Busy!

I've been beyond busy in the past few weeks, hence the lack of entries. The problem with being busy is that I end up with lots of stories to tell, tales to relate, photos to share then don't have the time to write anything.

Where to start, well work has been flat out. That's good because I like to be busy and achieving what I set out to do and of course there's the people I meet in my work. They are the ones who make my job so special. There's a lot of new people in town, a diverse bunch from many different countries and I'm enjoying interacting with them.

One of my new friend told me today that she had heard that in New Zealand water was more expensive than wine. She was shocked. Apparently the article went on to blame this fact for some of New Zealand's health issues. I got the giggles of course. True the wine is cheaper than water and very, very good. Especially the Marlborough sav blancs and the Central Otago Pinots.

Water, on the other hand is necessarily expensive. The packaging causes major pollution problems so keeping it expensive helps to keep the waste down. The main reason that water being so expensive is a giggle is that in New Zealand, in every part of New Zealand, water can be poured into a glass straight from the tap and enjoyed. It's especially nice in winter when it's usually fridge cold. There are not many places that happens and I know when I go home for a visit, it's something I enjoy.

Last weekend Jane, a fellow kiwi, Fenola and I ventured into Oman late on Saturday afternoon. We negotiated the border, of course there were issues. Borders and I, well. Once again I ended up having to drive the wrong way back through no mans land to get a missing piece of paper. The border people were a little surprised at these crazy women going to Oman to take photos.

The people in the village where I took the mosque shot above were equally bemused. The lads followed us on their bikes practicing their English and an older one offered to take us somewhere, we lost him so will never find out what he wanted to show us. Oman is so different and just over the border, a nominal line in the sand. We drove to the back of Jebal Hafit and enjoyed watching the sun set over the mountain.

The other shots are the moon between the wires and shadows on the sand. Guess whose? More photos to come when I get time to do some work on them, not such a good collection really. I suspect I need some more tutoring with my new camera. When are you coming to stay Di?