The Yarra Valley, outstanding beauty

Sunday 26 July 2009. We take a leisurely morning drive through the beautiful Yarra valley to visit a few wineries, starting with Coldstream Hills and several glasses of fine wines, Rochford with several more glasses of fine wine and then Domaine Chandon for yet more fine wine and a most enjoyable good lunch.

The area is wooded with farms, stables, wineriesand small villages amidst rolling hills and with great views of the Dandenong Mountain range in the background. It looked nearly as good as England in summer. Trouble is, this was winter !

A must for the girls was a visit to Ramsay Street - actually Pin Oak Court. Here they are outside Carl and susan's house.

From the heat of Al Ain to an Aussie winter

Saturday 25 July.Australian Football League is really big in Victoria and I had the pleasure of seeing two games in one day with a whole bunch of 'blokes' as they're called here, including Louise's boyfriend Pete (big St Kilda fan ) and our friend Rick, who we met in Alaska, (big Geelong fan).

My intro to AFL at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was with 64 000 aficionados and what a fast and exciting game it was. Geelong, behind for much of the game, beat Hawthron by one point with the last kick of the game - 98-97.

Next up was the evening kick-off at the Etihad Stadium - the leaders St Kilda versus 3rd placed Western Bulldogs. We were 'invited' to wear St Kilda scarves - fortunately they play in the same colours as MUFC.

St Kilda 'flogged the Dogs' as the locals say 106 - 61.

Evening Roars

The now rare Arabian Oryx, a Meerkat saying "Who do you think you're looking at?" and African animals all looking at home in Al Ain Zoo. The zoo opens at 4:00p.m. in the Summer. It is pleasant and novel to look at animals in the twilight but the roar of the lions is a bit scary in the dark.

Training Night

From about 5:30p.m. each evening in the Summer the camels are taken out on the track just north of Al Ain. I spoke to one of the owners who was slowly driving alongside a group of his camels and riders who were warming up. He told me that he owned 40 camles and that once they are two years old they are ready to race. The youngsters race over 1.5km and the mature animals up to 5km. A top class racing animal could fetch in the region of two million dirhams.

The racing season begins in the 'winter' but if you want to see some fun in the Summer, get to the track at 0600hrs on a Friday.

When the going gets tough

The cliff pictured above was a tough obstacle to climb and slightly more scary on the way down. There is a reservoir at the top where local families let their children swim. I prefer to cool off in the river.

A very wet wadi

What a wet one this proved to be! There is often rain in the afternoons in July and August and there was no shortage of water in the Al Jazira wadi. No shortage of fish and toads either, though we only saw one snake. The wadi has cut narrowly and steeply through the rocks. The sides are steep and narrow and it would be easy for a person unfamiliar with the area to miss the wadi from downstream. Some of the cliff faces rarely see direct sunlight and we spy a rare growth in the Middle East - moss, with a sprinkling of orchids mixed in.

Three Mountain Passes

A tough one this week. 47C and three mountain passes to climb. We began at an oasis in

Bu aithah to finish by a cooling wadi in Khudayrah. The middle photo shows part of a falaj cut into the rock, perhaps 1000 years ago. it must have taken the villagers years to create, possibly using heating and cooling to fragment the rock in the first instance.

Wilfred Thesiger photographic exhibition

Sir Wilfred Thesiger and his two trusty companions.

You can Google Sir Wilfred Thesiger to find out more about a man sometimes called the last of the great Victorian explorers.

Al Jahli Fort has a beautifully presented exhibition of some of the 38 000 photographs he took on his travels, most notably the ones taken during his two epic and dangerous journeys into the 'Empty Quarter'.

The book Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. If you can't get to Al Ain, get to a library or book shop and find it!

p.s. Rooftop views of Al Ain are to be had from the 'rampart' and the guard was very patient whilst posing with the Kiwis!

A wonderful place

Al Jahli Fort in central Al Ain on a July Saturday morning. The fort is quietly shimmering in the heat and it would be foolish to remain outside for too long. Fortunately, there are lots of cool rooms to explore and a picture gallery containing portraits of Royal Family members. Pictured are two Kiwi friends. The pictures are taken by Julie, who got me started on this blogging idea. As always in Al Ain museums, the staff are polite, friendly and helpful. The welcome includes Arabic coffee.

High Hopes, The Division Bell

The Pink Building

My Al Ain apartment is very conveniently located in the 'Pink Building' near the centre of town. From dawn until well into the night on some days, the construction workers beaver away in the heat. The pink building stood on its own just two years ago, now is becoming surrounded by new blocks in a similar style, with shops on the ground floor and a mixture of offices and accomodation above. The basement in the pink building is sectioned into small airless rooms where men sit working hour after houir at sewing machines. I know this because one night at 10:30 I went down there to ask them to stop. One particularly gargantuan machine was vibrating the whole building. After a slight hiatus, the machine was turned off and pink building inmates could rest. That aside, the place is a good place to live.

The Sheikh's Family Home

This peaceful haven in central Al Ain is a must for visitors. Originally, it was a palace belonging to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan when he was the Ruler's Representative in the region. The earliest building in the palace dates from 1937. More buildings were added to the original palace when the late Sheikh Zayed decided to live in it, which he did, until 1966. Family rooms are available to peek or step into and there is an atmosphere of quiet calm. The majlis, rooms for meetings, are furnished with floor cushions. Other rooms include the school room, where the royal children received their education from private tutors.

The museum is immaculately kept and admission is free.

Views of the Fort and Oasis

The Al Ain National Museum, located to the east of the Al Ain Oasis reflects the daily life of the people of the region before the influence of western culture. There are reconstructions of traditional majilis in the grounds. Inside the museum are displays of garments, household items and utensils, gold and silver jewellery and weaponry. The Archaeological Section displays discoveries dating back to the Bronze and Iron ages, including gold pendants, pottery, a coin collection, flints and arrowheads nearly 7500 years old.

Photographs dramatically illustrate how much the region has changed in such a short time.

Don't forget to go into the Sultan Fort when you have looked at the exhibits.

Admission is a mere 3AED. Excellent value for money!

After your visit I suggest that you walk through the Oasis to the Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum.

Masah

A shorter hike this week, wandering through an oasis and finding capers, oleander, grapefruit, figs, Omani walnut (I ate the wrong part and lived) orange, lime and of course an abundance of date palms. The pools were crawling with toads and swimming with fish. The largest pool had a few humans in it too! Lovely and cooling.

In the photo are Julie, Kathryn, Sylvan and the back of Fong

Fresh dates

Khabbayan

Dramatic terrain once again with the wide wadi narrowing dramatically as we appraoch its source. Wadi racers, a viper, an omani lizard and lots of toads to be seen. After wading through warm pools we climb out out of wadi with the aid of a rope.

Hiking in the Omani mountains with the ENHG