SEPTEMBER 22 – 26 UAE

• Dubai is an exhilarating place. It has the shininess of Las Vegas, the magic of Disney and the ‘bling’ of the French Rivera (perhaps without the class);
• I’m staying at the Hilton Jumeriah Beach which is a beautiful five star hotel with a private beach and all the trimmings;
• Yesterday, I did a private tour (with a driver in an Audi A8 L, a personal tour guide – Janine) which I would highly recommend. We began at the Burj Al Arab (the world famous ‘sail inspired’ building), the palaces of the Royal families, the old Souks (markets) of spices, gold, perfume and a ride in a Dhow across Dubai Creek. From here, we visited a Mosque (perfectly timed for the Muslim third out of five prayers per day), had a tour of the different zones of the city and had a look at Dubai Mall and watched the fountain display in front of the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world).
• Given that Dubai only began serious construction in the late 1960’s under the vision of a previous Sheikh (who wasn’t an ‘educated’ man but a true visionary) it really is an amazing city of extreme wealth and zero crime. The service everywhere is amazing too (so good in fact it’s a little unnerving). There is somebody to do everything and everyone is doing something. It does make you wonder if Australia had a similar visionary with an astute business mind who utilised our resources then manufactured and developed them and kept the vision going, what would we look like right now??? There’s a few bottles of wine in that question isn’t there!!
• This evening was a desert safari experience. After being picked up in a V8 GMC 4x4, we quickly met about 20 other 4x4’s and absolutely ‘FLOGGED’ them up and down the sand dunes in the Dubai Desert Reserve. Our driver, a mad Lebanese man, told me the re-sale vale of the GMC is not great in Dubai. I know how why!!! It was amazing fun and having grown up four wheel driving, there is no way on God’s earth, my father and his mates would treat their 4x4’s like this! After a somewhat terrifying ride, we took photos of the sunset, had an Arabian feast in the middle of the desert and we were entertained by belly dancing and of course henna tattoos. I got a Scorpion for my star sign. It was a heap of fun and I met two ladies from the Central Coast – Sydney (Cheryl and Janine) and they had done a similar trip to me!