The flight from Auckland to Dubai took about 20 hours, which meant we were able to get some sleep and also enjoy the great movies selection, food and service. Having last flown on budget airlines we were amazed to discover free toothbrushes, blankets, eye masks, drinks etc. It won’t stop us travelling on budget airlines where we can but we were definitely appreciative.  We arrived in Dubai about 4.30am local time, so went to duty free and chilled at the airport before taking the metro to what we thought was our stop (turns out Google maps is less accurate when you just give it a street name). After checking in at our hotel we were ready to explore, and headed out to have lunch at a local Indian restaurant (there is a huge Indian population in Dubai). We took the metro to the Dubai museum, which has been built in an old fort, and then wandered around the historic area of Bastakiya, appreciating the stunning architecture and views of the river.  We were ready for a good night’s sleep after that long day!

Our second day in Dubai saw us exploring the gold souk (shop after shop of gold jewellery) and finding the spice souk. We then took a boat for 1 DHR (about 33 cents) across the river to see the grand mosque, then took the metro to a recommended restaurant to have one of the most common dishes in Dubai – shwarmas. Sadly, the restaurant wasn’t serving them until later in the day, and so we had to wait until later in our trip to try them. We took a bus down to Jumeirah Beach Park, a beautiful park and beach where we could see the Burj Al Arab. We had a swim here, then continued on to the Dubai Mall, where we watched the fountain show next to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.