kef Halak?...How are you?

Above - Yes!!, the all important answer to, "is there ride able surf in Dubai?". Occasionally, only though. May as well shut down your computer now, because this is the most important thing you'll read here.

Above - No, this is not a shot indicating that B4 has 'special needs' and wears a head guard to protect himself from damage. Rather, B4 really loves wearing B1's head gear and playing "Hugby" in the back yard.

Above - B1 churning up the sands in the desert.

Above - When not 'driving Ms Daisy' to the shops, B2 freelances as a quad bike racer, here taking the inside approach to a quick corner?

Above - Meanwhile, B3 nonchalantly sets a course record in the peewee 50 category track.

Above - Madam Butterfly, a picture of concentration steps to the blocks as the announcer calls Australia's representative for the AAESS triathlon.

Above - With my team mates in the AAESS triathlon being from NZ, i had to emphasise we were here to win, not just make up numbers.

Above - What do you get when you team an Aussie, a Scot and an NZer?...the AAESS 2nd place getters and a barrel of laughs to go with it.

Above - Good mates as well as brothers, B4 and B3.

Above - With some emails eluding to the fact that i appear to never be working, it was appropriate that i included a work shot...shame the dress-up place only had The Village people outfits.

Above - 'Brothers in Arms'

Above - Just over the border in Oman, a recent find was this oasis (in middle of photo), nestled amongst some spectacular mountain terrain.

Above - I made mention of it a year ago, another example of the simply brilliant falaj irrigation systems used in the regions crop growing.

Above - You'll notice by the people in the back-ground, that we were the only ones to dress up for the party. Check out the style though.

Above - NS takes changing channels on the TV pretty seriously

Above - Come the spouse boxing matches, virtual games mirrored reality with FS KO'ing me in the 1st round!

Above - Poppy John timed his visit to see us after reviewing the Dubai Desert Classic schedule and was as stoked as the rest of us to follow the likes of Tiger Woods.

Above - After beating the Kingdom of Bahrain on home soil, B1 and B2 will be heading to the island nation to play the round 2 match up.

Above - Poppy John, and some aspiring golf pros at the Al Ain Golf Course.

Like all the good books i read, this blog entry has plenty of glossy pictures, is able to be re-read a dozen times and keeps you right up to date with the important things in life...kind of like a Seinfeild episode, it is a blog about nothing.

From the emergency ward of the last blog, B2 now has his cast off and although it has been 3 weeks with it off, he still has about 10degrees left before he can straighten it out fully. FS is a bit worried, but i keep telling her that if he takes up cricket as a bowler he'll be sweet with the swing and like Murilee, won't get pulled up with a suspect bent arm action.

FS's oldies have been and gone, of course the extra help around the house was great, the kids remembered them and loved having them here, John's egg and bacon breakies were a treat and the 2 weeks they stayed with us must have saved me about $3grand in phone calls between FS and her mum. Whilst we were keen to have them stay an extra week or 2, they became suspect about our motives after finding a list of chores and work plan to be carried out during this period, especially as theirs were the only names on the list. They decided to leave.

The kids sporting calender has been consuming allot of our weekends, with Rugby and soccer tournaments, mixed results, but the exciting news on this front is that we are all heading off to Bahrain at the end of March for a few days so that B1 and B2 can play in a rugby tournament.

FS and i were recently invited to a wii party. Now most people will know that this 'wii' is in fact a type of interactive video game setup. For some reason, both FS and i have never heard of such a thing and funnily, both of us read the invite as WWII, then thinking this meant it was a world war 2 dress up party. Our theory of course was supported by the fact that the hosts are here training the local UAE army and we considered their passion of the military to extend to parties? So to try and take this to an informative view of Australia's role in WWII, we decided to dress as the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels' (Papa New Guinea's native tribesmen who assist the Aussie troopers during WWII along the Kakoda Trail). Short of donning the loin clothes and bones through the nose we were informed what a wii actually is and decided to dress up anyway - only this time in some tight, white clothing and head and wrist bands. I'm happy to report that despite our social inadequacies, FS dominated the women's division, just getting pipped for a second placing, but i was indeed crowned wii men's champion.

At the risk that this blog is sounding more like a wrap-up by Mike Gibson and big Daryl Eastlakes on the Wide World of Sports; both FS and i recently took part in the Al Ain English Speaking School Triathlon. This was a teams event, the swimming length being 350m, the bike 11km and the run 5.5km...simple heh? Fran self nominated for the swim length, i was nominated by some mates to join them for the run length, still no problem right? In the month leading into the event, i was all but laid out with a bad flu and long hours at work were making this worse (yes i know, bring out the violins), but FS was confidently recalling to anyone who would listen about her under 12 heroics of winning a nipper race at North Narrabeen beach in a raging 10 foot swell (i became suss when i heard the size of the waves). The day before the big event, i was feeling slightly better (using the gauge of a walking corpse to a flem spitting Pakistani) and FS was still overly confident. I suggested FS try a few practise laps in our pool. You need to picture that the race pool is going to be 35m in length, our pool is 20metres. Panic on FS's behalf has now set in!!! On the first lap of our pool she has to stop 3 times, she says to adjust her goggles. The second lap her legs are starting to drop deeper and by the third lap she is taking in water and reaching for the side of the pool. It was lucky she didn't need resuscitation as myself and a group of others (who'd been subjected to her recalling of the under 12 nipper glory), were rolling in hysterics on the pool-side. FS didn't sleep well that night, and truth be known i was worried about my ability to get down stairs in the morning let alone run a race.

Race Day - I have to stress that like anything that happens in Al Ain, this event was pretty low key, relaxed and taken as more fun than anything else. But seriously, just between us, no matter what the event, everyone always wants to win or at least do well...admit it. Teamed with a couple of fit looking NZers, i was thinking this could be our day, I've got to put some pressure on the other teams prior to the start gun though...uh hu...the sports PE teacher from AAESS. If you're a PE teacher you'd want to be pretty fit and capable, so lets draw attention to the fact this guy has to be the favourite. Pressure is now off us and it's on their team. Anyway, the start gun goes off and so does FS, really digging deep, even ditching the goggles half way through lap 1, but finishing none the less and setting her team off to a good start. My team entered the run length in 4th position, by this stage the day had crept on, temps were now easily around 34c and really I've run out of excuses as to why i didn't make up the 1km deficit, but none the less finished the race with our team coming in 3rd position and FS's 2nd for the women's event. As for the PE teacher, yes his team won and he must have really felt the pressure and pushed himself too far as he crossed the line literally throwing up everywhere and unable to stand. Solid stuff!

In other news, i have found the first decent surf since being here. Stumbled across it quite by accident in the heart of Dubai on Jumeria Beach. Only coming in at about 2 foot, 3 foot on sets, a handful of guys were on it and having a ball. Looks most suited to a fish styled board as the waves looked a little fat and sectiony, but swell none the less and I'll be bringing back a board for sure.

We're all hanging out for June and July, for our planned holiday and return to OZ.

"Ozzy should use my training wheels"

Above - B2 with a re-set arm and his Doctor. Photos of the injury are also posted on B2's official 'Crusty Demons' website.

Above - With the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi Masters about to tee-off, Poppy J, B1, B2 and NS got in a little practise.

Above - Lulu Island off Abu Dhabi.

Above - Taking 'High-Tea' at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.

STOP PRESS!! Due to an unfortunate accident, the Crusty Demon's of Dirt (motocross riders) have had to cancel their world tour after star rider, B2, came off during training, severely breaking his arm in two places. Specialist flown in from around the world believe it will be at least 6 weeks until B2 is able to return to his bike, or until 'safety officer mum' has finished building the roll cage, harness and airbag system around his bike. The incident marred an otherwise event-less day for the Saunders in Al Ain. With all the Village kids in attendance, B2 was attempting to do a high speed skid down the main road of the village circuit. Using a borrowed bike, B2 was blissfully unaware that the bike's handbrakes were positioned opposite to his own. As he reached maximum speed and in front of about 20 other kids, he slammed on the back-hand-brake...or so he thought. Instead, the front brakes engaged, hurtling B2 over the handle bars like a human canon ball and the rest, as they say is history.

Taking a more somber position, the breaks (both of his right forearm bones) were quite serious, with his arm dangling 30 degrees in the wrong direction. We were lucky enough that one of our neighbours is a doctor and was of great assistance travelling to the hospital with us and calling the best orthopedic surgeon on the way himself. A few days later now, and B2 has had his arm re-set and sports a cast from shoulder to fingers. When he's not giving his own version of events, he's busy finding people to sign his cast, before offering them his own left-handed autograph. In fact all of the attention has led B1 to consider a stunt with more dire consequences..and therefore more attention?

B3 had the best take on events, when later that evening he suggested that, "B2 should use my training wheels...i never fall off with them".

In other news, Fran's oldies stopped in for a week where we basically saw and did everything that was closed during my oldies visit last November, including a round of golf where Poppy J was beaten by his S-I-L, not that we're bragging. The weather has been really cold of the last fortnight (amazing how cold 20-25C feels after 45-50C temps). We have even had a bit of rain for the last few days, although this is kind of like a mirage...you see it out the window, run outside to feel the rain, and it's not there?

Not much in the way of cultural or adventure type news this blog, so just a shorty.

Does Santa come to the U.A.E?

Above - Yes, i guess Santa does know where the UAE is. Mrs Claus was able to confuse Santa somehow about how many gifts he could fit into his sleigh. Convinced that it would be a reasonable amount, Santa was most surprised when he saw the huge pile to be distributed to villa 148 only. At least the kids left a cold beer and shortbread biccy out for him and some carrots and water for the 'reincamels'.


Above - Chillin in the desert after another evening of 'sundowners' and dune bashing.

Above - Chillin this time in the natural spring waters of Jebel Haffet.

Above - Nan and Pop came to visit and loved the Dhow rides on Dubai creek. Pop particularly was enthralled with the craftmanship that goes into the boats.

Above - Just like Aussie's fibbing about their pet kangaroos and koalas at home. We were able to convince Nan that we had to take the Camel to go shopping. Nan and FS head to town for a coffee.

Above - Nan and NS at Fossil Valley. No this place was not named after the visit of Nan and Pop.

Above - After watching B1 go around on the rugby pitch, B2 seized his chance and was a standout for the Al Ain under 8's.

Above - B2 breaking away again.

Above - B1 running it up against the Dubai Exiles team during the Abu Dhabi International Rugby Tournament.

Above - B1 playing for the AAESS soccer team. They thought they were plaing for Argentinia. Indian twins Melvin and Kelvin were good players, but we just liked yelling out their names together.

Above - BBQ with some neighbours; Clive, Noriko, Marcia, FS and B3.

Above - B3 and Kindy pal, Lotte.

Above - B4 at Snoopy Island, Fujairah.

Above - Fishermen heading out on the Gulf of Oman sunrise, Fujairah.

Above - Snoopy Island and beach. The breakwall just needs a little right-hander peeling off it for this to be the most perfect place in the UAE.

Above - Heading out for a banana boat ride. NS, Russell, Jenae, B2 and FS. Hardly any of us could walk after this. The boat driver cranked the 230HP engines to full bore and went mad, gotta love the safety over here.

Above - Sunrise over our camp at Sandy Beach, Fujairah.

G'day, and a belated Merry Xmas to all. We sent a bunch of xmas cards to all, so we hope these arrived on time or at least at all. Looking back at the last blog, it seems so long ago, and so much has happened over the last few months. We've had more rugby tournaments for the kids, a couple of birthdays, a visit from Nan and Pop, the kids were kicked out of school, we bought a new car, being camping again, had another local Muslim custom of Eid Al Adha (different to the last of Eid Al Fater), Xmas has been and gone, today is new year's eve and soon FS's oldies will arrive. Amougst all of this, we've almost finilised the residency visas for FS and the boys and yes...i've been doing a little bit of work too.

Next week will mark 1 year since i moved here; it's hard to believe that a simple 1 week assignment, turned into a 3month gig and then somehow, into establishing a business here and staying for this long. I never thought we'd stay longer than a year, and despite there being no guarentees in this part of the world we think we'll give it another year. Our logic...we've been through the hardest parts of dealing with all the beauracracies and paper work and other barriers, so let's hang around and enjoy another year, en shala.

So anyway, the summary for the last 3 months goes something like this - B1 and B2 got stuck right into their rugby and for a few weeks we were travelling every weekend to parts of the country to play 5 games a day type tournaments. Unfortunatly, the under 12's got a hiding in every match, coming up against much bigger and stronger teams. B2's team did really well, just missing the finals of a few occassions. The expat community is really very large when you consider the small % that would actually play in such tournments, yet the turnouts were massive.

B2 celebrated his 8th birthday during November. Convinced as we are that he has some perculiur ways about him, he was adamant that the only presents he wanted included a camel, a falcon and a few thousand dirhams...yeh right. A couple of turtles and and an aquarium later, we now have Jaws and Nipper as part of our travelling circus family.

We were all excited when nan and pop came to visit for a week. It was really nice to sit and catchup on all the family news and events from home; stuff that never really comes up in phone conversations or emails, like how i'm still their favourite child and the others were adopted anyway.

N and P were spewing that the week they chose to come, the pool was closed for maintenanace, the golf course was closed for upgrades and apparently during their cruise before coming here the entire country of Libya was closed for repairs also. Despite only being in town for a week, we managed to squeeze an enormous amount in. BBQs and drinks in the desert on sunset, dinners at the top of Jebel Hafeet, visits to the Gold Souk where P was chastised for not purchasing gold bars in N's honour, 4x4ing in Oman to see the fossil valley, wadi's (bullet casings found at one site left us looking into the mountains for rogue snippers) and more souks, there were camel rides and a visit to the Madinat resort in Dubai where a simple 'greasing' of the valet drivers hand opened up a world of exculsive resturants, arber rides and site tours normally reserved for the famous and good-looking, and of course time with the grandkids where our 'delightful' boys were able to demonstrate their familarity with N and P's company by rumbling, swearing and generally carrying on. We even let N and P have a day to themsleves to explore Al Ain in a taxi. They walked home from town, apparently too scared to experiance driving the streets of the UAE in a 1970's nissan with no seatbelts and Pakistan driver displaying the license of a red headed Scot's man??

Setting up a business here has been a huge challenge. It takes 2 days to register and obtain a business operating license in Australia. In the UAE, recent data from the Ministry of Commerce suggests that at best case it can be done in 68 days in the UAE. I took about 6 months, this includes opening a bank account (5 minutes anywhere else in the wolrd) 2 months here. I only received my visa card last week after opening the account in September. Consequently, starting a business here means my own and those of my family Visas needs to go through the company. A visa is the key to nearly everything here, without it, you may as well be from Mars. So understandbly, we were delighted when i recieved my visa in November (11 months after being here) and we have nearly crossed the line with FS and the boys now too. But not before the school insisted we remove the boys (B1,2 and 3) from school as they were not registered with the Ministry of Education etc etc. You can imagine the boys were devastated by this...not, but luckily we were able to manage a period of stay with the MoE, and look set to be right for the start of 2008 year, en shala.

You may remember the story about my car being over-run by beefed up Hummers and Range Rovers whilst travelling the highways. Well, my gaining the visa meant we could buy our own car here. Ahah!!, my chance to get some protection on the road and some style and extra grunt also. But what's this...FS decides she doesn't like the clour of her 2007 V6 Fuel injected, beefy- rear-ended Pajero she drives to her daily coffee and chats. No, she needs a more powerful and later model car that is coloured to match her new shoes. So yes folks, i am still risking life and limb everyday driving the shitty Lancer that requires Barny Rubble type motions to gain extra speed entering a round about to duel with the oversized SUVs boring down on me. FS in the meantime has upgraded to the Limited Edition 2008 Yank Tank Dodge Durango with a 5.7Litre Hemi V8 engine and personalised driver settings. I wonder if the visa means i can exercise the right to take an extra wife or two?

Just before Xmas, the Muslim culture celebrated Eid Al Adha. As all of the significant dates of the Muslim Culture are based around the moon, this is celebrated at different times throughout every year. Traditionally, Eid Al Adha, is celebrate 70 days after Eid Al Fater. A sheep or goat is sacrificed to signify the reinactment of Mohamoud's sacrifice of same when his son was born (this is my own very loose understanding of this event, not to be used as an exact interpretation in any major assignments or trivial pursuit questions please). This is also the time when so many muslims make their pilgramige to Meca (in Saudi Arabia). It is said that all Muslims should visit Meca at least once in their lifetime to ensure a good after-life. One thing for sure, on the official day of Eid Al Adha every ute, truck, boot and sunroof had a goat in it heading to a family feast.

We chose to go camping over this weekend over to the eastern seaboard of Fujairah. Camping on the beach just outside of Dibba, we were blown away by the absolutely amazing snorkeling over coral reefs and an island called Snoopy Island. Fair dinkum, the coral itself was really good, but the marine life was nothing short of fantastic. Small reef sharks, turtles, eels, urchins and the most amazingly coloured fish. The morning sunrises were wonderful...thanks to B4 for waking us to see these. We took a ride on a banana boat whilst away too. B3, our resident daredevil was with us as well as a couple of mates from New Zealand, heh bro, we went camping with. This was going to be fun, hopefully he would throw a few wild turns and send us catapulting into the sea a couple of times. Finally the boat cranks up, he's got two 115HP engines on the back, but surely he'll only use 1 of these? By the way, where is the spotter, i only see a driver? Before we know it, we are gripping the straps with every ounce of strength we have. Baiting the driver to go faster is FS waving her hand in the air like a cowgirl. B3 is hating it! The second engine kicks in, FS lowers her hand and grips the handles questioning her own wisdom at this previous baiting, B3 might be crying, i don't remember, check with him. First throw into the sea and B3 can't climb into the boat quick enough, leaving just 4 of us on the banana. The driver takes this as a challenge as he cranks the boat to full bore, he is not even watching to see if we fall off!!!, what the...now he's making a call on his mobile phone, probably telling his mates about these dam tourists he is using as shark burly. B3 is now smiling, looking back at our faces no doubt. None-the-less, we make it back to shore alive and to be honest stoked on such a thrill.

A week after Eid, is Xmas. We celebrated at home having the same ridiculously early start as every year (part of the fun), but with no family to go visit during the day, we are able to relax at home over a big cook-up breakfast and take a few cold beers with our neighbours (the christian ones that is). We had a great little party later that evening with all the expats living in our village and even a pop in by the big guy (santa) himself. Most of the expats have to work Xmas day here, as it is not recognised, but the kids are at least on school holidays for end of year break.

B1 celebrated his 11th birthday yesterday by having a few of his mates stay over and terrorise the village girls. And with that, we have pretty much brought you up to speed with our little adventure here. Wait a minute, i forgot to mention that FS and i celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in December (yes, if you do the maths of 10 years marriage and an 11 year old son, you will realise we had an immaculate conception). Now some would go on to say you get less for murder...not me, i know how lucky i am, FS tells me everyday.

Happy New Year to all, we miss you all greatly, but hopefully the blogs will bridge the gap a little and we are planning a trip home to Oz in one way or another during 2008. See you then!

Ramadan Mubarak!!

Above - The sun is setting, we'll just get over this next dune and set up camp...oh no! we're bogged up to axles.
Above - Just prior to getting bogged, we thought we'd found a nice little spot to camp. Suddenly we're being chased by a rogue camel, stamping it's hooves and barking camel spit at us. Was quite funny when we were finally out of reach.

Above - Roasted marshmallows, a camping favorite anywhere in the world.

Above - Dad said if i could do 20 push-ups I'd be allowed to sand board tomorrow, but this dam sand keeps getting in my mouth

Above - Ahh, the serenity. Can you hear that...nup, because the desert at night is the world's most quiet place.

Above - But Zach...won't dad notice 3 of his beers missing?

Above - B2 looking for another thrill; after scaling the sand dunes a few times, the quadriceps and calf muscles were burning..not half as much as the sand burns we got when falling off on a down hill run though.

Above - NS in full flight. Threw the shirt off, put on the boardies and pretended the sand dune was a 300ft wave. Note to self...at high speeds, sand burn is even greater and really hurts, put shirt on next time.

Above - Even though i only did 15 push-ups, B1 and B2 took me down the sand dunes.

Above - B1 about to drop in.

Above - B4 turned 2 this month and had a few mates over for a party.

Above - "Yes dad, this may be my best side, but the ball is coming and you're on the field, and i can't find my mounthguard in my pocket either...you're so embarrassing sometimes"

Above - B3 makes some repairs to his bike.

Above - Party time again for the girls!

Above - O.K, so our backline needs some work.

Above - "You tired?", "Yeh, must be these crazy long hair do's we're sporting now".

Above - "Ohhh Mum, how am i meant to look cool on the Coast of Oman wearing these floaties?"

Above - B1 and B2 swimming in sea off Oman coastline.

Happy Eid Mubarak to all of of our Muslim friends. We now have shirts that read, 'we survived Al Ain in Summer', and ' We survived Ramadan in the Middle East'. Ramadan is essentially the holiest month in the Muslim calender and the Koran mandates that fasting and other personnel sacrifices are followed as part of a cleansing and holiness process. Some say it is the scorching away of impurities the body and soul may have. None the less, it was another great experience to see how others live and go about their days and understand a little more about other cultures and traditions. Whilst we aren't forced to fast, it is still against the law to consume water, or foods or smoke in public from sun-up until Iftar (sundown), so this means all of the shops are essentially closed during daylight hours and the world comes alive at night, firstly for Iftar, the breaking of the fast, usually with dates and water and other traditional foods that get the metabolism going again, and then large feasting later in the evening. The working hours are shortened to about 5-6 hours a day (which was great!), and most of the locals sleep during the day to pass the time of fasting. Ramadan is concluded at the time of Eid and the equivalent to a Christian's 'Xmas', is enjoyed with loads of celebrations and a couple of days off work. Of course, even a public holiday is a little complicated over here...the timing of Eid (and all religious events) is based upon the moons. So until the official word is given, (usually only on the night it is sighted), no body knows when the holiday will begin. En shala.

So anyway, i find myself on the Dubai /Al Ain highway, I've checked my revision mirrors a dozen times, because I'm just about to overtake the 3 cars in front of me. The speed limit is 120km, I'll have to floor the tin-can Mitsubishi lancer I'm driving to get to about 125km and overtake these guys. OK, i can see for at least 2 km behind me and no-one is in sight or coming at breakneck speed behind me, but i still want to get this over with, you see too many accidents on the roads here to spend time in the fast lane. The CD player has the fine tunes of INXS going, I'm comfortable, things are going to be fine for this pass. Right, got past the first one, a 300,000dhs ($100,000)Ranger Rover, with a camel sticking it's head out the sunroof, I'd take a photo, but I'm now at the 125km mark, the steering wheel is starting to wobble a little, and i need to concentrate on getting past these guys before someone comes up from ......oh bugger, I'm distracted by the flashing lights of a black Hummer H3 careering down the highway, flashing his lights because I'm not doing the required 200km he needs me to, in order to keep out of his way. Before i know it, all i can see in my mirror is the shiny silver grill and the plated inscription of H3 in my rear-view mirror. If i press any harder on the accelerator, my steel capped boot is likely to go through the floor, the lancer is screaming at 12,000 revs and steam is starting to ooze from under the bonnet. For a second i think of the lovely new supercharged V6 Pajero FS is probably driving at 55km/hour on her way to a leisurely coffee with the other expat women; but I'm distracted from the thought of how handy that car would be right now, because i now have the Hummer trying to negotiate the 25cm between me and the centre median guard rail. I guess he wants me to move over, but i can't, because the Porche (yes, i am the only person in all of the UAE not driving a European performance or sports car) next to me will neither speed up nor slow down to let me in. I can't even give him a pleading look, because of the dark tinted windows he has. I have to get everything i can out of this car as quickly as possible. Shut down the A/C from notch 4 to zero. A sweat bead forms instantly on my brow; time seems to stand still as it trickles off my head, down my neck and negotiates it's way through the mass of chest hair, it stalls at the bellybutton, where through an 'osmosis like' process it is captured. Press skip on the CD player, time to lose INXS and swap it for, The Cure. 'Killing an Arab', is the first song to play. It seems to be just enough inspiration to this fine piece of machinery I'm driving, and at breakneck speed, I'm able to just nudge ahead of the Porche, enough to sway my lancer across his path and open the gap large enough for the H3 hummer to scream past me. He blasts a shot of his horn which is loud enough to send a crack down my passenger side window, and i in return give him a friendly wave and wish him well for his day.

On a fun note, we've done a couple more trips to Oman, which is really a wonderful place and is full of so many interesting wadi's and awe inspiring mountain ranges. We finally got our trip to Sohar (our first trip we ended up heading to Salhala 1,200 kms the wrong direction), and went swimming in the sea off the Oman coast. Their was enough wind swell for the B1, B2 and B3 to catch some bodysurfing.

A planned camping trip to Nizwa in Oman with some friends over the Eid weekend was cancelled, but we decided to head it alone to the sand dunes for a camp out. This was really the first bit of 4x4 driving since being here, and we had a ball. It seemed we had the entire desert to ourselves, that is until we found a great little patch of sand to camp and as we unloaded ourselves from the car, a rogue camel came charging over the hills, snorting and carrying on. If it wasn't so frightening, it would have been an absolute cack. I'd rev the car, he'd stamp his foot and snort. A real desert showdown, which he finally won, and we looked elsewhere.

We eventually found the perfect spot, nestled amongst some giant dunes, perfect for sand boarding. Deciding to move the car just a bit closer to unload the gear, we just sunk. In fact, it was only the chaise that held us 'afloat'. Rather than panic (B1 and B2 thought it hilarious to get out and let me know that the car was about to tip over), FS got the video camera and filmed the whole process (which was funny on watching it back), we unloaded the car and made camp. Desert camping is a great experience and a roaring fire and marshmallows just top it off. A 'tops' weekend for sure, the highlight of the sandboarding was definitely FS who launched down a gigantic dune at breakneck speed, (B2 had just re-waxed the bottom of the board for extra slip), I was sure when she hit the first grass clump, this would slow or stop her...no, she went airborne, landed and kept going, finally crashing into the tents below in a ball of flying sand. A funniest home video if ever, and yes, it is all on video camera.

In other news, B1 has caught the Rugby bug after staring in his first game for the AAA under 12's. Whilst a more experienced Abu Dhabi outfit won the day, the AAA organisers and volunteers do a wonderful job and the kids have a blast. B2 is staring in the under 8's team and play their first game next week. NS took out the inaugural Oyoun Village Golf Tournament by one shot, just happy to play golf again after 12 months off. The weather has cooled considerably to the low 40s and high 30s but in all seriousness, this is just beautiful from what we experienced earlier. B3 loves school and even pulls out the occasional Arabic word in conversations now. B4 turned 2 last week and loved his birthday get-together with his mates and FS continues to keep it all together and moving for her 5 favorite boys.