Gladlee of Guernsey

OMAN 2010 - May to December

A visit the next day to see Ron's Mum and dinner out with Geoff and Jenn, Yvonne and Lisa then back to Wellingborough for a few days before heading to Heathrow for our flight to Oman on the 17th. This was the time of the Icelandic ash cloud but our flight seemed to be running. But unfortunately it got cancelled at the last moment so we had to be re-booked for the following day and spend a night in an hotel again.

18th - 31st May 2010 - Oman

We stayed almost two weeks in the Majan Hotel before moving back to our old apartment block in Al Hail, but on the  top floor this time. A very nice fully furnished apartment with sea view and mod-cons like very large Sony Bravia TV and full satellite system - great for the World Cup. Ron settled back into his old job quickly and is enjoying having two full days at the weekend instead of half day Thursday and Friday. We made contact again with Muscat Divers and rejoined the club and went out diving on the 27th. Great to be back in the water. Julie started playing bridge again on Saturday mornings with many of her old friends still there, and started exploring some of her old bird-watching sites but the bird life is very quiet this time of year.

June 2010

The weather is very hot and humid, something to get used to again during the summer. We had another cyclone "Phet" come through on the 3rd June, almost exactly 3 years after "Gonu". It dumped a lot of rain but veered off a bit further south so not the same amount of damage in the Muscat area.

We drove out to Nakhal on the 18th and had a look at the springs and the fort though it was about 44ºC!!

On the 25th Neil organised a dive for club members with Global Scuba based at the Civil Aviation Yacht Club out to the Damaniat Islands. Two great dives though Ron and I managed to miss seeing the seahorse yet again.

July 2010

A relatively quiet month. Ron had an mri scan on his back and the result was that a small operation is needed. We went up to Saiq Plateau on the 8th/9th where it was lovely and cool relative to the coast. In fact it rained on and off on the Thursday. We stayed overnight at the Jebel Akhdar Hotel and then did a little trek on the Friday at Wadi Bani Habib, a favourite spot, down amongst the fruit trees. Julie managed to take a 'snap' of a bird in the sky which turned out to be the illusive Lappet-faced Vulture - a first.

It was an Omani holiday on the 10th so we went diving again at the Damaniats. The weekend 22nd/23rd was Julie's birthday so a lovely meal at Trader Vics with Fauz and Shahira and then a trip out to Quriyat on the Friday. We had a picnic lunch on the beach, a swim and then a drive back down the wadi between Amerat and Yiti. It was obvious that  cyclone 'Phet' had come through as there was not much of the tarmac road left but still a pleasant drive. We stopped by some water and Julie managed to find another new bird - a Sand Partridge.

Ron went off to the US/UK on business on the 24th for 9 days leaving Julie to play bridge, bird watch, attend the Dive Club's Annual Dinner and do some more diving.

August 2010

Julie went diving on the 2nd and we both went on the 5th. Julie joined the Women's Guild group on the 10th for a sailing morning down at the marina which renewed her dinghy sailing experience and was a very pleasant morning.

Ramadan started on the 12th and we dived again on the 13th, then off to India on the 15th. Flew into Delhi and stayed at the Shangri-La for three nights while Ron (and in fact J) visited  a factory on business and then took a car and driver down to Bharatpur for a couple of nights. We stayed inside the Bird Park at the Forrest Lodge which turned out to be adequate and was the best location to go off bird watching. We walked around the first afternoon then hired bikes the following day. Unfortunately we got a bit lost and it was very hot and humid being monsoon season so we struggled a bit and didn't see very much until we found the lake and saw some storks, cranes and herons. It was nice to see and hear peacocks (and peahens) in the wild and lots of other unusual birds. It took us six hours to get back to the airport in Delhi due to lots of traffic - mainly bicycles, rickshaws etc and then road works in the outskirts of the city.

The rest of the month continued as normal with Ron working and Julie playing bridge and running (walking!) with the Muscat Hash.

September 2010

We dived on the 2nd and then Ron went into Muscat Private Hospital on Sunday 5th for his back operation. Everything went well though the operation apparently was a bit more complicated than expected due to a trapped nerve and the length of time since the problem happened. Anyway he was walking the next day, stayed in a couple of nights and was home on the Tuesday. Ramadan ended and the Eid holiday started so Ron continued to rest while Julie looked after him (tongue in cheek!) and did a couple of dives. We drove down to Sifah beach one day for a swim and a picnic which was still nice though there is a lot of construction now in the area.

We drove up to Abu Dhabi on Sunday 19th and Ron was on a seminar/course Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. We stayed in the Rotana Hotel on Yas Island which was quite interesting as the Grand Prix track was just over the road. We stayed with Boff and Zana in Dubai Wednesday night and drove back to Muscat on the Thursday.

The rest of the month back to normal.

October 2010

The month started fairly normally with Ron working and Julie playing tennis, diving, bridge and hashing. We went up to Jebel Shams for the day on Friday the 8th which was lovely as usual and checked out new accommodation up there for when guests come out next year. Julie played bridge with Rita at PDO on the 9th for someone's leaving do and managed to come first. Ron went off to Singapore and China on the 12th for 10 days and had dinner with James in Singapore while there. Unfortunately James and Iris are splitting up so Iris will return to the UK and Kent early November and James will stay out there. Julie played in another bridge tournament on the 19th, for charity this time, with Roopa, and again managed to come first.

We drove up to Abu Dhabi on the 31st for Ron to attend ADIPEC, staying at the Aloft Hotel right next door to the conference centre. The hotel had an interesting bar on the roof which was a bit nerve wracking as it was high and narrow with only glass panels surrounding it. We met up with Kevin and Darryl from the US from one of Ron's principal companies and had dinner and drinks with them.

November 2010

We moved hotels in Abu Dhabi on the 3rd to the  Fairmont Bab al Bahr, a very posh hotel and we were upgraded to a fantastic room - once in a lifetime experience. We made the most of the hotel and had wonderful steaks in their Marco Pierre-White restaurant.

Julie played in the Shell Worldwide bridge tournament at PDO on the 7th with a friend, Ann Parker, and managed to come first, locally, again which was very pleasing. We had our Saturday bridge tournament on the 13th which was great fun and enjoyed by all.

On Thursday 18th we flew back to the UK for a couple of weeks. We stayed the weekend in Wellingborough and had our traditional Sunday lunch at Mum's with Phil and Alison, Miranda and Simon, (Sebastian and Madeline were both busy)

On Monday 22nd we drove up to Liverpool for Ron to visit a company on business, this we did on the way up, and then stayed at Jury's by Albert Dock. The owner of the company, Frank, and a director, Peter, joined us later for dinner at a local restaurant and we had a very enjoyable evening with them.

We drove over to Wakefield on the Tuesday to visit Yvonne and Dermot and family, and Ron's Mum. A meal out at a pub and dinner at Yvonne's was great as usual. We drove back to Wellingborough on Thursday and then over to Kessingland, Suffolk on the Friday to visit Helen and Chris and the kids, Melissa, Jack and Carmen. Had a nice evening with them with an Indian take-away for dinner. The snow had just begun on the east coast but not too bad. Back to W'boro' for a few days and we met up with Linda and Seamus for Sunday lunch at Donzella's in Olney. Down to London on the Monday for Ron to fly to Germany for a valve show in Dusseldorf on the Tuesday. Unfortunately more snow caused flight delays and Ron's flight was eventually cancelled, and the following ones, so Julie ended up going back to Heathrow to collect him.

December 2010

We flew back to Muscat on Friday 3rd, only delayed one hour which wasn't bad considering the conditions - snowing and -4 ºC. Lovely to be back because temperatures had now 'cooled' down to lovely 25ºC!! Another government holiday for Ron on 7th and 8th so we drove down to Ras al Hadd and stayed there for a night. Did a quick detour on the way back in Amerat to the rubbish tip and found loads of eagles and vultures.

Ron did his first dive since his back op on the 9th with no problems. Mid-month we were back to normal activities until 17th when we went on the Christmas Hash - out in the desert and a full Christmas dinner catered for. Saturday 18th we went to the Bryan Adams concert at the Intercon Hotel which was great and on the Sunday a carol concert at the British Embassy.

We drove down to Qitbit (about 700kms) on Thursday 23rd and arrived at the Resthouse by about one o'clock in the afternoon, had a short rest and then went bird-watching in the gardens. They were basically very run down but we did see a few things. We then drove a couple of kilometres to the waterhole and had a wander around. Again very little birdlife but we enjoyed a couple of beers as the sun went down. The next morning we drove back to Mantisar, another waterhole and again wandered around but saw very little. The supposed Sand Grouse were conspicuous by their absence. We continued down towards Salalah and had our picnic lunch in the Dhofar mountains before heading down to the city and found our hotel, The Samarhan Tourist Village. A basic but pleasant enough resort and quite cheap. In the evening we drove to the Crowne Plaza for a beer but found the bar empty, badly run and the beer expensive so we didn't stay long. We tried to find a burger on the way back without success so went without dinner.

Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel so we had a substantial meal before heading off exploring. We found Khor Tawri and had a nice wander around and then headed up to the (dry) waterfall on the plateau and found a nice spot for lunch with camels for company. We also found a sinkhole and maybe the rare Yemen Serin. We took a couple of beers down to the beach for our sundowners and then had a very nice dinner in the hotel.

On the 26th we went and had a look around the new museum in Salalah and then went on to Khor Rhawri for a snorkel and lunch on the beautiful deserted beach. Quite a few birds around including some ospreys, flamingos and a peregrine falcon. We had dinner in the hotel again. We left early the next morning for the long drive back - 1000 kms.

We didn't do anything on New Years Eve as lots of people were away and the hotel bars were asking an entrance fee of about 60 pounds each so we thought that was too expensive.