We decided to stay in and get our packing done today so that we could ascertain our weight status in advance of leaving.  Emirates extra baggage fees are extortionate especially if you don’t buy in advance, so we wanted to avoid complications like that.  Because we thought we were cruising out of Dubai, we have done some shopping here.  Not a huge amount but enough, we thought to put us over the limit.  And we were right.

We had an almighty struggle with arranging our things across our suitcases in a manner that maximised our allowance.  Which is 30kg each checked baggage plus 7kg of a single bag cabin allowance.  So not a cabin bag and a hand bag, just one piece.  And apparently they are very strict on weighing that too.  In the end, we have bought another 5kg which wasn’t too bad at around £60.  Hopefully we can pass this on to Costa too.  But if not, it’s not as bad as if we’d had to go to 10kg which was £175.  Yikes.

More adjusting to my Tescos order today in advance of our return.  Some discussion (ongoing) about whether we should stay on here for a while rather than go back to the UK.  It is true there are hardly any cases of corona virus (currently) in Dubai and the authorities seem to have matters well in hand.  And it is undoubtedly a healthier matter to be here in the sun and fresh air.  On the other hand, our insurance will run out in 3 weeks so we cannot stay longer than that.  Will the UK be through the worst in 3 weeks?  Very unlikely indeed by the sound of it.  So, we might be going back to a worse situation than now…. and so much could happen in 3 weeks.  Dubai could cut down on things even more – Lucy has to work from home starting tomorrow till the end of April.  Emirates could stop operating to London although this is unlikely because I note from their website and from personal experience that they continued to fly into and out of Beijing throughout the crisis in China (but not the rest of China so that’s all right then…. 🙂    )

So, we are of a mind to still come home on Wednesday despite the probability that Bob will have to self isolate very soon for some months.  Which means both of us of course.  I don’t quite know what this means and hopefully we will get more details tomorrow after the weekly COBRA meeting.  I hope it just means the 70+s must stay in as much as possible and avoid human contact as much as possible.  Not that they are actually legally banned from leaving the house for 4 months….   I don’t know how the UK could police that given that we can’t police burglaries or safeguard our coastlines from intruders.  It would be nice to think that we could drive out to the countryside in the car or up to the white cliffs for a breath of fresh air as long as we stayed away from people and public places like cafes and shops….???

Anyway, packing done.  We now have two full days that we intend to enjoy to the full, probably at the Riva Beach Club.  Put quarantining, isolation, financial ruin and lack of toilet rolls to the back of our minds….