. It isn't a lot of fun.
5 weeks in a hotel

This post was written and published the beginning of December and outlines my concerns and worries about what lies ahead based on what happened when we relocated to South Africa in 2011
Reality of a company move

We already knew things were going downhill and a lot of stuff is now getting repeated, but as you can see from the next post, we've spent most of our time in Dubai just worrying about what is going to happen.
Moving from South Africa to Dubai 

Prior to our move we had to sort all our documentation and organise our shipping, all badly advised, we did most of the work ourselves and I doubt we'll ever know just exactly what and why these experts are being paid for.

How to sort luggage, air freight and shipping 

Timeline for an expat move

January 2014

Visit Dubai to discuss potential move.

July 2014

Arrange replacement passports after theft

October 2014

Order online replacement documents online from the UK
Sell car
Obtain quotes for shipping, give notice on house, gym, insurance, banks, utilities, tv and licence.

November 2014

Visit UK to collect documents, get son's new passport and submit to foreign affairs
Hubby arrives in UK
Visit UAE Embassy in London for documents to be attested
Fly to Dubai to submit documents and house hunt
Return to South Africa for farewell party and supervise shipping, meeting 19 year old at airport
Obtain quotation for moving cat and dog and necessary paperwork
(1)Hubby stays in Dubai to submit work visa application

December 2014

Sort hand and checked in luggage, air freight and shipping, distribute donations
Collect 15 year old from airport
Collect hubby from airport
Air freight collected and put into storage in South Africa
Take and collect cat and dog's blood tests, arrange injections, scan all paperwork
Move into Guest House
(2)Close bank and utility accounts, cancel direct debits
Wave bye to cat and dog
Drive to airport
Arrive in Dubai with hubby and 15 year old
Move into hotel
(3)Go to rented house, discover house is not ready for moving into
Collect borrowed car
Meet cat and dog and settle them in after their flight
Take 15 year old to airport
Shipping arrives in Dubai and goes into storage
Move hotels
(4)Open bank account
Travel back and forth to house for pets and to chase builders and landlord
(5)Make arrangements for 19 year old to sleep somewhere
After a lot of shouting medical aid was issued, with a folder, contact made with company to ask for meeting re car, contents and personal cover....NO RESPONSE

January 2015

Builders and cleaners quote for repairs, work starts
Remain in hotel until work visa application is processed and residency visa applied for and in place
Leave Dubai as 30 days will be up on visitors visa and for hubby to process his
Arrange for shipping to be delivered to house and air freight to be sent from South Africa
Apply for my residency visa
Leave Dubai to process it
(6)Take 19 year old to airport



(1) Hubby was informed work visa application would be made on November 29th 2014. On our arrival in Dubai we were informed we'd hear by Christmas Day only to discover that the application made was for permission to apply for a visa and it hadn't actually been done. Expected time scale was  2-3 days for work visa to be stamped and a further 3-5 days for residency visa to be stamped, air freight to be sent and arrive by January 1st to enable 19 year old to move into property. Shipping to arrive January 1st, 3 days to clear customs and enable us to move into house 5th/6th January 2015.
Work visa ready January 13th

(2) Followed guidance from companies as in give 30 days notice to close accounts, but not informed until will closed them that it would be another 30 days before we got final statements for utilities. Bank account still open on January 3rd. TV company took another payment which they are now having to refund. Still waiting for landlord to refund deposit into company account which will then be transferred here. bank accounts closed January 7th Deposit refunded January 13th.

(3) House was rented on December 7th, agency fees paid as was a years rent upfront. Rental agent and relocation company employed to sort this on holiday until January 1st. Landlady and builders passing the buck, endless phonecalls, stress and running around. House cleaned by ourselves after cleaners have been in, ready to move into January 8th

(4) Bank account in Dubai opened, but single account in hubbies name, relocation allowance and expenses, including UK trip from November now claimed. Salary for December in South Africa and deposit from landlord can now be paid. Savings in the UK = ZERO, can't use off shore banking element till my visa is ready and joint account applied for.

(5) & (6) Money is running out, all expenses will be repaid but bank account has to be opened first, in the meantime due to no 1 & 3 above, we cannot afford to put 19 year old up in a hotel so he is sleeping at hubbies bosses house and then moving on to a mates and we have to rebook his flight to return early as we can no longer afford to fly him out to Oman to get his passport stamped to extend his visitors visa. Expenses to date from the UK, South Africa and costs to date in Dubai received on the 16th January.

Peter's residency visa and Emirate ID ready by next week. We notified the agency of his work visa on January 13th who then did the 'typing' there is a special way things have to be done round here. This morning 15th they took him to make his application, filled in forms, blood tests, chest X-rays etc. We are now waiting for his bloods to come back and the residency visa will be stamped into his passport and then the following will happen. This post was published on January 14th. It is the 22nd today and we still don't have the residency visa.

Request made for container to clear customs in Dubai on 22nd January delivered on the 27th January
Request made for air freight to leave South Africa on 30th January delivered on February 4th
Red Card applied for on 9th February
My residency visa and Emirates ID applied for on 10th February, collected on
Driving licences issued hubbies: February 8th Mine:
My bank account opened
Car purchased

Relocating from South Africa to Dubai

We were living in South Africa on work and visitors visas. They expire on January 10th 2015.

We have been saying all year to the company we have to leave by december 17th at the latest because South Africa closes down and doesn't reopen until January 6th.

When I say closes down, I mean you'll get nothing done, for example my car broke down on december 15th 2013. I couldn't get it into a garage, anywhere, for repairs until January 6th.

Also as our visas were expiring we had to be out lock, stock and barrel before that date. We looked into extending our visas for a further 90 days but there has been a change in the law and we no longer qualified. We could leave and return on a 90 day visitors visa but then we wouldn't be eligible to export our cat and dog and our furniture. Our bank accounts would close, we'd have no where to live etc, etc.

Without any guidance we decided to leave December 15th, but ended up leaving on the 17th due to delays with the cat and dogs import papers. We sorted airfreight and suit cases according to our requirements of staying in SA and saving on hotels and from what we'd been led to believe the timescale was from the company in Dubai. We booked the packing and shipping accordingly and ended up 5 nights in a guest house as we were all tired of sleeping on air beds after a week.

The move to South Africa was traumatic, we were misled and misinformed on everything, it cost us 1000's to relocate, rent a house, find the deposit, opening bank accounts was stressful, I couldn't get a sim card, I was frightened and isolated, I had no car, no help, no guidance, nothing.

So upon our move to Dubai, I had the opportunity to visit prior to relocating, meet with HR, explain what happened with the last move and gain reassurances that this wouldn't happen again. I asked for everything to be put in writing and hubby requested the company used our private email for all communication, so what could possibly go wrong?

We arrived at the airport at midnight, with hotel rooms booked. They hadn't booked a taxi for us, but we could sort that.

The following morning hubby goes to the office, I travel to the house to meet the cat and dog. The pet people have hubbies South African phone number, so it's decided I take that and hubby can call me from the office if there are any problems.

I obtain a sim card form the supermarket, hubby collects his bosses car, the house is filthy and none of the repairs have been carried out. No one is answering their phones and hubby informs me that his work visa application hasn't been made.

It just goes down hill from that point on. Complaints to HR and the relocation company are met with 'but we told you that' er no you didn't otherwise we'd have packed additional luggage rather than air freight, we'd have kennelled the pets instead of having to go back and forth to the house twice a day as it was inhabitable and all the stuff we needed to stay in the house is still sitting in South Africa waiting for the residency visas to be in place.

We now discover to activate our visas we have to leave the country and re enter and in my case I have to leave Dubai before the 16th January to extend my 30 day stay and then leave again to activate the visa.

Until hubbies residency visa is in place we cannot ship our air freight, or release our container from customs, which arrived over the christmas period, even if the house is ready for us to move into we can't until our stuff arrives and we are in our 2nd hotel because the company only booked the first one until December 30th which we didn't find out about until they asked us to check out within the hour.

The move is stressful enough, we have the kids with us, this time we moved a cat and a dog, this may be the 2nd relocation we've made but every country is different to move to and from. The only difference this time is I have a phone, I can use public transport and I'm not fearful for my safety to get out and about and explore what Dubai has to offer.

Living in a hotel

Living in a hotel

Let me tell you first and foremost that it is perfectly acceptable to go down for breakfast in your pjs and slippers, no make up and hair scrapped back.

When you’ve moved half way round the world with hubby, teen boys aged 15 & 19 plus a cat and a dog, you need space. The first few days are ok, a bit of a holiday, a chance to relax after the chaos of packing up your old home, obtaining visas and saying your goodbyes. But once that period wears off, you start to get on top of one another. The two teens are sharing a room, the cat and dog are at the villa and we’re in another room, with 4 suitcases, files of paperwork, piles of dirty washing, an ironing board and iron.

There are a few tips I can share with you on the best way to survive extended stays in hotel.

·      There aren’t enough plug sockets in the room, so pack an extension cable and a plug adapter, especially if you’re moving from a country where the sockets are different. I’ve purchased a small lamp as in general hotel rooms are badly lit.

·      Use the laundry service, it’s not cheap, but you really don’t want to be traipsing around looking for a launderette or dry cleaners. Get an iron and ironing board from room service and keep it till they ask for it back.

·      If you have a mini bar in the room, remove everything, you really don’t want to pay those prices, stick it all in a cupboard to replace when you leave and buy your own drinks and milk so you can make a decent tea or coffee, rather than using the merger UHT cartons the hotel provide.

·      Don’t be afraid to take a little extra from the buffet table for a mid morning snack.

·      Don’t force the situation, go for breakfast when you’re ready, you don’t all have to eat every meal as a family.

·      Try and get a room that has a bath as well as a shower and if there are balconies available it is worth spending a little more so you can step outside, without having to dress and traipse down in the lift for some fresh air.

What makes a good hotel?

We use booking.com for all our travel in South Africa, without it we would never have found some amazing places to stay. But I do hate arriving at a hotel after a long flight or car journey and the paperwork I've been issued with doesn't match what the hotel have prepared.

A 50% deposit was taken at time of booking or was supposed to have been, then the hotel quote you a different price from the print out you're waving in front of their face and on more than one occasion a hotel has called us the night before, demanded we cancel and re book directly through them so they don't have to pay the commission. I also use hubbies credit card for bookings then discover that they want take the payment without the card holder being present and even better they tell you on arrival they don't take cards and want more than the daily allowance you can withdraw from the cash machine or they tell you to make an EFT but there's no wifi as the booking indicated.

The room never matches the hotels description, dirty carpets, marked furniture or only a double or twin beds available, always the opposite of what you've booked. At breakfast the following morning, take your confirmation form that states 'Breakfast included at this room rate' wave in front of waiters nose, because you'll often be told it isn't.

I wish hotels would do something about their lighting, why are rooms so dark? Plug sockets, please try and make sure there is at least one near a mirror for drying hair. Try not to wire endless cables together to make the lamp reach from one side of the room to another and why are the spare sockets usually located behind a heavy bed side table?

There is never enough milk for more than one cup of tea or coffee each per day.

And I'm still struggling to know what the point is of this sign?

I can still hear them knocking on the other doors calling 'room service' at 7am.

Teenagers on Holiday

My 15 year flew in from the UK last week for his school summer holidays, it was a 12 hour flight.

He arrived in winter and shivered for 3 days, although the positive side of this was he was in bed by 7pm watching his TV.

I then stuck him on a train to Cape Town for 28 hours.

On the second day after dragging him around Cape Town on the red bus, he got in his pjs and didn't leave the room till day 4.

I thought I'd entered the room of a Rock Star on my return to the hotel, No, just a teenager

Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town with a teenager

Well it’s been an amazing experience, something to look back on and say we’ve done, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again in a hurry. I’ve always had a dream to travel by train, coast to coast in America, but 28 hrs on the tourist train from Johannesburg to Cape Town has put an end to those plans.

Booking tickets for the Shosholoza Meyl was completed online, once an enquiry was made, payment details were sent, proof of payment was returned, email with booking number received and tickets collected from Johannesburg train station minimum of an hour before travel. The cost each way is R630/£35pp

The station was busy and we were told to be on the platform an hour prior to travel, we stood in the waiting hall till the train was announced and it was one mad push, shove, scramble to form a queue, clinging tightly to our luggage and hoping no one moved as we’d probably fall over if they did.

The train was spotless, we had a 4 sleeper compartment, there was a toilet and a shower at the end of each carriage and around 2 hours into the journey a really friendly guy came and asked if we wanted to hire bedding for the night which cost R57/£6 pp. The compartment featured a pull down table and underneath was a sink with hot and cold running water and a plastic bag provided for the rubbish.

I packed toilet roll and wet wipes for the journey, which came in very helpful and plenty of drink, snacks and sandwiches. There is a buffet car on the train and they announce when they are serving lunch, supper and breakfast, all at a very good price with a range of burgers, pap and sarmies. Food was available also as a take away as was tea and coffee.

Sleeping didn’t come too easily I’m afraid for me. Son managed to sleep most of the night, then after an early wake up call at 6am, with a woman yelling ‘early morning coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee’ he went back to sleep. I’m afraid I wasn’t too polite and asked her to be quiet, but she carried on. It was 2 hours before we reached the next stop, I really didn’t need waking.

There were many stops in the night, up to an hour at a time, in the middle of nowhere while we waiting for trains to pass, it was strange but it was when the train was still and quiet that I actually woke up.

Both my son and I had loaded movies onto our laptops, but discovered there was no charging points on the train, thankfully I had packed many packets of loom bands that entertained my 15yo for most of the journey and I read a book and wrote some letters. There is no smoking on the train, but plenty of stops if you need one and a few people were hanging out the windows at times.

We arrived in Cape Town 28hrs later, only 1 hr behind schedule which isn't bad for an epic trip like this, we were clean, a little tired, but stress free and no aches and pains like the car journey down here before has given me.

We fly back on Wednesday evening using our Avios with BA at the cost of R350/£19.50 each.

We are staying approx a 5 min walk from the train station ands a further 15 min walk to The V&A Waterfront. A walk to a near by restaurant for dinner, a shower and a comfy bed to sink into and the train journey wasn't that bad, in fact I'd rather catch the train here again than travel by car as we will be using the hop on, hop off City Sightseeing Red Bus for the next 3 days to get around the city.