Roasting in the UAE and Oman

 I am now coming to the end of an interesting two months in Dibba, UAE. This place is not a patch on Scotland but has been awesome fun none-the-less. The UAE is only 42 years old as a country and its mad to think how quick it must have changed. I wish I had more photos of Dubai because it is a weird city! The buildings are elaborate and always immaculate but not inventive, they are copies from other cities in the world. There is more money in the UAE than I can imagine and we don't even blink anymore when we see a Ferrari, a Bentley, a Rolls Royce and a Lamborgini drive past all in 5 minutes. It all seems very fake and modern and yet all the ancient Muslim culture is still everywhere. As girls here at the centre, we wear strappy tops a lot, especially when it gets hot and its hard to tell whether we are offensive or accepted. The children we instruct at North Star are mostly international, and mostly speak English, though it can be interesting to have an entirely French, or entirely Emirati school come in. Most children here have influential parents who travel a lot and so they mostly have nannies and if I ever complained that the children we get in Scotland are spoiled, then I have been naive!

Anyway, the weather here is already hot enough that we have hours and hours at lunch time sat in the air conditioning while it is too hot for activities outside. The season is coming to a close and I am SO excited to be coming back to Scotland. There are all sorts of adventures planned!

 A scorpion out at night in the Wadi. They do actually glow under UV light and this photo hasn't been changed in way from when it was taken.

 Ewan playing in the waves on the beach.

 An ancient Omani Fort. This Fort still stands exactly as it did when it was first built except for layer upon layer of plaster that is sprayed over the stones to keep it intact. It was built by the Portuguese in the 17th century to help control shipping trade through the Arabian Gulf.

 A whole row of genies in an Omani Fort.

 Pete playing in the waves

 Watching humpback dolphins, while cruising through the Arabian gulf in a Dhow boat. Aaah, its a hard life.

Beautiful Oman view at the top of a walk we do with the children. The mountain range here is called the Musandam and we bring groups here every now and again. It is a treat to be working on one of these trips!

Now we about to have a BBQ at camp with some other people from various outdoor centres in the UAE and I have sunburnt my tummy while making the most of the sun for my last week here... Looking forward to coming home all tanned for spring in Scotland :-)

Work and Play in the United Arab Emirates

Here I am in the roasting sunshine, with a sunburnt nose and terrible heat rash on my hands and the kids here think its cold!!!! I am in UAE for two months of instructing and it is making quite a change from Scotland. It's actually "trying" to rain as I write this but mostly those fluffy white things in the sky are few and far between. It's going to get hotter too...

Its a great experience being here, I get to instruct snorkelling, jumping off boats, climbing, building rafst and all sorts of fun stuff. My work uniform is flip flops, boardies and a rash vest and we get a 3 hour lunch break. Its funny though, how much I miss Scotland.... But much fun is to be had out here before going home. I went scuba diving for the first time today which was surreal and we spent last night watching a belly dancer. I wish I could dance like that heehee!! I hopefully have some climbing planned with Rua Fiola Matt who is in Oman and these two months are going to go in a blur. The people are great fun, full of silly banter. It's a good life sitting here on the beach writing about instructing all my favourite things in the sun. Happy days :-)

This is North Star Camp, where I work. The monstrous grey building behind is apparently going to be a hotel one day, though it has stood the same for about 7 years... But the beach behind it is lovely :-)

 Looking back at Dibba, Oman from a Dhow boat trip. Dibba, Oman is the other half of the city I live in, but just over the border into Oman. I live in Dibba, UAE. The mountains behind are in an area called Musandam, Oman. These Dhow trips involve half a day of sailing along on a lovely boat with disney music playing and then tons of fun jumping off into the warm sea in a beautiful bay. Aaaah life :-)

 A praying mantis ready to strike. These scare the children silly!

 Spot all the fish

Snorkelling fun at Dibba Rock. Pete and I borrowed an underwater camera and went for an explore. Pete took the pictures of the fish so all credit goes to him for those photos.

 Ewan playing on the Dhow trip.

 This is where I bring the children to kayak and raft build. It is also where I sit and use the internet. Aaah life :-) The rock in the background is Dibba rock and has superb snorkelling and diving. It is also a turtle sanctuary. We see tons of turtles just off the beach and they can be huge!

My first ever scuba dive! Oli, the instructor was brilliant. The water was a little murky because the currents are all funny apparently, but it was awesome! Loads of crazy beasties down there and it really is a surreal experience breathing underwater so deep below the surface! Oli did take some photos when we were down there but I don't have those yet, maybe the next blog can show them.

New Home, Christmas and Shinty on the Beach!

Here comes another year! Saying goodbye to 2013 is somewhat of a relief at the moment. It seems to have started with my Dad being unwell and ended with myself being unwell but the adventures I have had in the meantime have more than made up for the worries! Last year's Hogmanay was hard to beat but I feel like I ended 2013 with equal style.

The last few months have been a blur of moving house, diabetes worries, several Christmas's and New Year on Mull! The moving house part was all very quick as it took six weeks from starting to look at house to actually moving into one. We were very lucky to find the perfect place and we are now proud owners of a bookshelf full to the brim of climbing guidebooks. Very happy bunnies! Our first Christmas was early december down in Suffolk with my Grandparents, second Christmas was on the day itself with Ali's family, third Christmas was on the 27th with my Mum and 4th Christmas was all rolled into New Years festivities with my Dad and Brother on Mull. Somewhere in the mix, my doctor called to tell me my blood sugar was almost certainly pointing towards diabetes, which is unfortunate but I feel a little more justified in my tiredness now! New Year was superb, involving vast amounts of food, scottish dancing, whisky in a wild bothy, and shinty on the beach with homemade sticks.

Thankyou to everyone who contributed to to my Christmas and New Year moments, thank you Ali for being patient as I yawn my way through life at the moment, hello to our new lodgers and hello to 2014!

Ali on a gruelling, wet, slimy slab in  Glen Nevis.

Ali playing on the Sands of Morar, on a dodgy rope swing with two anchors that threw us around like rag dolls...

 Exploring Steall Falls, Scotland's 3rd highest waterfall, with Kate, Dieter, Kees and Ali

 Kate crossing the Nevis precariously.

 Looking out of the Nun's Cave near Carsaig, Mull

 These guys made most of our day smell like goats cheese. Wild Mullian Goats near Carsaig.

 Weapons at the ready, lining up in preparation for the annual Ardalanish Shinty match. This is quite a unique event. Imagine 60 players, two balls, a gradually receding pitch, ever changing goals, cheeky referees, very few rules, homemade shinty sticks and an age range easily covering 6 and 60. Not to mention countless dogs throwing themselves into the mix, at least 40 onlookers cheering for anyone and everyone and plenty of hot soup to help throw off the hangovers.

One of the many scrums during the shinty match.

For more awesome photos see Ali's page http://www.mountainstotheseaphotography.com/2014/01/happy-hogmanay/

or if you are friends with her, Alice has some wonderfully funny photos of the New Year shenanigans!

Have a good 2014 full of adventures and fun!