We drove back to the border crossing at Al Ain via the coast road and Sohar but made a major detour inland to do a wadi walk called ‘The Chains’ because of a helpful set of chains and stirrups left by the British army in the 1920 and used to clamber up a particularly steep section of the ‘walk’

Three local boys shadowed us initially and they became our guides and helpers. They were fabulous and we may never have completed the walk without them. One told me that he was 15 and had first climbed the chains when he was four.

And we still made it back to Abu Dhabi in time for dinner at the golf club.