Roooned I tells ya, roooned....

No I'm not talking about English Football, rather the ruins that scatter Oman.

One of the things about work is that around the halls and offices there are pictures of things and places in Oman. One of the pictures I paid heed to this week was of a ruined castle/fort/keep. Where's that I asked - Oh that's in Bowshar I was told! Bowshar, that's a suburb in Muscat, no problems an easy day out for sure.

So when I got home from work I said to Katrina, "Did you know there's a fort in Bowshar?"
"No, but I got lost in Bowshar not long ago and found some really narrow streets with deserted traditional houses in them." She replied.

If I put the keystone back, will that save the fort?

After a bit of online research - not much found - two pictures that reasonably matched the office picture I'd seen, but taken in 2004/5, so reasonably recent, but with useless directions because so much has changed. Looking good the fort looked in reasonable shape and the photographers talked about being able to go up stairs inside it.  Promising!

Bowshar Fort Circa Nov 2005 - Photo courtesy of Panoramia and taken by Siddiq Balushi

Google maps weren't much help, so today we set off to have a look see. If we couldn't find the castle/fort/keep then we could just get lost in Bowshar and see the old houses. There was a plan to go further afield too, but that went west after two hours of poking around Bowshar. And given that it's still Ramadan, so no eating or drinking outdoors - at all - being seen risks a fine or worse!

So down the highway, turn at the Muscat Grand Mall, on past the Bowshar dune and towards the hills. On into parts of Bowshar that I did not know existed. Pretty soon we started to see the green of date palm tree-tops - a sure sign of the Falaj (ancient water distribution system) at work. Where there's date farms clustered around an old Falaj there's sure to be a stronghold of some type nearby! After all the Ministry of Heritage consistently quote that there are more than 500 Castles or Forts in Oman! (This all dates back to the recent past of a tribal based society, where you may not be safe from reasonably near neighbors.)

Following our noses - well driving towards the biggest green cluster, we started to explore side streets. Not encouraging all new "Mc Mansions" lining the streets. Keep going - hang on what was that, back up and sure enough in the near distance the remnants of a tower top plain to see. After about five more minutes we discovered that had we ignored the side turn and driven straight for another 50 metres the Bowshar fort and its entrance road were immediately visible to the left. Sigh!

Tower remnants

To say that the fort had deteriorated somewhat in less than ten years would be an understatement! We drove up to the fort and parked. The basic structure of the fort is still there, a square construct, around 30 meters a side, with round towers at diagonal corners. We poked around taking pictures and were rather stunned at how rapid the deterioration has been. Given how much has happened since 2005, it seems likely that it must have been in use through the seventies and possibly later.

Bowshar Fort in its "glory"

Omani fortifications (and traditional houses) are often/typically made of packed earth (mud - aggregate mix), with some stone mixed in and stony foundations. Means they're relatively easy to make and maintain, but when left to fend for themselves they rapidly deteriorate.  Sadly it seems this one is not on the list of forts to be restored as left alone it will soon be no more than a pile of mud and stone, sitting atop a small hill.

Still we had fun poking around the ruins, but being good boys and girls nothing came away with us.

Bait Al-Maqham

After the fort we headed off deeper into "old" Bowshar and found Bait Al-Maqham (House of the Maqham's) after Bowshar Fort we had no great hopes, but were pleasantly surprised. These two forts are no more than 3 kilometers apart and what a contrast. Sadly Bait Al-Maqham was not open and from the lack of signage it would seem to remain in private hands. Everything looks to be well maintained and the date palms in the grounds appear well kept.

Ruins ahoy!

From there we explored crumbling houses. Interestingly rooms appear to be much smaller than current buildings and the houses packed much closer together. Sharing walls in many cases, this is something we noted in Adam, Jebel Akhdar and other places with traditional homes. Once again the houses are the mud mix. Floorboards are made from split palm trunks laid side by wide, with palm fronds to provide the flooring. But sadly these houses too are in advanced states of disrepair and to enter many of the rooms would be to invite trouble.

Partly fallen/intact flooring

Home shelving traditional style.

So off we went, with a side-trip to the Bowshar dune, try as I might the sand was just too soft for me to get to the top. And I wasn't interested in letting the tyres down to sand pressures, so after traumatizing Katrina for a while I gave up and we headed off to refuel the bodies. Thank-you Radisson for keeping the bar and grill open. No sooner had we sat than I realized that television on the wall was playing the Brumbies, against some NZ team. Turned out to be the final - Ah well better luck next year Canberra.



After a few weeks of working every day it was nice to have time out!

This week is only three days and then Ramadan ends, followed by the Eid celebrations. So the office shuts down on Wednesday and the return to work is either Sunday or Tuesday, depending on when the astrological observation is made by the duly appointed observers...

So on Thursday we will be off to Masirah Island, where there's the prospect of camping, kayaking, ship wrecks, turtle hatching and goodness knows what else.  So after considerable time of not much............  

Weird televised sport 2 for the day - drag racing, up sand dunes!

More ruins, showing how close things were built.

Ramadan again

Lunch will be served, when?

Almost two weeks ago now the holy month of Ramadan started. This is a time of the year when Muslims fast from dawn to dark. Being summer here the long hours and heat are hard for people as the fast extends from around 0430 to roughly 7pm.  I think next year will be a little better as the Islamic calendar uses lunar months meaning that the month called Ramadan moves forward by around ten days each year.

During the fasting period it is illegal to eat or drink in public. Throughout Ramadan the sale of Alcohol is banned across the country. As a result many of the licensed bars, clubs and restaurants shut down, giving their expatriate staff an opportunity to go home. licensed restaurants even stop serving any dishes cooked in alcohol.

It's a little bit strange seeing all the coffee shops, restaurants and eateries closed through the peak lunch period. Makes the food courts seem almost worth going into - nobody's there so it's nice and quiet! And Mc Donalds are getting the amount of custom their "alleged" food deserves.

In many ways it is the Muslim equivalent of Christmas - at least in terms of public acknowledgement and celebrations that go on around Ramadan. Radio stations change their programming, and air introspective programs talking about religion, society and core values. Each morning 90.4FM - "The Nation Station" starts with a reading from the Koran in Arabic, then English and a discussion on the meaning of the passage. This is repeated with verses coming up to prayer times throughout the day.

Supermarket chains advertise Ramadan specials, there are lucky shopper giveaways and everybody competes to offer "specials" through the month. Ramadan deals on cars etc, buy this get that free, two for one chickens in the supermarket..................

Because of the fasting office hours are reduced for the private and public sector and nobody really expects a lot to be done through Ramadan. Although that's not the case for me and the project at work. the morning drive to work is fabulous, but afternoons coming home are another story entirely.......

Ramadan is meant to be a time of introspection and also one of family and strengthening family ties. So in the lead up to dusk Omani's head off from wherever they are to join a family Ifthar (breaking of the fast meal) this may be at a home, or it could be at any number of restaurants that put on Ifthar banquets. The Grand Mosque in Muscat holds free Ifthar banquets after the dusk prayers. These are for the workers and the less fortunate.

Many restaurants have set up extra areas for Ifthar diners. One near here has a set up which is close to the largest marquee I have ever seen, it fills two thirds of their large parking area. (Out 8*5 metre tent would hardly bother a corner) Restaurants offer special Ifthar meals - banquets or fixed menu meals at reduced prices.

The temporary ifthar hall

Once started the celebratory eating continues to the wee small hours and after a small sleep its time to get up for breakfast and prepare for the long day ahead. Because of this people are up and about at all hours. Shops close in the afternoon and open again by about 8, staying open until 1am or later. There are special activities in the evenings - the Muscat Motorsports club is running go-kart sessions at their track until 1. Movie sessions slip back, theaters open at 8 and sessions start as late as midnight.

Charity bins and giving places have sprung up in the malls as Ramadan is when Muslims are meant to honor their annual giving of excess wealth to those less fortunate. Of course the counter to this is you now see beggars on the street - something which the local Imams preach against. I have read articles decrying begging as against Islam. And to be honest throughout the rest of the year there are few beggars to be seen anywhere in Oman. If a Muslim is needy they should go to the mosque and seek aid there.

Throughout this month one of the most common questions I get asked is "Do you fast?" zyou should join us it is a wonderful experience, good for the body cleansing and the soul. My answer is always that I fast at work and in public and I never say that I would not fast. Maybe there will be a day or two in there somewhere.....

Anyhow

Ramadan Kareem

Tomb raiders.

We did that without Lara Croft along for the ride!

Inside a tomb, looking up

Last weekend the Chevy got loaded up and we took off for two days in the Hajar Mountains. We'd booked into a 4wd tour, run by "The Guide Oman", cost 40Rial each ($100 a head) BYO 4wd, tent etc, food, drink (soft) and guidance supplied. We were rather surprised on arrival at the set-off point to discover that 40 odd other cars were also booked to go along, plus the guide team. So just us and about a hundred of of our nearest (read never met any of them before) friends.

Apparently there was at least one other Australian there, but we never caught up. Instead we fell in with some Brits, Dutch.... A real mixed bag, including more South Africans than I have seen in the one spot.

Hajar Mountains

Heading off-road into the hills was a foretaste of what was to come.  Slow, slow, slow apparently some of the drivers had never driven on dirt roads before. Average pace dropped to about 20k and even Katrina was complaining that it was too slow. Still that let her sit in the passenger seat and take pictures of cars, rocks, winding roads, goats, rocks, cars and dust.

Cars, rocks, windy road and dust.....

So where are the tombs? Well we're getting there...

After about 40 minutes we stopped at a cleared space on a ledge overlooking the coast on one side and the mountains on the other. Spectacular views all-round!  After a while the locals appeared and a more than adequate buffet magically appeared. Around an hour later we waddled off to our cars for the second leg which took us to the Salma Plain and the entrance to Majlis Al Jinns (Meeting place of the Genies) cave.

I won't bore you with details of the drive.  The cave entrance a was impressive, unfortunately no entrance - and no way to get safely in. From where we stood looking down into a black abyss it was 120++ meters to the bottom.  Yep that's right 120, with no safety fencing - just a reliance on common sense.  At its deepest the cave goes to 180 meters.  Apparently there are plans to make a glass gondola that can be lowered into the cave so that us mere mortals can look around, what must be a fabulous sight.

The entrance to Majlis A Jinns

That black abyss is 120m straight down!

There are three entrances and sunlight streams in lighting what is one of the largest single caves in the world - think Hall of the Mountain King from Lord of the Rings/Hobbit size. Big enough to stack all the jumbo jets owned by a few airlines.

Sadly all we could do was look and then drive away to camp for the night. Little clusters of 4wd's gathered at likely spots, tents appeared, beds were made and then magically Eskies (Cool boxes, Chilly bins - you know what I mean) appeared. Hot and tired as we were the new task was set to with a vigor across the camp ground.

Camp Hunt

Watered (?), fed, talked out and tired bed quickly became the preferred option. It helped that being so high up the temperature was a good 15 or so degrees cooler than in Muscat. Made for a very nice night of sleep.

Morning beckoned fresh and  for a change well below thirty. Breakfast came and went, as we were all entertained by the antics of local donkeys and camels.  Once the camels worked out that a) there was food and b) people soft enough to share, they were all through the camp. Thrusting their heads at anyone who looked like they might feed them and with those big baby eyes...... Fickle friends they turned out to be, what no more food, I'm off looks like that person has something vaguely food like..... And then one of them found the breakfast buffet table. Luckily there were enough people at hand to stare said camel down and send her packing.

Entertainment over and camels gone we packed cars and headed off further into the mountains, once again at 20kph........... Up hill down dale, round that hairpin, through that village and on.

Finally we rounded a bend and there were the beehive tombs on both sides of the road, just begging to be explored.  So explore we did with enthusiasm and camera. I have no clear idea of how many tombs there were, but it was well into the tens.  Two rose proudly up in their full glory, showing off to the world. Around them lay half intact or fully fallen tombs making piles of rock on that desolate hilltop.  I strongly suspect that the two intact tombs had been rebuilt, they were just too pristine for what surrounded them.

So what are they - well apparently they are up to 5000 years old, built as tombs. Beautiful they were - let the pictures speak.

Katrina leads the way out

By the time Katrina and I had finished looking we were almost alone at the tombs - when we went in there were a good 15 to 20 cars there, minuted later when we came out - three guys in a dodge and the sweep car were all that were left.  So for the final thirty or so kilometres to the lunch break wadi I got to drive at a much more reasonable pace - yay!

And then after a swim - or two - in the pools we had another buffet at Wadi Tayeen and then back to Muscat by the inland route. We had driven into the mountains at the coast near wadi Tiwi and finally found civilisation again at Ibra - on the inland side of the Hajar mountains.

Because we'd seen the beehive tombs in the mountains we did a bit of research and found there were others, much closer to hand. So this morning (Thursday - being the first day of a long weekend) we headed off with 10 year old instructions. We knew these would be problematic as road building goes ahead apace. Sure enough after a lot of mucking around we found the village of Halban and even more mucking around in Halban (new houses abound) we found them. Another twenty or so beehive tombs, once again in various states of disrepair. None of them rebuilt.

Tombs at Halban

So once again tombs raided we set off for home - all of about 30k's this time - and tomorrow for the rest of the weekend we are off to Jebel Shams - the highest mountain in the country which abuts Oman's Grand Canyon.

Reflections on a year in Oman

It seems somewhat strange that we have been living overseas for more than a year now. Coming to Oman was a great leap of faith on our parts, what with leaving our home of some 20 plus years, our children and after almost 30 years moving to a new employer.

For the first time in our married life we have a house to ourselves, well  most of the time.   Life is quite different and now that Katrina has the thesis off her back we will have some time to explore this rather stunning country. Mind you work is hitting overdrive and now that Katrina has finished study I have enrolled on line with the University of Canberra.

In March 2012 we got off a plane at Muscat airport, and walked into a noisy, crowded and seemingly chaotic place. All the locals  (apart from the ones in uniform) wore white (men) or predominantly black (women).  Within two days of arrival I was at work, having been prodded and poked by the doctors at the Police Hospital. And that two days says a lot, when Omani's want something to happen it HAPPENS VERY QUICKLY!

In our year here we have never felt threatened or unsafe. It is a remarkably friendly, tolerant and safe place to be. Mind you we did learn that crime is not unknown as we left the house unlocked - and the inevitible happened.

So what to say about Oman. Hmmm. Different, spectacular, beautiful and forbidding at the same time. Chaotic and frantic, but also quiet with an overriding tolerance and politeness. I guess that’s probably well illustrated by the reaction here to the American movie that derided Islam last year. The Omani’s could not understand how or why someone would choose to make a movie like that, there was a sense of bemusement. And being a very devout Muslim country Omani’s felt the need to protest. A group of I believe about 150 went to the American embassy and paraded outside for a couple of hours, some with placards, to register their discontent. And then they came back the next day and did it again – point made. How different to the rest of the world.

The reaction to the footage of the Australian counter protest, where the Australian racist nutbags  were charged and beaten by the police made somewhat of a stir at work. But then that may only have been mentioned because I am Australian.

For much of the year it's hot!  Winter gets down to the mid twenties and is absolutely beautiful, fabulous outdoor weather. It's then that people go into the desert. Still hot but bearable. The wadi's have running water and the stark rocky mountains sprout patches of green as small trees and grasses spring into life.

Over the next few months these will die back and although still present most of them won't be noticeable from any distance away.

In the last few weeks summer has signalled its intent. Daily highs are hitting 40+ with growing regularity, in another month or so it will be 40+ everyday. You do start to get used to it, but right now even the locals are not happy. And now its Ramadan - long hot days with short nights and public fasting during daylight hours.

Life is a bit different here, work starts and finishes early, then its off home in the early afternoon to escape the heat. So consequently there's no formal lunch break at work, even when its not Ramadan. You get up early, go to work and come home for a late lunch. Followed by a lie down. And then after 4 things start to come back to life, shops re-open and people start to hit the streets and beaches.

We are relatively lucky, living in Al Hail close to the Al Seeb beach. A nice long sandy stretch, which the locals flock to in late afternoon. Games of soccer are played up and down the beach, often with their goals almost back to back. People like me walk up and down the waters edge, dodging the occasional soccer ball or even charging players. Every now and then the "lads" hit the beach in their Jeeps and tear up and down at speed. All adding to the mix.

The lady at our corner store always gets excited when I drop in to buy a case of soda water. She unfailingly asks after "Madam" and chats about life the universe and anything! We recently had to promise to go to the shop so she couldgive Katrina some of her food. And very nice it was too, think there may be some Katrina cooking ahead for the shop lady... And now there's henna to show added to the mix.

It's interesting living in a functioning monarchy. The Sultan has a Government and houses of Parliament under him, but laws are Royal Decrees and the local news is full of the doings of the Sultan, such as his diplomatic missions and the almost daily cables dispatched around the world, to celebrate national days, offer condolences or congratulations for things like election wins.

The Sultan is well loved and his picture is everywhere. And nobody seems to mind when streets get shut down for a convoy of VIP's going to or from the airport, often out past our place to the Royal Palace. When that happens the main highway gets closed down, as well as all the under and over passes along the way. People pull up and wait patiently, almost to the last person the Omani's then pull out a smartphone and start tapping away.

It's funny to think that forty years ago the main forms of transport for Omani's were donkeys and camels. They've come a long way in a short time and are keen on making Oman a great nation once again. It wasn't too long ago that the Omani empire stretched all the way down to Tanzania.

There are modernisation projects underway across the country, and the Government is following a process of Omanization. That is to say certain jobs are reserved for Omani's and major projects must have strategies in place to train Omani's into high skilled jobs. Unlike other parts of the region Omani's remain grounded and expect to work. The Sultan fully intends for Oman to stand on its own two feet, without needing oil or gas to maintain the economy.

Also unlike Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other parts of the region, Oman has maintained an incredibly strong sense of self. buildings retain traditional design principles and there are no sky scrapers. Traditional dress is the norm and while they have adopted the car with alacrity people walk the streets of their neighborhoods and are quite friendly, it's a rare day when I walk down the street and don't get greeted by most men/children walking by.

As we move about Oman we see quite a range of sights. The mountains are stunning, with seams of minerals protruding through the surface, giving the rock strata very obvious and rapidly changing colours. Red, green, bluish grey, off whites and a stunning array of browns. Everywhere you look it seems there's another seam of mineral.

When you dive off the beaches small reefs are easily found and the fish are fairly happy to tolerate your presence, just look mind you. Those fish come in all colours and sizes, and occasionally a turtle comes by. There are sharks around, but they aren't so close inshore as we swim and tend to be further to the South.

So all in all, do we regret coming to Oman - No. It's been a fabulous experience and we are looking forward to see what's next here.

Back to Oman and the Desert beckons

Must be almost a month since the last post - another two weeks in Australia and now about three weeks home.  An awful lot has happened in that time, both work wise and personally.

Nothing but sand as far as the eye can see......

I spent the second half of my time in Australia hanging around Canberra like a bad smell.  Being a tourist in my home town and just being there if Katrina needed me. Not too taxing!  I did get to see Government House and did a Parliament House tour as well as Tidbinbilla and the Canberra Zoo, all with a dash of National Arboretum.  As a tourist town Canberra is not too shabby.

(The Arboretum has hundreds of clumps of trees spread over many acres - or hectares to you young uns! - fabulous views and when fully grown will be something quite spectacular. Its one of those vision things, and thankfully once every generation or two you get a politician with a sense of vision.)

My Australian sojourn finished with a trip through Sydney to the closing day at the Rowany Festival.  I was there for the Fighter Auction Tourney and had the opportunity to catch up with many people. That was really rather pleasant. Then the following day I farewelled Katrina and set off for Oman and work again.

When I got back home after unpacking and sleeping, it seemed the first thing to do was collect Rufus and Georgie from the airport. The snow in Canada had melted enough for them to be released from their lakeside isolation. First thing they did was jump a plane to Muscat.  So in less than a month I got to see most of my family and also most of Katrina's as her parents were also on the visiting agenda.

Ray and Isobel (Katrina's parents) relaxing at the beach.

I guess the big thing on the agenda was the weekend just gone when Rufus, Georgie, Katrina and I joined a small "adventure tour" into the desert at Wahiba sands.  An 8 am start on the first day of the weekend after a work week that included two consecutive post midnight finishes - hmmm could have planned that better!!

First duty in the sand is to get bogged! the only bogging of the trip though.

I had found the tour through an online group called Internations. Seems we aren't the only expats to have been here for a while without making it into the Desert. So ten of us (7, plus two drivers and one organiser) piled into two well packed 4wd's and set off for desert.

Nothing much to say for a few hours then we hit the desert. After a few hours of seriously abusing dunes in 4wd's we stopped for the night and set up camp. Along the way we saw some stunning scenery and learnt a lot about how far you can push a 4wd on sand and how close to horizontal they get without thinking of rolling.

The dune was that high

And then of course as dusk approached the wind sprang up and well with the wind came migratory sand. It got into everything.  Even the bags that were zipped up.  Sitting on a chair watching the sun go down while being sandblasted was an interesting experience.  Not keen to repeat the sandblasting  bit of the trip. And then after all that wind the ridges of the sand dunes are left as sharp as an ironed crease.

Rufus and Katrina in for some sandblasting.

After the day of traipsing around we settled into an evening of esky emptying!. By this time the whole group had gelled and the evening was spent in a session of rather loud hilarity. And as it was too hot to sleep most of us stayed up well beyond our bedtimes. I am told that when bed eventually won out Katrina and my snoring was a sound to behold!

Most of the group...well half anyway.

The morning brought a new and bleary day, but also a lot of surprises. As I walked around the camp in the early morning light there was spectacular scenery to behold. But the truly amazing thing was the sheer quantity and variety of tracks in the sand. Around and through our camp were dung beetle, Gerbil and Lizard tracks. Not too far away were snake, fox and sand fish. All mixed up with assorted bird tracks as well.

Signs of Desert death - and life ....

For such an inhospitable and forbidding place the variety and volume of life is impressive. We did of course also see Camels and goats - the two immutables of the Omani animal world. As we drove the 50+ kilometres out of the desert we also saw lizards and sand fish to go with the beetles and flies.

Georgie and our hostess

At deserts' edge we stopped at a Bedou (that's Bedouin to you) house, which now operates as a tourist stop off point. It's operated by an elderly woman who lived there when all the desert dwellers lived in such houses. The buildings were entirely made from palm tree wood and fronds. The floors were covered by carpets directly onto the sand and one side of the Majlis (meeting room) we sat in was open. Despite the open wall it was significantly cooler in the Majlis than outside. We bought various home made trinkets, drank coffee and ate dates.

Our final stop on the trip was Wadi Bani Khalid on the way back to Muscat. This wadi has a permanent watercourse and wonderful swimming holes fed by underground springs from the mountains.  Ahh glory, nice cool water and all (well a big proportion) of that sand washed away. Glorious surroundings and crystal clear water. So good in-fact that it unclogged two of the press buttons on my watch - they'd been clogged up for well over a year.

Wadi Bani Khalid

Swimming was fun, the unexpected was that when you sat still in the water little fish magically appeared and started to nibble the dead skin off your feet. Gave me a bit of a surprise when they started nibbling, but it wasn't too bad. The longer you sat the more fish gathered on your feet. Ahh exfoliation, apparently people pay for this treatment.

But then it was back to Muscat and work for me,
      Muscat then Tanzania for Rufus and Georgie and
            Muscat and the post thesis brain search for Katrina. Sadly the brain search has really only been a partial success (a small part at that) so far.

Katrina's foot meets fish

Home again.............

Twelve months have passed since Katrina and I left Aus for Oman. That means its holidays - yippee and as my contract includes annual airfares, coming home to Australia for a while seemed the sensible thing to do.  That and it's time for Katrina to finalise the thesis and hand it up.

So here we are, a week and a bit ago we landed in Sydney and made our way to Canberra. Courtesy of Michelle (who is now in the UK) we have somewhere to rest our heads.  The Etihad flight home was pleasant enough and the return flight in early April will surely be as good.

The first few days in Canberra were great, beginning to catch up with some people, there are many more to come in the next days and week and a bit.  Katrina has immediately buckled down to thesis work and I have immediately buckled down to holiday mode! Yay.

After running around Canberra for a few days I hit the road and went to Melbourne. For many years I had been meaning to go to a Grand Prix, so this year Albert Park it was......  What can I say? Noisy, smell that fuel, and FAST - so fast that the auto focus never stood a chance. So it was prefocus, try to track and time the shot.  In the end I just put the camera into sports mode and pressed the shutter for multiple shots. Meant I ended up with lots of empty frames, but they're easily deleted.

Mr Webber practising.

Being the cheapskate I am I had only paid for general admission -which of course meant that I was not tied to a seat and could roam the circuit looking for the right place. For me that meant around turns 11 and 12 - something they called a fast chicane.

The good things about going to a Grand Prix? Well the noise, speed and party atmosphere and the spectacle. Quite outrageous just how fast these things are. If you try to watch them you very quickly end up feeling as if your head is on a swivel and wondering just when the safety mechanism is going to give way allowing your head to simply spin off......

The bad - well the crowds, how far you are from the interesting bits of track, all the catch fencing (which makes photography rather difficult) and the fact that you see much more at home. For much of the race I had no idea who was leading - turned out to be a Finn, although I had worked out that the Force India had to have been leading for quite a while!

Saturday turned out to be rather dismal by the time qualifying rolled around. Wet and to my current sensibilities rather cold. But because I had chosen the right spot to spectate from I saw almost all of the incidents. Massa hit a wall - but kept on going, Perez pirouetted behind Button, a Force India spun, Webber had a moment and Guitterez hit the same bit of wall as Massa - but a bit harder and as a result shed bits of carbon fibre everywhere. But of course I have no shote of Guitterez going in, as my camera called it quits.

That's a jet, not a boat, despite all the water washing over it!
I did say it was raining......

And then it was just too wet, so I made the sane call (well before the stewards did) and took off for drier climes.

Sergio "I can't keep up Mr Button" Perez demonstrates a spin.

And then it was race day. So where was I? At the camera shop saying why won't this work? Being told "yep its not working - and in dying it fried the battery too......"  So I earnt lots of Katrina grumpy points by buying a new camera body, so I could go to the circuit again and photograph the race.  By the time I got there all the support events were over and it was simply find a spectator place and wait. At least it wasn't raining.

Ferrari vs Mercedes

Race came, race went and while I enjoyed it I don't see the need to front up to another. Well not unless someone gives me seats in a well appointed corporate box! - Not likely.

So after a feed of Melbourne fish and chips - OH YEAH how I have missed decent fish and chips this last year.  Grilled not Fried, with a twist of lemon.

It was off to Geelong and a short visit to the ancestral seat.  Caught up with a collection of parents, brother and his family (most of). And of course on Monday it was overcast and drizzly. By midday it was time to do something. So Mum, Dad and I jumped into the rental (VW Golf) drove to the beach and walked most of the Geelong Bollards.

Bollards I hear you ask. Yes Bollards - those big lumps of wood used to tether ships and give them something to bump into, rather than demolish the wharf.  And what's so interesting about old bollards? Well when the Geelong waterfront was re-developed a whole bunch of well used bollards (newly surplus to requirements) were given to an artist.

The result is 47 installations stretching from Limeburners Point to Rippleside Park. The Bollards are carved and painted to represent elements of local history. They have been there for quite the while now, must be close to two hundred bollards all up in those installations, as while many are a single figure others are in groups of up to six or so. Eminently walkable but a few kilometers in all.

The third bollard represents Cristovao de Mendonca a Portuguese explorer who is believed to have visited Limeburners Point in 1522.

Grand Dame of Society

Sailor and????????

A real life Gnome no less!

There have been enough artefacts found around Geelong to show that something certainly happened. So much so that folklore provides an explanation for the old kettle found washed ashore, believed to have brought the original "little folk settlers" to the region, well in advance of the white settlers.

And then with family visited it was time to go back to Canberra and be there to help Katrina (mostly just by being around) and see young Robert and help him with a few house things. But of course the trip back had its own twist. A few Kilometers out of Holbrook the VW threw up a warming light. Sigh. Pull over (in Holbrook) outside a rather nice bric a brac store, which Katrina benefited from to the tune of a black lace parasol. Two hours later the nice NRMA man, sent by the rental company, had me on the road again.

So alls well and all that...

Muscat Festival (Did I mention the drumming?)

From the frequency of my posts you might have thought that we had been hibernating since Christmas. Far from it.  Katrina is working mighty hard on the thesis, she is in the final lap and is due to submit on the 2nd of April.  No ifs, buts or maybe's.

So the plan is that we will go home to Canberra for a few weeks in March so that Katrina can submit.  We should be flying out on the 10th....  That is of course dependent on work booking my tickets.

I must say that Muscat in Winter is absolutely glorious, mid to low twenties every day and teens overnight. Blue skies and all that. But with Katrina locked away I have kept weekend venturing to a fairly low level. That and a quick weekend in Dubai to say hi to Megan, Jamie and kids as they moved from Sydney to Manchester. And then the week in Brussels.

Mattrah from behind - corniche, Portuguese fort
and on the right the Sultan's yacht.

Oh and of course wandering through another of Oman's Geotrail walks. This one took me from the back of an amusement park across some rocky spurs and into a wadi with an abandoned village and out through the back of the Matrah souq. Fabulous isolation and it was interesting at midday to go from complete silence and solitude to hearing the mosque calls coming in from all directions and bouncing off the cliff walls. The walk then finished by following a small stream to a pond and a quick, but very steep scramble across a spur.  Along the way there were some excellent views of the old Matrah souq and port area.

Silver harness, singing and parading, who says you
 have to be demure on horseback!

At the end of January the Muscat Festival kicked off and finishes tonight (the 28th of Feb). It's kind of a mix of a Royal Show and a cultural fair. We went to two of the three sites - to be honest the events at the third didn't sound all that interesting - light shows, concerts and a food court. And of the two sites we went to one was wasted for us - no kids.

Greater friendship hath no man...

But Al-Amirat Park was well worth the two visits we made there and the Traditional Horse sports on the local beach turned out to be a lot of fun as well. So the Muscat Festival was in the end well worth the visits and next time we will be back for more!.

The first thing we went and saw was the horse sports. Nice being so close to home, so we took the 4wd down the beach, parked behind a bit of a dune and wandered into the spectator area.  The whole thing happened between 4pm and dusk, which was a little after 5:30.

Drums ahoy!

To note that things were about to start a local traditional music group of drummers, bagpiper, shell player and dancer/singers paraded in.  What a racket, but they had a great time and we were all entertained. To us this quickly became the signature of the Muscat Festival, frantic drumming with an underlay of horn (sea-shell) and pipes.

Brave is all I can say!

The start was a parade by all the horses and riders that would be participating, numbered some two to three hundred horses and riders in all. Made an impressive sight as the horses were lined up, by colour, maybe 20 wide and paraded down the beach to acknowledge the viewing pavilion   (Men inside, women outside. I got told off when I went over to give Katrina my hat, but when I explained what I was doing the attendant was suitably understanding.)

Ouch!!!

And then they were off - mad careening charges down the beach.  At first they simply charged by (well apart from the guy with the trick saddle that opened proceedings.) But it wasn't long before they started coming down at full tilt two and three abreast, holding hands. This led to hands on shoulders, rubbing noses and finally standing - all while riding at full tilt. That there was only one fall was rather amazing, he tried solo standing, lost his footing, almost recovered and Katrina thought he was going to bowl me over as he came off and bounced. Not a bit of it, but I did get a half decent shot of him coming off. It was with much relief that I watched him stand up and run off after the horse, but that lasted about ten paces before the body said hang on I really, REALLY HURT! He did leave unassisted later, but obviously in second-hand condition.

Horse sports are over, time for more drumming.

Did I mention there were drummers at Amirat park?

And then to Amirat. This was fabulous, traditional food, dancing, singing, did I mention the drumming? and arts and crafts. A Bedou camp, camels, weaving, woodwork, frond-crafts (basket-weaving) and so on.  Labnah (Yoghurt) making, grinding grain, decorative sewing... and did I mention the drumming?

The camels at dusk.

Lady crafters at work.

Interestingly there are a lot of woven baskets, or flat bowls that have goat leather sewn on the outside. Apart from making them look good, the real reason is to waterproof the woven baskets so they can carry water or goat/camel milk in them. Amirat park was to a large extent all about the ladies. They were out in droves, dressed in the traditional colourful Omani garb. (Which sadly will gradually disappear as summer arrives and they all go back to wearing the black Hijab.) Women did most of the crafts and "manned" the stalls where fresh traditional food could be bought straight off the griddle, for next to nothing.

Traditional guitar played in the Bedou camp.

We had a great time poking through the stalls and talking to the crafters and others putting on the shows. Last night we went back for a final look see, to cover off the bit we missed before. Glad we did as the first thing we stumbled into was the Ministry for the Traditional Arts and Crafts pavillion.   Yay.  We went a little mad buying things managing to burn through a couple of hundred Rial - almost all of it on local handicrafts!. Coupled with our earlier visits to the Muscat Festival, I think we more than held up our end of the bargain.

Moroccan Craftsman hard at work.

Muscat Festival at night

 But then all too soon it was time to leave and as we left the fireworks started up. So we watched from the car park for a while, before deciding the show was over, only for the spectacular finale burst behind us as we hit the road. But did I mention there was drumming?

It's all over!