Let's go fly a kite!

One of the best things about being in Oman so far has been the number of public holidays. At the end of Ramadan there is a big celebration called Eid Al Fitr. Because Oman determines the sighting of the moon using a committee rather than scientific data and observations, the date for the holidays was not determined until the very last day. If the moon was sighted on the Wednesday then including the weekend we would have had 4 days off, but if the moon was sighted on the Thursday we would get 6 days. It seems that despite the rest of the Gulf region sighting the moon on Wednesday, it wasn't seen in Oman until Thursday. No complaints here though!

Amongst our friends here there is a lot of talk about kitesurfing and how Oman has some of the best conditions in the world. So we thought that we better give this a go and with our good friends Gil and Amy we made the most of a couple of these long weekends and headed to Masirah.

It is a 4 hour drive through the mountains and across the desert to Shanna where you catch a ferry across to the island. Well when I say ferry I mean a decommissioned greek car bathtub that has seen better days and is staffed by a large bunch of guys who all have a different view of how to best board their passengers. Certainly an experience but once you arrive at the Kitesurfing beach you realise it is well worth it.

Obviously strong winds are a critical element for kite surfing but not the best thing when it comes to camping out. An overnight sand storm equals a quick 'de-camp' to a nearby hotel.

The next day the wind had dropped enough for us to get out onto the water and we managed to finish our course. After a short exam we were presented with our certificates and officially allowed to give it a go on our own.

Jenny's amazing kitesurfing abilities really began to draw a crowd!

The short video below is some footage of the 2 trips that I put together with our new Go-Pro. Absolutely loving this camera, especially for outdoor and water sports. Any readers of this blog are likely to see a lot more of this in the upcoming posts. Enjoy!

Golf

A while ago, Muscat Hills, one of the local golf courses, held a clinic with their in-house professional team to showcase their course and encourage people to sign up for membership. I thought I'd take the girls down and show them how it's really done!!!  Very impressive 19th hole too!!

Turtle Power

Another weekend, another adventure. This time a road trip to the Raas Al Jinz Turtle Reserve near Sur along with our good friends Matt and Julie. We decided to call into the supermarket and pick up a 'few' items for the one night away. I think the girls got a bit carried away if you ask me!

En route to Raas Al Jinz we made a quick stop at the Bimmah Sinkhole. To me the word sinkhole conjures up images of houses being swallowed up in Florida and people disappearing from golf courses in Illinois, but this one is full of crystal clear turquoise water. As far as holes in the ground go, this was pretty cool. But it is a hole in the ground. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And onto the Turtle Reserve. We opted to book into the tents that they have on site and I have to say this turned out a brilliant option. The term tents don't really do these justice as they were pretty amazing. Very comfy, quite luxurious and they also had a fantastic view out the back. This is where we set up our BBQ and enjoyed a very refreshing and well deserved Pimms! Matt and myself then provided the ladies with a demonstration on how to light a BBQ, which from the look on their faces they were seriously impressed with. Man, food, grunt...

And the reason we came to this place - the turtles! So the Nature Reserve runs 2 tours down onto the beach. One is at about 9pm and the other is at 4am. In theory the one at night allows you to see the eggs being laid and the steps the turtles go to in protecting them. You might have to ask Jenny or Julie what the 4am tour consisted of as I made a very smart decision to stay in my very comfy bed. But as far as I can tell the tour was very similar but as it was daylight you could see more and were also allowed to take photographs. 

The crabs waiting to catch the baby turtles

The turtles leave the beach in a right mess!

This was a fantastic overnight trip, not just because of the turtles but also an opportunity to get out of the city and the lower temperatures allowed us to sit outside without passing out with the heat and humidity.