The Shifting Sands

I don’t like organised running events and it had been eight years since my last one, a 100km group run through the hills and forests to the north of Melbourne.   I don’t like the cost, the crowds, the overflowing portable toilets at the start and the T shirt that they give you that you don’t want and you will never wear again. My thoughts are that if you want to go for a run then just put on your shoes, grab a water bottle and go. I surprised myself when I felt some interest in doing the Wadi Bih run in the Musandam Governate in Oman.   In my defence there were a few extenuating circumstances that helped to spark my interest.   The first is that I like Oman and in particular Musandam as result of my sea kayak trip around the north of the peninsula. The second is that this part of Oman is normally difficult to reach as the border at Dibba is closed for foreigners (i.e. not Omanis or Emiraties) which means a long drive via Khasab.   The other alternative to cross a...

As I get older I like to learn new things.  In Mumbai it was the guitar and, over the last 4 years, I have developed in a a pretty poor guitarist but I enjoying kicking back of an evening and learning to play new songs.  Some are classics and some should only be played on a karaoke machine. Much to Lucy's disgust I have even learnt a Justin Bieber song! I am not sure what is worse, my guitar playing or surfing.  I am certainly no Jack Johnson! The beach hut at Horseshoe cove. Cocktails, fresh coconuts and the ubiquitous stray dogs In Dubai the new thing has been learning how surf.  Living overseas there is an implicit assumption that, as an Australian, I can surf. When explaining my lack of skills, I need to remind people that although most of the population live near the coast, there are still a few that grow up a long way from the beach with rivers as there only source of water based fun.   Our surfing started with...

For me, every new country has an Expat bucket list. These are the things that you "must" do before leaving the country.  The easiest and number one on my list for Dubai was a sea kayak trip around the northern tip of the Musandam Penisula. The Peninsula is an Omani exclave seperated from the rest of Oman by the UAE and which forms the southern shore of the Straits of Hormuz. A larger type of Omani fishing boat. Still a very traditional design. Prior to 1971, the UK administered the Trucial States or Trucial Oman.  The was a loose connection of sheikdoms with little formal government and included Bahrain and Qatar.  The British wanted to withdraw from the region but there was much debate between the sheikhs about control of regions. In the end, Bahrain and Qatar withdrew from the process and established their own states and in each of the remaining regions the locals were asked to identify with a sheikh as a mechanism for determining contro...