I flew out of BNE on Thursday at 2000 hours after very emotional goodbyes with family. The flight was wonderful – as is always the case with Emirates. It was made all the more interesting by my German neighbour with a wicked sense of humour.

There had been a thick fog in Dubai for the past couple of days. The pilot indicated he was able to see directly below the plane, but only 150m in front. He reported that unfortunately planes can’t really drop land – they have to land gradually. After 30-40 mins of circling due to the thick fog I finally touched down in my new home, Dubai.

It’s a shame I didn’t have a window seat. The images of Dubai’s extrememly tall buildings growing out of the clouds looked amazing.
When I came here in November there was was the opposite picture of the building tops being hidden within clouds.

The walk through the new Terminal three was impressive, although quite confusing with me getting directed into departures where it became quite difficult to return from. They’re obviously still ironing out a few bugs, as certain check points could be avoided by walking 10 metres to the right instead of following the crowd on the left.

I was fortunate on my first afternoon in the country to go out and do a real tourist thing. We went out dune bashing in a 4WD, followed by a fantastic bedouine experience of dinner, sheesha, and belly dancing – that was watching, not participating in the belly dancing. Although quite a few followed their feelings and joined in.

The belly dancer was good, but the main attraction turned out to be the Magic Man. No he didn’t do any David Copperfield tricks. He was a dancer, crossed with a spinning top – cum electric light show. I’m not sure of the dance’s origins, but he simply went out onto the stage in the middle of all the dinner tables, and spun around in his impressive outfit. The show probably went for a good 10 minutes, and the pace of his twirls would be measured with g-force. He got a couple of tourists up on stage to dance in his bright kaleidoscope dress. They made a good go at it, I must say. I took some photos which looked quite active. I’ll upload them at some stage.

The first time I left the apartment I knocked into a random Australian tourist. I heard him say “Ah, Brisbane” in relation to the Brisbane Marathon Shirt I was wearing I guess – unless I exert a specific BNE look. The guy happened to be from the Gold Coast City Council. Small world – but I’d hate to paint it.