Dubai Study Tour

I just got back from 10 amazing days in Dubai. The UAE is in my opinion the most exciting place to be in the world right now. The Sheikhs have so much power and wealth that they just pump it into the economy and somehow manage to avoid the "Global Crisis" that is affecting every other country in the world. Our trip was based on Construction and Sustainable Development and so we visited building sites everyday. It was fascinating as I do not know much about this topic and I therefore learnt a lot.

We flew from Brisbane to Singapore and then on to Dubai. We flew as a big group, about 30 of us Bond students. The boys got a bit roudy on the plane as they were excited to be out of Australia for a few days. We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton in an area called Bur Dubai. Our first two days were free time which allowed us to get over the jetlag and to explore the city. We went to the Mall of the Emirates, Karama markets, the Polo Club (where we had a nice lunch with Sherri-lee, my friend from South Africa who has recently moved to Dubai)...and explored some other areas.

Our work began on Sunday, this took a bit of getting used to as Sunday is our day of rest but their Monday! That day we visited Bovis Lend Lease where we met with Paul Redstone, followed by the Madinat Hotel and Nakheel, the company that is building the Palm Islands and the World.

On Monday I was sick in the morning and so I missed out on the Al Barrari development trip to see the $25,000,000.00 villas that they are building there. I made it out in the afternoon to the construction sites of the D1 Tower and the Palazzo Versace Hotel.

Tuesday was a visit to the Pacific Controls building, which is a 6 Star Green Rated building. Then the afternoon was dinner in the desert. We were picked up by 5 Land Cruisers, we strapped ourselves in tight and drove out to the desert where we went dune bashing!!! It was too much fun. We then had a dinner, henna tattoos, belly dancing and camel rides in the desert.

Wednesday was a full day in Abu Dhabi. We drove there early in the morning and went straight to the Grand Mosque. All the girls had to put on the traditional dress that covered our heads, shoulders and neck. It was a fascinating visit, we had the most interesting Australian tour guide. She turned Hindu and moved to Abu Dhabi 8 years ago. The afternoon was a visit to Yas Island where they are building the Ferrari Theme Park and the Formula 1 Track.

Thursday was a visit to Austrade in the morning and then to The Dubai World Trade Center in the afternoon.

All of our visits were absolutely fascinating, we met with the top guys in each firm and learnt a lot.

The next three days I spent with Sherri-lee. We went to Abu Dhabi again for the day. We watched rugby at the Tri Nations Pub called Nezesaussi. We went to Jumeira Beach for the day, attempted to go Kite Surfing but there was no wind. So we went to The Dubai Mall for a quick look instead.

The next night I flew back to Aussie via Singapore.

It was the most amazing trip!!! xoxo