Dubai City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai is a fascinating place to visit and is a great place to stop over on the way from New Zealand to Europe.

We flew with Emirates in September 2013 and stayed with my friends Mark & Kay and their boys who are New Zealanders living in Dubai.

The city is almost like one long strip with the ocean on one side and the desert on the other. Transport is easy in taxi’s or on the monorail train which runs the length of the city and connects all the main areas.

Mark is a keen sailor and we were planning on heading out for a twilight race but the yacht he crews on was in the haul out yard while I was there. We visited the yacht club and small marina which is in a great spot. There is also a marina up the Dubai creek but access is under bridges that only open at certain times of the day. I read that there is a new huge marina planned.

Currently the tallest building in the world! Buy your tickets online before you go as it is heaps more expensive to buy your tickets at the door. You head through a display explaining the engineering feats required to build the building and then head up in the elevators to about 3/4 of the way up. The view is amazing!! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).