Time out with family and friends :)

Hello everyone,

I fear I've returned to my old posting habits...... a month without posting this time!! Oh well, plenty to tell you all about :). Let's start from where I left off last time.

Matthew, Dad and I headed to Dubai for the Rugby Sevens a few days after my last post. It turned into a bit of a road trip with a 6 hour drive and a 45 minute wait at the border to get through (honestly, it was easier getting into Palestine than Dubai!!!). Plenty of interesting company though, including two camels in the back of a pick-up on the Omani side of the border!

Not your normal load at customs......

 The event itself definitely lived up to the hype, it was an incredible weekend with loads of great rugby. There were plenty of sing-alongs and antics in the stands with our fellow fans and comical commentary throughout from the announcers. And of course, the latest England rugby shirts were a must-buy! Sadly though England were knocked out in the semi-finals by South Africa (although it was very close!). Overall a great weekend away and can't wait until next year (its already in the calendar!).

The stadium

Beer to your seats!!

England beat Wales on day 2!!!

Matthew, Dad and me on day two. Flying the colours for England!!

A few days after coming home from Dubai our old neighbours and very good friends, Andy, Christian and "little" Theo, came out for a ten day visit. After bunking with them for most of October it felt good to repay some of the hospitality! After a few days relaxing we drove out to a beach an hour and half from home for a BBQ on the beach. The location was perfect and the water was the ideal temperature. It was also the first major outing for our new(ish) Jeep Wrangler. Needless to say, we had a blast driving that around. We spent most of the afternoon entertaining ourselves, and the locals, building a rather impressive sand castle with Theo. After an amazing BBQ of steaks, sausages and homemade burgers we toasted marshmallows before heading home.

The beach

Our finished sand castle, quite an engineering feat!

The locals loved the new edition to the beach!

Me and the Jeep :)

Dad mans the BBQ

The perfect end to the day :)

 

 A few days after, and keen to make the most of mine and Matthew's PADI qualification, the four of us (Me, Matthew, Dad and Andy) headed out for a day's diving along two of the many reefs along the coastline. It was also the first outing for Dad's new GoPro camera, and it didn't disappoint!

 

Matthew, Me and Andy on the ride out to dive site 1

 



 Our first dive took us along a reef clinging to an underwater cliff. The fish and corals were amazing and there was plenty to see. Including the somewhat freaky but kind of cool Moray eel. We saw an especially big one!!

Matthew and Andy lead the way along the reef

From left to right: Matthew, Me and Andy

The large Moray eel!

 

After a 45 minute interval we headed back down the coast to a bay for dive two. Visibility was much better on this dive and the wildlife didn't disappoint. 

Me and Andy during our break

Me and a Puffer-Fish

Matthew needs to relax a little more......

From left to right: Matthew, Me and Dad

A baby Moray eel checks out the camera

After a few days at home we headed to a beach resort down the coast for a chilled out afternoon on the beach. The beach was heaving with crabs and starfish which kept Theo occupied for hours!

having fun in the waves with Theo :)

Matthew and Dad check out a baby starfish with Theo

Smile :)

 

 Soon though it was almost time for Andy, Christian and Theo to head home. But there was just enough time for a final adventure in the mountains. After hooking up with a group from our compound we headed out west in convoy for a day of canyoning at Snake Gorge. After a bumpy drive to the start point we all headed into the canyon. After four hours of jumping into pools, crawling over rocks and swimming through caves we all emerged slightly battered and a little bit cold but with huge smiles!

View of the canyon en route to the start point

Me after the first jump

The group about mid-way down the canyon

near the end of the canyon, Andy leads the way

 

Andy, Christian and Theo headed home the day after canyoning, leaving the house strangely empty. Fortunately I was wasn't bored for long as that day I had the chance to head out on a friend's boat for a bit of snorkelling. We got more than we bargained for though, on the way out of the marina we ran into a huge pod of Dolphins! Watching them in the wild was a truly amazing sight and I got some great photos.

Some of the dolphins swimming close to the boat!

 



 Half an hour down the coast we anchored up in a sheltered bay to start snorkelling. During a break on the boat we saw the resident turtle come up to for air, so it was back in the water for a closer look. This was truly amazing, swimming this close to a wild turtle was something I never thought I'd do. I was just glad my camera is water proof!!

The bay

The turtle, he's keeping an eye on a fish in the bottom left of the photo

A close up as he comes up for air

 



After snorkelling the last few days have been very quiet. The house is feeling more empty than its ever been on account of Matthew not being here. He's managed to get a four month internship at the local diving centre so he now lives in the staff accommodation down the coast. We won't be seeing much of him over the next four months as he only gets one day off a week. Not that it matters much for me as in just over 3 weeks I'm off to Nepal!! My final joining instructions have arrived and I need to start planning some lessons.

In the meantime we've got a Christmas BBQ and a new year's beach campout to look forward to so plenty to keep us occupied over the next month.

That's it for this entry guys, thanks for reading and see you again real soon :).

Beaches, Forts and a few Adventure Sports :)

Hi everybody

It 17:50pm here in Muscat and its 27 degrees!! We've been lucky with the weather these past few weeks but all that looks set to change tomorrow or Friday, more on that later.

Its been two weeks to the day since my last post so here are some of the highlights. Last Wednesday the Red Arrows paid a visit on their way to the Dubai Air-show. It seemed like half of Muscat was out to see them display off the beach by the Intercontinental hotel. Overall a great afternoon out and I managed to get some great photos.

 

3 days later Dad's Arabic course was running a trip to the town of Nizwa for a look around its souks and impressive fort. What many people don't know is that Oman was once a major trade hub for the whole region, one of the most important commodities Oman traded was frankincense which is still being produced in the south of the country today. Old forts dot the country on what used to be the old trade routes across the interior of Oman down to the coast. Nizwa fort is very well preserved and offers amazing views out across the town of Nizwa. The information boards throughout the fort give you a great idea about the fort's role and how its defences worked. Including murder holes for pouring boiling date syrup to false floors for attackers to fall through! 

The top of Nizwa Fort

Looking west from the fort's wall's

Looking north-East from the fort's wall, the mountains in the background

are part of the Hajar Mountain Range

 

One downside to travelling around in Oman is the very long distances between places. As a result, driving is essential if you want to get out and do anything. Luckily, the roads networks in Oman are extensive and very well maintained so driving for the most part is a largely comfortable experience. With the long distances its a nice bonus that fuel is very cheap here. The picture below is the petrol pump display after filling up our Mitsubishi Pajero on the way home from Nizwa. We filled up with 47 litres of petrol for £7.50 (equivalent)!!! 

 

£7.50 for 47 litres......... go on then :)

 

Luckily, Matthew and I are able to drive out here, so we've been out and about in the Pajero. As we'll probably end up going off-road on some of our future trips Dad took us to practice on some empty sandy brush-land just down the road from our house. We had a great time and I can't wait to try it again soon. 

Me and the Pajero during our off-road practice,

So now we come to the last few days and my definite favourite highlight of the last two weeks. Learning to Kite-surf!! Matthew and I signed up for 6 hours of lessons on Alzaiba Beach about 40 mins from home. On Monday we started with learning how to control the kite in "the wind window" and how to use the kite to "body drag though the water.

Me and Matthew and our instructor, Oleysha, exit the water at the end of our Monday lesson

Me and Matthew

Yesterday proved to be quite challenging. The aim being to stand up on the board! Not as easy as it looked as I found out..... I managed a few 2 second attempts but the others largely ended in horrific face plants :/. Matthew managed a few longer attempts but we both still need more practice

Me preparing to attempt to stand up

And a few seconds later......

One of my better attempts :)

 

Unfortunately progress on kite-surfing has to be delayed for the next few days. The wind has died down and we're expecting a huge storm on Friday. Oh well, something to look forward to after the storm has passed :).

 

So what's next? Alongside kite-surfing, Matthew and I are going to be completing our PADI scuba diving course. The online course is now complete, all that's left is to head down to the dive centre for our confined and open water dives. After that, hopefully we'll be able to get some scuba diving in with Dad. Next weekend we're off to Dubai to watch the "Dubai Rugby Sevens" and take a look around there. Can't wait!

 

So that's it for this entry, thanks for reading everyone and see you next time :). 

Start of an Omani Adventure :)

Hello again everybody,

My latest post finds me in the beautiful city of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman (no I'd never heard of it either before a year ago!). Find the attached map to get your bearings.

I've been here for just under a week now and have been grateful for space to relax after what has been a hectic October. Lets start from my last few days in Israel;

I left Palestine on the 27th of September after an amazing 6 weeks, a few hours on the bus brought me to Tel Aviv for a final day of sand and sightseeing before my flight home the next day. After a long walk through the midday heat I managed to find my hostel for the night (The Florentine Hostel in southern Tel Aviv). I took the afternoon to walk along the amazing sea front and down to the old port of Jaffa to take some photos. The early evening was spent on the hostel roof having a few beers with the other people at the hostel before heading out at 10:30 to a nearby bar for drinks with the nightly bar outing. The bar we landed in offered an "all you could drink" menu for 100 shekels (about £15-£20), needless to say we all had a great time. I staggered back to the hostel around 1:30am (the morning of my flight home!) and collapsed asleep on one of the sofas on the roof. This wasn't out of necessity, I'd booked an outdoor spot to sleep on!

I woke up around 9 and had a quick breakfast before heading out to Jaffa for some last minute souvenir shopping. The sea air quickly remedied my fuzzy head! I picked up my bag from the hostel at one and after some final goodbyes departed for the airport. And so ended an incredible 3 months in Israel. It was an experience I'll never forget but it was nice to be heading home :).

 A stretch of the Tel Aviv sea front, in the distance is the old port of Jaffa

 

 Looking north from the edge of Jaffa Port

 

The roof of the hostel in late afternoon, I ended up sleeping

on a sofa just out of shot on the right!!

 

October was a bit chaotic as we have no address in the UK now (mum has moved to France whilst Dad is living in Oman). After being reunited with Mum and my brother, Matthew, we spent October splitting our time between our nana's house and our neighbours'. I caught up with a few friends that had remained in the area (many have bomb-bursted all across the country to start Uni) and managed to go on a few trips with my girlfriend. Matthew left for Oman on the 23rd of October whilst Mum and I stayed behind to finish up with the packing and for me to attend a briefing course for my trip to Nepal in January (more on that later). Mum and I eventually flew out to Oman on the 30th of October and we were all finally reunited in Oman after so long apart.

Destination number 2: Oman

 

So here I am in sunny Muscat, where its a lovely 30 degrees!! My time here is mainly going to be spent relaxing with my family and enjoying all this amazing country has to offer. Whilst I won't be living as independently as the last 3 months I still plan on having an adventure. Matthew and I have just started our PADI open water divers qualification and are well into the online learning portion of the course. We're also planning on trying out kite-surfing alongside any other kind of adventure that comes our way. 

 

 Me practicing mask clearing in our compound pool with dad's scuba gear.

Here, i'm filling my mask with water to simulate my mask becoming loose

 





Me and Matthew "buddy breathing" in the pool

 

I'll be out in Oman until the 15th of January when I fly out to Nepal for 4 months teaching English in a village outside Kathmandu. I can't wait to get out there but in the mean-time I'll make the most of my time in Oman. I'll keep posting whilst I'm out here so stay tuned for updates.

 

Thanks for reading, see you all soon :)

The Dead Sea, school volunteering and a rescue mission

Hello again everybody, again sorry for a big gap in posts (my biggest yet this time...). A lot has been going on these last 3 weeks or so so here's an all in one update for you. 

2 weekends ago I headed to the Dead-Sea with Osama (our go-to driver). The drive down took us through some pretty barren desert before the Dead Sea came into view. We had an hour and a half to enjoy the scenery, float in the water and get a good covering of the sea's famous mud (legendary for the good it does for your skin). Due to its VERY high salt content its almost impossible to swim and so you just float and enjoy the sun. Its a very weird experience! Getting in and out is a mission though, the mud is a nightmare to walk through and not having flip-flops close to the shore when you get out can lead to burnt feet from the sand (as I discovered!). Defiantly a great place to experience and the views were amazing!

View of the Dead Sea, looking towards Jordan

Dead-Sea mud.....don't know it until you try it :)

Just chillin' :)

 Work at Paidia slowed down for the next 2 weeks so they set me up to go and help out at a kindergarten in Bethlehem in the mornings. The day after I started I was joined by another volunteer and house-mate, Tati (from San Francisco). Since then we've been splitting our time between the kindergarten in the morning and Paidia in the afternoon. Julian (our fellow house-mate) goes out and about on his work for the Abraham Path (a project that aims to establish a trekking route across the Middle East!) but he's usually home in the evenings.

Our work at the school sees us helping the kids learn shapes, numbers and colours mainly through colouring exercises. We also read them stories every now and again and playing with Lego is a favourite when work is done. Its great fun helping them learn but they can be a handful at times, especially when Lego starts flying around the room!!

Tati helps Jonathan with his colouring work

Me and Charlie mid-colouring exercise

Me reading to the class, Zeid and Alfred (lying across their tables) prefer to  take a nap!

Our evenings have been filled with movies, AIC lectures twice a week, games of "Carcassonne" (a classic city building board game) and the occasional night trip to Manger square for a beer and some people watching. I've really got to know the area over the past few weeks and the maze of streets now feel a lot like home. Learning local landmarks such as Manger Square has been a a great help in getting around.

Globalisation gone wrong?

So, what of the rescue mission in the title? Well, last Friday we found an adorable puppy hiding under a car from some stone wielding local kids. We talked the kids away and gave the puppy a temporary home in our courtyard whilst we searched for a more permanent home for her. Luck was on our side as yesterday Tati was able to take her across into Israel and to a shelter outside Jerusalem. The staff there will work to find her a loving new home in Israel. Dogs here aren't given the best chance of life here so it was nice to give just one a chance :).

Me and the puppy on the afternoon of her rescue

Final cuddles with Tati the night before Tati took her to the shelter

Work at Paidia culminated last week with the starting of a thursday "after-school club". We gave kids a chance to use the climbing wall, play a bit of football and get messy with paint whilst their parents drank coffee. It was great to muck around with the kids and I swear I'm getting better at football! Hopefully this project will continue after I leave. On the subject of leaving my last day of work here is a week tomorrow! And after that it's only a day and a half until I fly home! Time has gone really fast these past three months and I've had an amazing time. But it 'll be nice to get home and catch up with friends and family :).

That's it for this entry guys, thanks for reading and see you again real soon.