For the first time ever we both worked on Christmas Day and again on Boxing Day. There was some method to this madness, we are simply saving our leave to have a week of travelling with Tony and Jean who arrived early on Boxing Day just as I was on my way to work.

So Christmas Day at the Crawford’s was Friday, December 27 and included a walk along the Abu Dhabi Corniche and a visit to the fish market to get giant prawns and tuna for a barbecue.


Saturday saw Tony and Jean at the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque while Sue and I loaded the car and prepared for an overnight trip to the Rub’al Khali – the Empty Quarter – the desert.


A meal at the Golf Club followed by a good nights sleep and we are off again. This time we will explore Oman starting at Wadi Damn and ending at Muscat.

A new route that I had found on Google Earth started as a very promising, pristine new tar-sealed road and ended with Tony and I rolling rocks to fill in the worst ruts as Sue inched her way down a precarious track. Lovely scenery though and a new way into Nizwa.

After two nights camping it was a pleasure to spend the next two nights in the Mutrah Hotel and explore Muscat. We re-trekked the old pipeline walk to Mutrah, re-explored the old souk, had coffee again at the Al Bustan Inter Continental Palace and found that Carrefour in Muscat still stocks what must be a local delicacy -lambs botty!

Our last day in Oman saw us breaking some new ground. First we visited the Opera House. The main auditorium was closed but the grounds and exterior are stunning. It will be wonderful to come back and see an opera here one day – so I am told.

Then we took a new route home. We head up the coast road towards Sohar and then headed into the mountains on a road we had travelled to get to the ‘chains’ walk with Claire and Jonathan. This time we followed the road right through the Hajar mountains to leave Oman at the same border crossing where we had entered. A fabulous circular route.

After a night in Sue’s apartment three of us had a day to explore Al Ain while Sue went to work.

The Al Ain Oasis, museum and Al Jahili Fort took us all day to look around. Perhaps we were just moving slowly after a very full week that took us from basic camping to luxury hotels and from empty desert and barren mountains to lush oasis.

Thank you guys, lots of great times but plenty to do on your return trip. When will that be?