Join our Graham for 24 hours in Dubai…

Travelmole’s Graham McKenzie is off to discover the delights of New Zealand and will be furiously blogging about the destination during his travels.

Each week of the blog, Tourism New Zealand is offering you the chance to win a unique Maori bone-carved gift. The first giveaway starts on Monday. If you don’t win first time, you can try again the following week. The giveaway finishes on March 11. For more details, click here

Here’s our Graham….

“Well that’s my 24 hours over in Dubai, and for those of you who read my previous musings I can confirm that it was no sixties version of Take the High Road.

Truth be known that when I realised I was going to have a two-night one-day stopover in Dubai I was not overwhelmed with enthusiasm. Last time I was here some two or three years ago my impressions were not good – traffic that even downtown Athenians would have baulked at, excessively high temperatures and, to be honest, a lack of things to do.

Most of my colleagues and friends speak highly of a three, four or even five-day trip to the heart of the Emirates so why not me? It scores highly in the visitor stakes (despite its reputation over workers’ rights and protecting the environment), so for a day visit surely it would be an enjoyable experience, even for a grumpy git.

What I lacked, I decided, was proper visitor information. Tourist board sites are fine, but nothing beats personal recommendation, so I turned to my mate Catherine at Dubai Tourism in London. “Catherine, what do you recommend?” I pleaded. “Dubai Mall,” she responded, almost too quickly.

Well a trip to a shopping mall is not my idea of fun. Truth be known I would rather have my ears super glued to an over sensitive camel’s buttocks and then ask somebody to kick its shins rather brusquely than contemplate more than an hour in a shopping mall. She did, however, insist that it was the best thing.

Dubai 2011 is different from Dubai 2008. Less traffic, or maybe better organised traffic, for one thing. The flight over and transfers were superb and, yes, you guessed it the shopping mall was in fact excellent because Dubai Mall is not like Bluewater. To start with, it is home to the world’s tallest building , the Burg Khalifa, which I went up in super speedy time in lifts that shake not one inch. Within the Burg the newest, hippest, smoothest bar/restaurant in town At.mosphere, part of the Armani Hotel, lets only the smartest dressed dudes in town (yes, for your information, I did get in). The mall has an ice rink (no I didn’t), aquarium and a sea zoo where all sorts of aquatic and vaguely aquatic animals live.

After 6pm, The Dubai Fountain, which is housed outside by the promenade, puts on a display of musically synchronised water art that would put the Bellagio to shame. Oh, and yes I forgot to mention the Mall also has shops and shops and more shops. Think Bluewater on speed.

So Dubai for 24 hours? Definitely, and it goes to show the true importance of good visitor information and insight. Thanks Catherine, good chat.

So now to Auckland and Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud.”