Day 6 - Perth.

My flight didn’t land in Perth until just gone 1am which meant by the time I was out, collected my luggage, met Michael and drove back to his we didn’t get in until about 3am! Passport control was nothing like you see in those TV shows and because I went through some special machine with my electronic passport I didn’t get a stamp!! I shall have to remember this for future airports, stamps are very important.

Perth is +4 hours from Dubai, which means it is +8 hours from the UK. My body is well and truly frazzled, so I slept until about midday. Once awoken and fed we made our way into the city. After a short walk around we ended up in Northbridge in a café called ‘Little Willy’s’. I’ve decided that I am going to try a lot of new things on this trip and so after looking at the menu I bought an Iced tea (something I’ve never tried), which I enjoyed very much! I think I may be purchasing a few of these over the next few months just to survive this crazy weather! Michael had work that evening so when he went there, I went to meet his mum in a pub called The Moon & Sixpence. I spent the evening with her and a couple of people she worked with drinking white wine, something else I don’t really do, and eating some standard pub grub.

Day 3 – Big Bus tours Dubai, Ladies night.

The first bus from Mall of the Emirates was at 9.30am, so I made sure I was there in plenty of time. Today was a very wet day. When I first got on the bus I made my way upstairs because the view is better up there. After the first stop at Burj Khalifa it started to rain. A LOT, so I moved downstairs along with everyone else. I got off at WAFI which is where I could join the Red line around the ‘Old town’, they gave us waterproof ponchos to wear as most of us weren’t prepared for rain in Dubai! You can tell they don’t get rain a lot because many roads were flooded and men were out sweeping water into the drains to try and clear it. 

My bus ticket included a river Arabian Dhow cruise on the UAE’s most famous waterway, the Dubai Creek. It told me the history of the creek and how the sea merchants still use it every day to send off their trade to other countries. After this, I finished the Red line tour, which showed me the Old, Gold and Spice Souks along with the Heritage village.

Hannah had booked me on a desert safari and I was going to be picked up just after 3pm, after 4 they still hadn’t arrived and that’s because they had gone to the wrong hotel! At one point they thought they might be able to come back and get me but it turns out they couldn’t. It was a Tuesday and that means only one thing, Ladies Night! This means 3 free drinks in a number of different places in the city. I went to a place called Q43 with Hannah and her mum, which was, you guessed it, the 43^rd floor of a building with amazing views. You could even see The Atlantis from up there.

Day 2 - JBR, Big Bus Tours Dubai.

I didn’t know if I was going to like Dubai as it’s just another big city and a lot of the time they just all seem the same but you know what, there is so much to see and do here, I need to come back! The main reason I chose Dubai as my stopover on the way to Australia was to visit my friend Hannah who I haven’t seen in about 6 or so years.

Day 2

My flight ended up being slightly delayed so by the time I landed and collected my luggage, I didn’t arrive at Marina Byblos (Dubai Marina) until around 2:30am! Lucky for me breakfast was served until 11am so at least I could have a lie in. Reluctantly I made myself get out of bed at 10am to enjoy my first day here in Dubai. I walked down to JBR to have a look around. Apparently you used to get really good views of the beach but they’re now building a big shopping centre on the beach, which is a shame!

I needed a drink so found somewhere which also had free wifi to A) tell my mum I was alive and B) tell Hannah I had arrived. Hannah replied straight away and said she could meet me for lunch at the Yacht club just down the road. After lunch she recommended that I went on the Big Bus tour of Dubai as it’s a cheap and easy way to see so much of the city. I started the tour at Mall of the Emirates (another shopping centre). The ticket I had lasted for 24 hours so I started on the Blue line and would go on the Red line the next day.

 The Blue line took you along the coast which gave me great views of the city, Burj Al Arab and even down the Palm to see The Atlantis hotel. Once I got back to Mall of the Emirates on the last bus, I found something to eat in their food court and made my way back to my hotel.