Driver's Licence

I have finally received my residence visa, and applied for my Emirates ID card, so it was time to get my UAE driver's licence. Firstly, I had to get my Queensland licence translated. I knew where I thought I had to go to get it translated, but of course was in the wrong place, and finally found the building I needed. Mark came with me, and we entered the building only to find it was a supermarket, with a small department store downstairs. We asked for help, explaining that we were looking for the translator, and were directed to the back of the building. We entered a really smelly lift, and found the translator sitting at his desk. He looked to be about 85  years old, and took my Queensland licence and said "That's too small for me to see, you'll have to get it made bigger." He directed us to where the copying shops are, so off we trudged. We got my licence copied, and Mark's too while we were at it. We made our way back, going past a pet shop that had rabbits, chickens and parrots for sale. One of the parrots had a beak that was so long it had curled around. I wanted to buy it to get its beak clipped, but we are not allowed pets in the flat. The old man translated our licences, then directed us to go to the fifth building down the road to get the translation typed up. We went to the fifth building and couldn't find anyone who looked like a typist, so we went to the fifth door, but no typist. We made our way back to the old man who this time told us the name of the building we were meant to go to...of course it was the sixth building, why didn't I guess that? We had the typing done, then went back to the old man to get him to sign the typed version, and to pay him the 140 dirhams to do all this work. Three hours later, we made our way home, only to find that the typist had put the wrong date of birth on my translation. My god! Mark offered to return the following day while I was at work, then after work we drove to the other side of town, where the traffic section is, and I paid 200 dirhams and got my licence. At least the woman there let me see if I was happy with the photo she took. I didn't really care by that stage, and just took the licence and went home. No driving test, no eyesight test, just pay the money and you're done. But what a rigmarole!