Musandam, Oman

I continued my exploration of Oman this weekend, once again with a car full of good company, this time with music added thanks to Raukura. Oman has two parts, separated by the UAE as it touches the eastern coast at Fujairah and Dibba. The southern part is the largest by far and we visited there last weekend. The northern part takes in the top sea coast and islands jutting into the Straits of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. This weekend we went north to Dabba then onto a dhow for a cruise around the Musandam peninsular and islands.

I've had to sleep on my stomach for the last few nights. How was I to know that you get very sun burnt snorkeling? After all, I was in the water looking down and swimming through shimmering curtains of tiny fish, blue and yellow fish, silver and shiny fish, even smaller fluorescent blue, yellow and green fish. It was amazing and getting burnt was the last thing on my mind. There were kina hiding in the nooks and crannies of the reef, large and very spiky kina with shiny eyes that seemed to lure the tiny fish to their death, fascinating.

There were also larger fish. Some swam past quickly, I of course looked to check what was chasing them as there have been sharks sighted in the area recently. No doubt attracted by the warm water and abundant fish life as we were. Snorkeling made me yearn for an underwater camera and to go diving again. I would have loved to capture some of the images, the vivid images, to share. Taking in the images was perhaps why I stayed in the water so long, why I got all wrinkled and sun burnt without even noticing.

The dhow trip was organised by Marilyn my friend and neighbour. She had gathered a group of like minded people including the KINA's Mike and Kate, Rau, Anne and I, all of us keen for an outing. As Mike said so wistfully from the sun lounger, "why would we want to be in Christchurch in the cold, this is the life!" We agreed by nodding sagely, as you do steaming along on the ocean waves breathing the fresh, salty air. Mike brought his guitar and we had a singalong, some New Zealand music as well as some of Mike's own. It was a good time to relax, commune with others and get some photos.

Lunch was caught on the way, a tuna and a barracuda. Nothing like fresh fish and they were jumping. We followed the shoals and enjoyed watching the fish jumping high in the air over the water boiling with the rest while the sea birds caught those too slow to react. The kids enjoyed dropping a line in, as did most of the adults.

The bay we moored in for a swim was lovely, the hills hot and barren and the sea clear and inviting. The reef at the base of the tall cliffs wasn't really visible from the boat so was a treat to find. We swam and snorkeled for a while, ate lunch, swam some more then headed home via a good fishing spot.

The trip back to Al Ain was exciting at times. We ended up cruising Fujairah Beach Corniche with the locals after going straight instead of turning right at Masafi. With that and a couple of other detours, we made it made it back safely late at night after dining on potato chips and singing loudly to the ipod tunes, as you do on an adventure.

The photos are of the harbour in the early evening, our lifeboat aka fishing boat and the dhows. There are more stories to tell, more pictures to add. Later, inshallah.