5 October, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

After a fairly early breakfast this morning it was back to the Big Bus for our trip to New Dubai. Nearly 20 years ago I drove from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, which at that time was a trip across the Arabian dessert. Within 15 minutes of leaving the airport I had departed Dubai and had started crossing the dessert. Today 25km of that stretch of dessert has been turned into hundreds of skyscrapers - one block alone has 30 skyscrapers with a population of 60,000 housed in luxury apartments - marinas, shopping malls and an artificial waterway which has turned desert into a maritime wonderland.

This photo shows a very small part of an area which only 10 years ago was desert. We started today with a cruise along this waterway, from the residential area all the way out to where it meets the Arabian Gulf.

It goes without saying the the sky was blue and it was hot. As we approached the sea we could see another artificial island being built, and the erection of the Dubai Eye, a ferris wheel which, when completed will be the largest in the world.

It is spectacular, as everything is here in Dubai. Once we completed the cruise we then returned to the Big Bus and continued on to the famous Palm complex. This complex consists of reclaimed land created in the shape of a palm tree surrounded by a crescent moon, all made from sand dredged from the sea.

This incredible complex houses luxury homes, with private beaches, hotels, parks, a water Theme Park and shopping centres. Our bus took us right down the trunk of the tree, and then entered an underwater tunnel to reach the crescent, on which is located the Atlantis Hotel.

The hotel itself features shopping malls, restaurants and two giant aquariums. Our bus tickets included access to both and we spent a few hours looking at the most incredible collection of marine life all set in a space made to resemble the mythical lost continent of Atlantis.

Quite a wonderful environment and an endless array of fish, jelly fish, crayfish, and coral.

We spent a few hours wandering around and admiring this display and trying to capture the feel of the place with the camera.

I've lost count of how many photos and videos I took and it's going to be quite a task sorting them all out when we get home.

We have one more full day here tomorrow. Out tickets include a "Sunset in the Dessert" experience so we'll definitely try to fit that in. We also want to visit one of the traditional soukhs (markets) here in old Dubai. Then very early on Sunday morning it's time to make our way to the airport for the flight home.