Samoa has entrenched itself firmly in our hearts, not surprising given author Robert Louis Stevenson had huge love for this beautiful nation. We were captivated from the moment we stepped off the plane and are itching to get back there again. Here are our highlights from the trip.

1. To Sua Ocean Trench, Lotofaga (southern end of Upolu, Samoa)I don’t care how many instagram or National Geographic pics you’ve seen of this magical swimming hole, you can't fully grasp how enchanting it is until you’re actually there. One of two sinkholes in this spot (this is the one you can actually swim in) the leafy garden it’s set in backs onto the coast of the mighty Pacific Ocean, from which the water flows into the trench through a number of channels that feed into it. This means the current of the water inside the sinkhole is dictated by the whims of the ocean and it can get strong enough to move you around inside.

We alternated between swimming and floating on our backs. Gazing upward, we were spellbound by the vista of the rich blue sky was framed by the lush greenery of the hanging vines, ferns and trees around the edges of the sink hole. The gentle sway of the foliage and the changing colours of the water from a stunning turquoise to a deep emerald green kept us hypnotised for hours in this ethereal

setting.

2. Savai'i

Most people tend to stick to Upolu when they visit Samoa, but we suggest that you also head over to Savai'i for a couple of days. A 90 minute ferry ride away from Upolu, it maintains an even quieter pace to the mainland, and it’s here that you will experience relaxation at its maximum.

We spent three days in Savai'i, and from the first day we were comparing it with Upolu noting how much quieter it was with less people on the roads and beaches. There are blowholes and other attractions there worth visiting, or simply spend your days floating in the deep blue waters as we did.

3. The Locals

It doesn’t matter how great a holiday spot is, if the locals aren’t friendly then you’re not going to enjoy it so much. We found that the locals here were very warm, friendly people. Everywhere we went, the locals would wave and smile. The kids were even friendlier, running over to us whenever we stopped the car to take a photo or take in the gorgeous views. They chatted easily, asking our names and other things. It was lovely to meet such lively, genuinely happy and polite kids, so different to what we were used to. Obviously island life, in its simplicity raises kids to appreciate life without ipads and phones.

4. WaterfallsThere’s always something very mystical about a waterfall for me, there is an abundance of waterfalls on both of the islands. We took in the majestic falls, with a deluge of water billowing over the rapids and these we enjoyed from afar. At the smaller waterfalls we were able to swim in the pools that formed at the bottom of the falls. We definitely recommend trying to visit as many as you can whilst on these gorgeous shores.

5. Culture

Samoa is steeped in culture. The people are fiercely proud of whom they are and where they come from. As with Rarotonga, there are churches everywhere, and we’re told that this is a very important part of island life. In Samoa, everything centres around the churches, the priests/reverends and their aigas (families). They have a very high standing in the community, and the congregations are very respectful towards them.

Conversely, the elders of an aiga are revered, they are always served first and children eat last. It’s a strange custom to non Samoans but one that teaches children to be respectful and patient. The simplicity of Samoan living means they are people of the land and water. Outside of Apia, they farm, clean and fish. The open fales (houses) without walls are very communal and there is a strong sense of aiga (family) and community here. It’s not just island life, it’s village life.

6. Lalomanu Beach

Lalomanu beach is exquisite, there are no rocky areas here as with the other beaches we’d seen. Gazing out at the striking azure blue of the ocean, it was to hard to imagine that a few years before over 180 people died when the tsunami hit American and Western Samoa in 2009. It shattered the lives of the locals and shell shocked the surviving tourists who were on the island at the time. Samoans all around the world who maintain very strong ties with their family back home grieved for their loved ones and tried to make sense of the catastrophe that completely wiped out whole villages. Lalomanu beach was the worst hit on the south coast. For a very long time afterwards, family members from all corners across the seas flew in to help with the clean up along with the shell-shocked locals. It was a while before Lalomanu’s stretch of pristine white sand regained the beauty it was always known for.

It would seem insensitive that we enjoyed ourselves swimming and sunbathing throughout the day, but that is exactly what the locals want tourists to still be able to do. This is their utopian paradise and yes they are no doubt still hurting from that destructive event but it’s important to them that visitors see the island for it’s beauty and splendour that they are so fiercely proud of. We’d paid a small fee to sit on the beach, but opted not to hire a beach fale (house) for the day for a small extra cost, preferring instead to let the sun wash it’s rays over our bodies.

Well done Samoa, fa’afetai lava (thank you very much) for your hospitality. Keep a spot for us on those gorgeous beaches of yours, because we’re coming back to visit you again and again.

En route to the UK, we stopped off in LA for three days to luxuriate in the gorgeous warm rays of the December sun. When we walked out of LAX, the sun was definitely shining but the air wasn’t warm at all. I’d arrived with great expectations, bathing suit in tow but what we actually needed were our winter coats that were snuggled tight in our checked in luggage back at the airport (maybe this is a slight exaggeration, however coming from our Kiwi summer it certainly wasn't the Californian climate we'd expected).

Here are my top 6 picks for a wintry LA Layover:

1. Pancakes and bottomless coffee

Nothing conjures up a true blue American experience more than pancakes and coffee. After we checked into our quirky little hotel in Venice Beach we headed out to the Marina to indulge our ravenous tummies. IT.WAS.SOOOO.GOOD! Besides pancakes, the other 'American thing' to do is to eat waffles, but you shouldn’t really do that in one sitting. Waffles and pancakes are best appreciated when they’re eaten separately.

2. Venice Boardwalk

Hot or cold, strolling along Venice Beach Boardwalk fully engages your eyes and ears with an eccentric, eclectic, electrifying experience as you walk through the throngs of tourists. The walk is lined with people selling their wares, the syncopated beats of the buskers coming from all corners. There are scores of performing artists scattered throughout, some of whom can twist themselves in freakishly vaudevillian contortions (and there actually was a 'Freak Museum' stood in the heart of the boardwalk alas we didn't venture in). Signage touting medicinal marijuana are a bakers’ dozen along here, interspersed with the ubiquitous souvenir and food stores. It has a very hippie vibe to it, free love and all that – so chilled and laidback. Muscle Beach (part of Venice Beach) plays to the Hollywood persona very well in that it feels like it’s more of a movie set, its “patrons” with their fake-bronzed ripped bodies working out (most likely in addition to the full work out they’d already had at the gym earlier in the day).

3. Bus Tour

You cannot come to LA and not do a bus tour. It’s like a law or something that you have to go on one, I’m sure of it. LA is spread out and unless you’re game enough to hire a car and drive on the opposite side of the street with an unfamiliar landscape, then the only way you’re going to see more than you would without said car, is to jump on one of these tours. Our bus took us along all the usual tourist spots including Venice Beach (Baywatch), Santa Monica, Rodeo Drive (I heard myself saying “big mistake, big, huge!” a la Julia Roberts “Pretty Woman” as we drove along this road) and Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. We were on one of those tours where you could hop off and have a look around, which prompts my next highlight of course…

4. Hollywood Boulevard “Walk of Fame”

Even if you don’t do the bus tour, a first trip to LA isn’t right without a walk along this star-studded boulevard, searching for your favourite silver screen heroes and heroines. We were very much the tourists snapping as much as our SD card could handle, and of course I was marvelling at the gigantic Christmas trees everywhere. This tinsel town certainly knows how to bling itself up during the festive season.

5. Hollywood sign

When you tire of the stars, you can pop into one of the malls and from there blag yourself a good viewing spot of the “Hollywood” sign on the hills. It’s one thing to see this sign on TV or at the movies, but to see it with your own eyes is unreal. There are many other excellent spots to see it from, like the Griffith’s Observatory (we didn’t have time to go there, although we hear it’s well worth driving or hiking up to).

6. Santa Monica

There is a sign nestled between the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant and the arcade that signifies that it’s the end of the legendary Route 66 trail, a route that takes you all the way from the east coast to the west, and which (according to atlasobscura.com) symbolizes that the road only ended because the sea stood in its way. The pier is a great spot for everyone, particularly families, because if you don’t have time to hit Anaheim to spend all day at Disneyland, the amusement park here complete with rides and arcade games is just as good a second-best as any…kind of. The upside is that the lines aren’t as long! I was delighted when I found a Zoltar machine, as this took me back to Tom Hank’s 80s classic “Big” which is one of my all-time faves, and yes, it really does work like it does in Big…except I don’t know about the wishes coming true bit.

Further inland, you’ll find several malls and bars. We dined at a lovely Mexican restaurant where the food was fresh, tantalizing and divine as you can only expect on the Californian coast. The cocktails were just as good, but we couldn’t imbibe so much given we had to catch our flight the next day.

By the way, the food trucks are famous in this area. There’s a spot on Main street where the trucks gather on Tuesday nights (except public holidays) and it becomes a tantalizing smorgasbord affaire.

7. The Butchers Daughter (Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice Beach)

Ok, there’s only meant to be six spots, but I wanted to give this restaurant a special mention. Ever the hungry travellers, we’d found a delectable vegetarian’s treasure trove at “The Butcher’s Daughter”. In preparation for further exploring, we fuelled ourselves with a classic Avocado Toast for me, and the Surfer’s Breakfast for the other Brit-Kiwi (burrito with eggs, avocado, black bean mole, potatoes, green salsa and sour cream). There is a great proffering for vegetarians, and it’s always a fantastic day when I find I can eat everything on the menu. Oh LA, you really do know how to appeal to a vegetarian’s heart!

Note: The Butcher’s Daughter also has two sister restaurants in New York (Nolita and West Village).

Will we come back to LA again? Absolutely. We barely dipped into its goodness given our short stint. We hear there’s so much more to experience, so we’ll be back LA…thank you for having us.

The Tongariro Circuit is not a path well travelled, not when you compare it with the Crossing which is the more popular track for tourists and NZers alike. I realised this when I had to explain that the Circuit is a 4-day 43 km hike to several people, not the 1-day 19 km trek they were familiar with. People were mortified when I explained that we were doing the Circuit, and screwed their faces up at the thought of 4 of us “being squashed up with the cast of thousands” in the Department of Conservation (DOC) huts on each of the three nights, and even worse...with no shower facilities or warm water. Although, to be fair my response was quite similar except I peppered that with lots of shrieking.

But I digress. I had other things to worry about, like my lack of fitness for this type of endurance for one thing. I didn’t want to be the one who slowed everyone else down, so I booked myself in with an amazing personal trainer Joanne Pearce of JOFIT, to help me build up my strength and stamina. Let me tell you, this is not my comfort zone at all and it was hard slogging it out at the gym but I got there in the end.

We booked our three nights at the DOC huts in advance, so were able to plot out how far we had to hike between each point on any given day, deciding to follow the recommended route and section given this was our first multi-day hike for any of us.

We packed all our essential kit ie pots, pans, plates, food, drinks, suncream etc into our brand new 35L hiking backpacks, along with our rain gear and hiking boots - then headed off to beat the Waitangi weekend traffic.

Day 1 - Whakapapa Village to Mangetepopo Hut: 3 hours, 8.5km

The four of us assembled ourselves at the Whakapapa village (pronounced: Fah-car-papa) and set off in great spirits. The first section was primarily flat-ish, albeit very muddy and boggy. For some reason, we found navigating the mini stream crossings a bit amusing, likely due to the expectation that we would trip and fall in the water (we didn't). This first bit of the hike wasn’t overly challenging and throughout that first day, we marvelled at the majestic scene that is Mount Taranaki (pronounced: Tah-rah-nah-key). It was overall an enjoyable yet still tiring walk that day. The biggest challenge was the weight of the bags as we were carrying up to 18kgs each. I found this particularly difficult. I tried to keep the whining to a minimum, but over the next few days I found that I got used to carrying the weight and therefore the whining waned.

About three hours or more after trekking through the valleys and taking in a quick lunch stop to refuel, the Mangetopopo Hut was a welcome haven. If you’re only used to extravagant five-star hotels, then this will be a huge eye-opener for you, but all part of the experience. You’ll find that after a day of hiking one can’t complain because even with its basic facilities and the size or slight lack thereof, it will indeed shelter you from the raw elements of NZ’s often unforgiving weather.

We claimed our bunk beds for the night (in a side room off the main bunk room and kitchen/seating area), and prepared our chef’s special for the night, a-la-freeze-dried cuisine. Good tucker that was, and we settled in to relax and take in the last of the day’s sun. And what a visual feast that was. Mount Ngauruhoe or Mount Doom as it is now more commonly known amongst Lord of the Rings (LOTR) fans around the world, is just stunning and we marvelled yet again at the beauty of this gorgeous country we call home.

Day 2 - Mangetepopo Hut to Otuerere Hut: 5 - 7 hours, 12.8km

Although we were up and ready very early on Day 2, we still seemed to be the last to leave the hut, we put this down to the other Brit-Kiwi’s amazing ability to faff (ahh, hard life).

We’d been forewarned that the second day of this trek is the hardest, and as much as I was hoping this was a joke...it was not. We kicked off on the boardwalk, which made for pleasant walking. As this section is a popular route for the Tongariro Crossing day hikes, there were scores of hikers on this path - and this contrasted quite starkly with the previous day where we saw nobody, except for the dozen or so at the hut.

And then we came to the steps, of which there were thousands (possibly an exaggeration, but near enough). They don’t call it the devil’s staircase for nothing!! I’m not going to lie, I had to stop regularly to catch my breath - as did many other people. It is tough yakka, and there may have been a few tears. I thought back to my Personal Trainer Jo telling me to push myself further, and I just had no idea how much building that mental toughness was going to mean to me, and I regretted swearing at her. The physical aspect is crucial, but it’s the inner conversation you have in your head that is the make or break of pushing you over that line. I had a new appreciation for what athletes must go through. I couldn’t imagine having to constantly reach so deep inside my head to take that extra step forward.

The terrain we had to walk through is rugged and stony, like you might expect to see on the moon. I sighed in relief when I thought I’d reached the top, but then I looked up and with a sinking feeling realised there was even further to go. It was insane! It was the steepest bit of this climb, and there was loose gravel so we held onto the chains to avoid taking a tumble.

We were elated when we finally reached the top. Mount Ngauruhoe stood in all its beautiful glory and the view of the stunning emerald lakes with their vibrant rich blue and green hues was sight that made it all worthwhile. The surrealness of being in a spot we’d seen countless photographs of was mind-boggling.

We opted out of hiking for a further few hours to summit the mountain. We still had the remaining hours of trekking with our heavy backpacks to the Outuerere Hut, so we embarked on our descent, careful to take each step down with care as it is easy to take a tumble, which I nearly did several times - but not bad for someone of a clumsy nature. A few crazy cats ran helter-skelter down the slope, perhaps they thought the faster they went, the less likelihood they had of falling down. I don’t see the logic in that but fair play to them, they seemed to get down in one piece.

We stopped for lunch by the emerald lakes. We were physically tired but the magnificence of the picturesque lakeside setting even more spectacular. With the “worst bit” behind us we ventured off and took the Circuit path to the right, with the Crossing path of the one-dayers to the left.

Thank goodness we had our walking poles. I’d balked against purchasing these, but without them, we’d have taken hours longer to navigate our way down the steep inclines.

The next bit ahead was fairly flattish terrain, but it seemed to go on forever. We did, however, have a bit of entertainment along the way, with our two Brit companions acting out LOTR scenes which they loved. Unfortunately, this was lost on me because I’m rather ashamed to say, given I am now a true blue Kiwi resident, I have never watched any of the LOTR movies. The other Brit-Kiwi kept trying to pull our little group along and kept up the morale by telling us that the hut we were dying to reach was “just over the next ridge”. Imagine our disappointment each time we reached each ridge only to find out he was lying. But I can tell you that when we finally spotted the roof there was a lot of whooping and hollering going down!

No doubt if you’ve clicked on this blog, then you may have done a bit of hiking yourself so you’ll have felt the same euphoria that enveloped us as we took off our boots and sat down for ten minutes. Trekking all day really does help you to appreciate the little things in life.

This hut was a lot smaller than the first one, and the majority of the bunk beds were in the main kitchen/seating area. We spent some time comparing notes with the other hikers and deftly prepared our cuisine du jour, pasta in a packet before falling down gratefully into our beds. We were pleased that we were halfway through the trek, and thus it was a sound sleep for all of us after a hard day out on the stones.

Day 3 - Otuerere Hut to Waihohonu Hut: 3 hours, 7.5km

The next day was a much easier trek, anything would be compared with the previous day, but it was also a shorter day for us in terms of distance and time. We were keen to reach the third hut, particularly after hearing that it was the swankiest of the three.

We trekked through a very diverse landscape, ranging from desert-like areas and then several forests that were lush and green including one that had a steep incline that we were not expecting, and then our hut was just yonder.

The Waihohonu Hut was colossal and modern. There were separate bedrooms on each side of the cavernous dining area. We could understand why we were told it was the swankiest of the huts. After claiming our beds, we headed off to the local stream to cool off. It was a scorcher of a day, and we were sweltering in the heat. The stream was connected to a spring and the water was clear but freezing. We loved it!

Given it was our last night of the trek, we decided to pull out the big guns prepared our cuisine du jour - Riz a-la-packet (rice from a packet), finished off with a mug of hot chocolate...mmmmmm!

Day 4 - Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Village: 5 hours, 14.3km

I had a cold beer and hot shower calling my name, so I was motivated to get us moving quickly because it was going to be a long day with just over 14kms to cover. We had to drive back to Auckland directly after completing the hike, so we made sure we were up and ready to go before the crack of dawn. We wanted to cover a good amount of distance before the sun rose and roasted us with its hot rays, because that would make it much harder to hike.

I led the cavalry on this last leg of the trek and we had a good pace going. By the time we reached the Taranaki falls, a short distance from Whakapapa Village and the end of our Circuit, we were happy to stop and reflect on what we’d achieved while taking in the sumptuous scenery before us. We still had another 40 minutes to go, but that last little bit felt like hours. We knew we were so close to the end, yet our legs wanted to give up. We had to reach deep down from within to muster up enough energy to get ourselves over the line.

You know, never in my life would I have imagined that I would be so happy to see our car, but indeed I was. We all were. Even more so than we were to see the huts at each point. We stripped off our boots and outer layers then sat down on the concrete for fifteen minutes before embarking on our journey home.

When we considered that we were all complete novices at multi-day treks, we were very proud of we had achieved - 43 kms, 4 days, 3 huts and no injuries (besides the blisters). It was by far the most physically challenging thing I have ever contemplated and I aced it. I’m already planning our next one, there’s no stopping me now!

The Cook Islanders that you meet in New Zealand will tell you that Rarotonga is a very quiet, small island with not a lot to do. Some are almost quite apologetic, but others boast about it and this was exactly what we were looking for. We didn’t want an actioned packed 3-week trip, we wanted our skin to soak up the hot sun and our feet to feel the graininess of the white gold sand. We looked forward to diving into the refreshing, transparent sea water and trying out all of the local delicacies…and this idyllic South Pacific paradise delivered all of that for us.

The Cook Islands (or the sometimes shortened form of “the Cooks”) were so named after Captain James Cook, another fellow Brit. It is made up of 15 [major] islands, and Rarotonga is the capital where we touched down on this balmy October night. We’d booked to stay at the Royale Takitumu Beach Bungalows in Titikaveka, an area which is a favourite amongst tourists and locals alike. The Bungalows sent a private air conditioned car to pick us up at the airport (an additional cost but so worth it after a late flight). It was lovely to have people waiting for us in a place we’d never been to before. In the traditional island style, they greeted us with fresh leis (local floral garlands generally made from freshly plucked exotic Frangipanis – the Tipani, or the fragrant island gardenias – the Tiare Maori). It felt like we were in one of those Elvis movies, particularly with a local welcoming us with his ukulele strumming and smooth crooning of an island love song as we disembarked the plane and made our way through passport control and customs. It seemed to add to that surreal vibe that you feel when you step into the tropics. Our driver further expounded that vibe when they offered us a glass of champagne or orange juice to enjoy on our ride, which was a lovely touch to our welcome. Kia orana!

The other Brit-Kiwi and I had been working in the office right up until a couple of hours before we left for the airport, and although it was a fairly short trip from New Zealand (4 hours), we were quite tired so we slept very well. After breakfast we headed over to the reception area and Mii (pronounced Mi-eeee), one of the hosts for the property explained what was what, and gave us some very helpful tips for exploring the island.

We spent some time exploring the luscious green grounds with the towering coconut trees and ponds which led out onto the spectacular Titikaveka beach. There we had our choice of hammocks, sun loungers and kayaks that were available for our use at no cost. I’d thought that these would be snapped up by the early risers, but there wasn’t a rush of people using these at all so these were always available whenever we wanted to use them.

The beach was deserted much to our delight, and we made the most of being in the lovely warm water. It was like our own private beach. We swam, sunbathed, read and explored all day, leaving the beach only to venture back to our bungalow every so often to top up our homemade Mojitos.

Mii had offered to take us to the supermarket to get some supplies, but we’d already come prepared with a suitcase of snacks etc, having been forewarned about how expensive imported food is to buy on the island. However, Mii’s offer was just one of many examples of how friendly and helpful the Cook Islanders are.

We visited the local Saturday market in the town centre where we sampled traditional Cook Island food and drank from coconuts. I also purchased a beautiful handmade faux- floral headpiece to bring home, and proudly wore it around the island. It felt like I was wearing a crown, it was gorgeous.

We hired a scooter to get us around the island. They seem to be so relaxed about it here. As you’ll read in thousands of other blogs, their “test” is literally you driving the scooter down the road and back. If you don’t fall off and pay the $90 fee, then you are gifted a Rarotongan motorbike license. Also, not wearing a helmet isn’t an issue here, but we’ve heard many horror stories about motorbike accidents, so if you come and decide not to wear a helmet, you do so at your own peril - we would advise against it!

Most of our holiday was centred around water activities and/or food. We snorkelled at the Fruits of Rarotonga which was fantastic, but snorkelling outside our hotel in the lagoon was just as good. We also headed up to the Wigmore Waterfall and enjoyed a good few hours letting the cool water rain on us. Having the fresh water wash over our bodies was both relaxing and invigorating. A definite must for all visitors to this paradise.

Even our delicious dinner at the Sandals Restaurant (Pacific Resort) on Muri Beach involved water – there was a rain storm hammering down around us, bringing some light relief from the tropical heat. I loved that even this small island nation had a good selection of vegetarian options, which were delectable, and nicely rounded out with the obligatory cocktails.

A visit to the Cooks isn’t complete without an “Island Night”. A traditional island cultural dance show which is held in various hotels. We attended one on Muri Beach, and enjoyed the dinner and floor show which entailed island dancing, island drums, guitar and ukulele maestros. The island drums are made from a hollowed-out Coconut tree and have a distinct sound under the right hands. There is no other culture on this earth that drums the way the Cook Islanders do. The ukuleles are made from the trees of the mango, breadfruit, teak etc, and these also have a very distinct sound and way of playing it (very fast!).

The hula dance is known as the “hura”. Hawaii, Tahiti and the Cook Islands all utilise this style of dance, but they each have their own flavour of that dance which the locals can tell apart – but to the untrained eye such as ours, we wouldn’t know the difference.

The dances tell a story through their graceful movements. It could be a story about one of the local legends, or budding romance, a lovers’ tiff, or the tears of a mother farewelling her son. The dance ranges between the slow undulating of the hips, to the frenzied shake accompanied by the same tempo of the music. It is certainly mesmerizing to watch and I couldn’t help but be a little envious of the rhythm of these dancers.

It was with a lot of reluctance that we embarked our flight back home to NZ. The two of us were very relaxed and our short stint in this island life really suited us. We completely fell in love with this secluded island paradise. The pure fresh air, stunning scenery – both oceanic and the lush green, the friendly easy-going manner of the locals, and the relaxed vibe makes for a perfect island getaway. This is one place on earth we’d be happy to visit again and again.

Dubai has never featured anywhere near the top of my global visits wishlist, but a stopover on our way back from the UK to New Zealand seemed a good enough reason as any to explore this exotic sandpit.

A seamless and relatively quick transition through passport control and customs at the DXB airport, meant we were travelling along the highway in our taxi in no time at all.

The Bonnington Jumeriah Hotel is situated in the JBT Jumeriah Beach Towers area , and we had to drive past the monumental Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) to get there. I’d love to write that the magnificence of the Burj Khalifa was a sight for sore eyes for these two weary Brit-Kiwis, but I can’t because neither of us could see it on account of it being such a foggy morning.

What I can write about is my eyes widening and jaw dropping when I walked into the hotel lobby and looked up at the hotel’s splendid Christmas tree stood majestically in the lobby. Christmas is a very special time for this Brit-Kiwi, and it was like Christmas had followed me around the world – from the warm, balmy climate of New Zealand to the chilly frost of the UK, and now the arid heat of this gorgeous desert in the United Arab Emirates.

I must confess, I did fan-girl over the sight of the adorned tree while the other Brit-Kiwi stood rolling his eyes. But it was very much a contradiction in this non Christian nation and one I certainly wasn’t expecting to see. Surprisingly, it would be the first of many we would see on our little adventures around this city.

The lobby itself boasted a large marbled floor, and the friendly, very helpful service we received from the Irish girl on reception helped to augur a very good start to our stay.

We were weary from our travels, we needed to sleep but we also didn’t want to waste any precious time in the sandpit. A few hours kip was sufficient to revive us enough to venture out to the Dubai Marina on the Metro from the JBT station, a few minutes’ walk from our hotel.

Walking around the marina, it felt like we could have been in any cosmopolitan city in the world. It has that certain kind of vibe, an almost Singaporean feel to it – modern, yet relaxed despite all the skyscrapers and lots of construction works and the ubiquitous cranes around the city.

We stopped in at an Italian restaurant nestled by the water, a setting that in any other hip city would call for a bottle of Italian bubbly – but of course under UAE law, this was not one of those settings. Yet, the lack of this service didn’t dampen our experience, and we settled back into our chairs lazily watching the very diverse mix of people walking by.

The next day we headed out again. I pause to note here that a very close second to diamonds, shopping is a girl’s next-best-friend. While men all over the world will collectively groan, there within the vast dominion of the Dubai Mall, shopping also becomes a man’s best friend. Everything you can think of is catered for here. It is a colossal mall of epic proportions, with an almost equally titanic-sized aquarium and underwater zoo of aquatic animals that extends through the middle of the mall.

Spread over the many levels of the mall, are in excess of 1200 shops of all types from the expensive high end tastes to lower priced bargains you can barter for. There was no shortage of man-toys to keep the other Brit-Kiwi distracted while I browsed through the clothing racks at the infamous Fashion Avenue.

You could spend the whole day and evening at this mall and then come back again for more. Afraid you’ll get hungry? No problem, the Dubai Mall boasts 200+ eating houses and proffer all sorts of tantalising dishes and treats.

If you have grizzly children in tow, there is a whole floor dedicated to keeping them occupied. An indoor theme park equipped with thriller rides and arcade games along with an educational Kidzania village. Or perhaps you need to bribe them to be on their best behaviour by dangling the promise of an ice skating escapade? Because the mall also has an indoor rink. I know!

I honestly can’t think of any other mall in the world that I’ve been to that can match the glamour and extravagance that this place oozes. Hands down, the decadence of the Dubai Mall is unparalleled.

It was difficult to pull ourselves away from the mall, but a visit to the Burj Khalifa was next on our itinerary and we wanted to see it in all its glory before the sun set. As we stepped out, this towering beast of a building loomed into our vision and snatched our breath away. It’s so tall and large, that you struggle to get it all into a photo in one go. We explored the outside of the building before heading inside where we’d made a reservation for refreshments. The view was as spectacular as the price of the food and drinks, but we’d expected this due to the minimum spend stipulated when we booked a table. We relaxed with a couple of [expensive] cocktails as the sun started to drop into the horizon and the fountain show started to get underway. I was so taken by it all that I missed the guy at the table next to us proposing to his girlfriend. Whoops! I’m sure it was lovely, good luck to them I say!

Day three saw us catching up with friends who live just outside of Dubai, then we set off to explore the infamous souks (markets) which contrasted to the lavish stylings of the Dubai Mall the day before, but impressive all the same. We also visited the Jumeriah Beach area which I utterly adored, and again it had that same relaxed vibe we experienced at the Marina on our first day. We managed to squeeze in a short visit to the Palm via the monorail (an island literally shaped like a palm). While it looked lovely, the one resort housed on that island felt very much like an overpriced commercial resort that seemed pretty noisy (likely due to the loads of children) so perhaps if you don’t have any little nippers yourself, and want to sunbathe uninterrupted without lots of squealing or squabbling (lol) you might want to steer clear of here. But having said that, I know of people who have stayed on the Palm, and others who have eaten there and enjoyed it. I guess it’s down to whatever your cup of tea is really.

My overall experience in Dubai was very enjoyable and thankfully we didn’t face any issues being an unmarried couple which people often warn you about. I thank my lucky stars I didn’t faint in the heat, but given it was their winter the temperatures hovered around the 26 degrees C mark.

I guess one thing I noticed which is a debatable topic is the 'strict' dress code for all women in Dubai . I spotted a lot of other tourists who were choosing to ignore that code. My personal view is that as a guest in another country that isn’t your own, one must respect the views and codes of that country. If it tells women to cover up, then why not do so - it’s not that hard. Others have the view that Dubai is so cosmopolitan that it doesn't matter and as it's not enforced, they do as they please. It's definitely flexible but an interesting point to note when you are over there.

Would I want to stop over in Dubai again? You bet I would! So obviously a man-made city, but a very sophisticated one at that with loads of buildings popping up everywhere. Dubai is a city that is moving forward and at a phenomenal pace, and one that is so vibrant and full of life!