Dog Camp

Matt: Scott and Cath wanted to go camping, I know it sounds a bit like a Janet and John story, but in this case it was true. They also wanted to go somewhere the Milo and Bud could go too, the dogs. No people around, enough space for them to run free without the fear of them hitting a main road or chasing camels. Even with the expanse of the Arabian desert, it can actually be hard to find a location to camp where you're out of the way and not surrounded by other campers. Eid brings out the camper in everyone. So we gathered the troops and set off to Al Ghail to drive a little way out into the desert and fine a good spot away from the masses. Al Ghail was a good choice, thanks Lenny, because it's not big dunes so easy to access and has rocky outcroppings to shelter us from the wind, if any. Location Map. We didn't see another camp at all - great and so peaceful.

We found a good spot and setup camp, went for a little walk around the area with the dogs, but because of the terrain there was a lot of spurs in the sand and rock and the little blighters were covered in them.

Cath and Morwenna had a mini plush catering competition going on.

Scott dug a big fire pit, helps retain the heat ya know, so much so that halfway through the evening the rocks around the fire got too hot and started splintering and firing scolding hot shards at us. It was like we ca under fire. Took us a while to work out what was going on - gave us a laugh though - at one point I seriously thought someone was throwing gravel at us.

But a fun and relaxing camping trip was had by all. Milo and Bud loved the freedom and were great fun to have along. Scot and Cath? not so much... :)
Check out the pictures here.

Question: What makes a good camping trip for you?

Stairway...

Matt: Success at last, my third attempt to do Stairway was triumphant. The first time the weather turned us around just as we reached the most dangerous bit, it was too risky to complete. My second attempt I escorted a hiker off the mountain that couldn't make it, this time - was a last minute decision to go. I knew a group were going but I was supposed to be somewhere so couldn't make it. Come 4pm on the Friday, my plans had changed so I called Angelica to see if they were still going. Sure enough, they were already on route to RAK to camp out the night and start the hike early Saturday morning.

After a hurried shop in Spinneys (local supermarket) and ramming the car with all my camping gear, I was on the way. It was Eid weekend, a popular time for people to go camping, but all week the papers and radio had been warning people against camping in Wadi's as heavy rain was forecast. Ya see the danger with rain and wadi is that, the wadis in the RAK Mountains are dry steep valleys which funnel the infrequent rains down the mountain, so when it rains - which tends to be extremely heavy - you get flash floods, raging torrents of water crashing down the valleys, short but violent. Many have lost their lives to these natural disasters. So with that in the back of my mind, i set off (must find somewhere high to park the car)..

I arrived in the dark, must have been 9:30pm. They group had the fire going and we cooked, chatted and then went to get a few hours sleep before setting off early doors.
Well, not as early as would have liked, plan was to leave at 7:00am, we left at 7:50am. Roughly needing to allow 12 hours for this hike, we were gonna have to step up the pace to get back before we lost the light.

It's a pretty intense hike, climbing from 150 metres to 1400 metres very quickly. Then around the top of a horseshoe wadi and down the other side. Of note on this hike was Adrian Hayes, who recently entered the guiness book of record for completing North Pole, South Pole and Everest in the fastest time. I met Adrian on a climbing trip in Oman.

So I set the initial pace for the first 2 hours of the hike, the route that I knew reasonably well after my previous 2 attempts. Then the search for the elusive stairways began. After a couple of mistakes and back tracks we were on track and heading to the giddy heights of the summit. The stairways, to explain, are narrow rock stacks teetering on the edge of a 2-300metre drop. Not for the Acrophobics. The toughest part for me was 5 hours in, just after we broke for lunch, we had a slow hard climb up a steep face, it was exhausting and I was carrying too much. But we made it after a long grind. Then it was fun trying to find the right route down. With our 2 errors and late start, we started to worry about the time, added to this there was a massive thunder storm over Dubai, I received a number of text messages warning us of heavy rain and lightening in the city, we could now hear the roll of deep thunder a few miles away. The pace quickened. We were aiming for a large tree that was visible from the opposite side of the wadi, but things look different when you close on them and it was easy to see the tree at all times. But we eventually found it and , luckily for us, a group of Pakistani guys who were farming on the top. They were heading down and offered to guide our way. This was a blessing as the track was very tricky to follow. We reached the bed of the wadi before we lost the light, the last 30 minutes of the hike was in the dark and we were all very glad to see the cars, dry and safe. The rain had avoided us. Ten and a half hours, was a good time for this hike and we were all shattered and happy to have made it. Leg were gonna ache in the morning.

Click Here for all photos. Yes stupidly I carried my SLR all the way.

November

Matt: Where does time go? It's been a great month, I think I've manage to keep busy every weekend since my last post. With all manner of activities.

Rock Climbing, Extreme Hiking, Camping, Quad Biking, Dune Bashing, Picnic at the Polo, Snow Boarding and I think I did some work in that time too..

The weather is just about perfect now - you can sunbathe during the day and sit comfortably outside in the evening. Great for camping or Al fresco dinning.

The 'Ordinary Guys' have also managed to do the extraordinary and complete the UAE Desert Challenge. This is awesome news, we've been preparing for the event for over a year now and they have been training hard and raising money for great causes in the process. Check out the website for news and updates www.uaecharitychallenge.com. Well done guys, you should be really proud of yourselves.


This photo was taken as we presented the cheque to the Dubai Centre for Special Needs. It was a really fun day meeting the kids, showing them the bikes and bring smiles to their faces. The guys have raised enough money to buy a much needed extra bus for the school, an amazing achievement.

It's started

Matt: It was only a few weeks ago that I was out on a Joe's boat in Abu Dhabi, flitting around the islands and bar-b-queuing on the beach, but I was feeling it was still a little too hot to sleep outside after crashing on the deck for the night and melting for 5 hours. But this weekend saw the second sleep in the great outdoors, the season is starting and I'm stoked.

I met a guys, Mike, at the climbing wall a few months back, the type of guy you wanna hate but just can't, ya know, handsome, young, well travelled, speaks Arabic fluently, even though he's not from an Arabic background, fit, outdoor type that is into climbing... but nice with it. He said I should join him sometime on a climbing trip that a bunch of them often do. So the Eid break was fast approaching and I decided to see what his plans were, Perfect... Musandam, climbing, snorkeling and camping. So I stuck my hand up like and excited school kid, found a willing victim (Nice one Jenny) packed the car and headed off.

The Musadam pennisular is situated at the tip of Arabia, it's a governate of the Sultanate of Oman, separated from the main body of Oman by a strip of the UAE. Musandam is regarded as one of the most picturesque areas of the region, with it's rugged mountains raising to 1800 metres from the tranquil aquamarine seas and sporadically placed white sand beaches.

After crossing the boarder, Jenny and I enjoyed the pleasant coastal drive from Sha'm to Khassab, the road runs between the sea and steep cliffs for about 45 minutes. It's really scenic and quite stunning. From Khassab port we grabbed a local with a boat and asked him to take us 10 minutes up the coast to what is now fondly known as 'Climbing beach'. We seemed to have enough gear to be there for a week, thought we may overload the boat.

We were welcomed to the beach by a few of the team that we were joining, Mike had been delayed and was coming a day later. It was great to meet a bunch of new people, there was a good mix there. In the experienced hands of John Gregory and veteran climber I was soon forced into attempting a few of the climbing routes on the sheer face that jutted out of the sand at the back of the narrow stretch of beach. It was really good to attempt these climbs out in nature rather than on an artificial climbing wall. It still scares the hell out of me, but when you're 20 metres up a rock face hanging on by your own means, surrounded below by the amazing blue ocean, the impressive vista of the fjords of Musadam and have the warmth of the Arabian sun upon you, it sure makes you feel alive and it does a great job of reminding me why I live here.

We swam, snorkeled, played baseball, fished (15 of us around one rod) and then sat around the blazing fire, chatting, cooking, eating, singing and drinking. It was just cool enough to sleep but still a little too hot to venture inside a tent. But all is all a great weekend.

I met some like minded people that I plan to have many more adventures with, climbing and hiking in the region. I can't wait!


More pics click here

Official Complaints

Matt: I have received my first official complaint regarding the blog..but oddly it's a positive thing. Lenny wants more updates and thinks I've been slacking a lot recently! He's right, only 11 posts this year (12 including this one) so far compared to 41 last year and 65 the year before that!

So without further delay I'm gonna start posting again! Sorry! :) Beside the good weather is coming our way and there will be a lot more to post about! I'm sure you don't wanna hear about every trip to Ski Dubai or the desert, so will post the exciting bits!!

Here's to the beginning (Again!) Lenny!

I'm honoured! Yep I was humbled at the weekend when asked by John and Morwenna (Lenny and Megg), if I'd be an usher at their wedding next year (no i'm not singing RnB songs for the evening do, not that Usher ), of course I said yes and was flattered that they asked.
I met this pair of yung'uns 3 years ago when we all went and camped on a beach in Musandam and we've been great friends ever since. I've dragged Lenny out on many crazy adventures and even got Megg to come on a couple of gentler ones!

So I just wanna say thanks guys, it really means a lot to me. I look forward to it even more now!

The man who can't be moved

Matt: Summer is truly upon us here in Dubai. Ok I don't want to make those of you in the UK feel bad because you've had a poor show of sun this year (again) but the sun really is here in the Middle-East, The temperature is over 40 degrees on a daily basis now, frequently reaching 45+ - that might sound just what you need but it's pretty unbearable, especially when you're not going out to try to enjoy it! The humidity in the evening is crazy - there is no getting used to it. There is no sitting outside of an evening and as we're working during the day you wanna be cool. Ok, I'm not looking for sympathy here, just letting you know :) Take yesterday for instance,it was a good and bad day.. I had to struggle into a suit, shirt and tie, not done that for a few months, and then step out of the front door, scortchio.. but it was worth it, I had a meeting with a member of the Saudi Royal family, can't say more than that at this stage. But please keep everything crossed for me that the business comes off.

Business is as usual other than that. Masses of building going on in the city of splendors, road works everywhere all in the name of progress. I do feel like a grumpy old man sometime, i have to stop and laugh at myself - "I don't know why they are bothering, it was fine the way it was and it will never work" grumble grumble.. embrace change Matt, embrace it!! :)

Exercise? ok, so I wanna get fitter. Some crazy girl has asked if I would do a marathon with her, never in my life have I wanted to do a Marathon and quite frankly I still don't. But I would like to have done one.. there is a subtle difference! a tick in the box. I have an issue though, shin-splints, shouldn't really run - which makes completing a Marathon tricky.. So any Sport therapist out there that wanna offer some sound advice - i'm willing to listen! I do still run on occasions, but running on a treadmill makes me feel slightly insane and the outdoor surfaces round here are harsh on the old shins. slowly slowy i think.. with rest and massage!

I'll keep you posted! :)

Oops

Matt: I missed a month, there is no excuse but safe to say things have been pretty busy. Most notable of all, I've moved house. The renting situation here in Dubai is, quite frankly, a joke! It's a landlords and real estates market. Things are stacked again the tenants so heavily and nothing is being done. Let me explain. Firstly prices are high to rent and raising, that's never a good thing for a tenant, The Landlord become greedy, the own the properties and 2 years ago were renting these properties for up to a third of what they're gong for now - the landlords overheads haven't changed at all. Secondly, here in Dubai you have to pay upfront.. sometimes in one cheque if you're lucky 2 or 3 post dated cheques. So you spend half your annual salary in one go, then you have to pay deposits for the house, the water and electricity, the telephone, internet and TV. Stack on the the whopping 5% agents fee from the estate agents and you start to see the problem.

There is no incentive for the agents to get you a good deal, after all the more you end up paying for your rent the more money they get. The more you pay for rent the happier the landlord is and he's more likely to use said estate agents for the next property he rents after all he probably bought the entire street 5 years ago when it was built and paid about the same to buy as you're now paying to rent it. Ok, slight exaggeration but not all that far from the truth.

But demand is still high, so rents will continue to climb. There is a statutory 7% rent cap, but even that is faulting as there are ways around it for the Landlords. Estate Agents need to work on the side of the tenant, have incentives to reduce the rent cost for people. It doesn't seem right that I am now paying 3 times the rent I was for exactly the same property as I was in 3 years ago when I moved here.

Why don't you just buy Matt? Well that's the plan, but when you are effectively self-employed, you need 3 years audited accounts to get a mortgage and as the company has only been registered 7 month, that's pretty tricky to achieve.

Any way, I bit the bullet, I moved to a another 2 Bed villa in the Springs, nice little garden, 30 seconds to the community pool and park and I'll be a house owner out here before the rent is due again. I'm determined.

Other than living arrangements other notables are Motocross biking in the desert - what a buzz. Having never ridden a motor bike before starting your experience off road in the desert is, well.. probably a bit dumb. But I've been wanting to try it out for a while now. So I did. The 5 am wake up and 40 minute drive to the meeting point where I'd have my first biking experience was, decidedly, abhorrent. As for the ride itself. After a nervous start and a spectacular fall, I started to get to grips with it. Man you gotta love the freedom of the desert.

Planning another ride soon, so I'll be sure to get some pictures this time! :)

Where to start..?

Matt: Another year of my life passes. I've now been in the Emirates for 3 years, where does time go? I have to say it's been a pretty interesting and exciting 3 years, I met a lot of great people and done a lot of exciting things, I was a scary move to come out to Dubai, never having lived abroad before, but it's probably the best move I ever made. Of course I miss family and friends back home, but moving here gave me room to grow as a person, discover a little more about what drives me and has taught me a few life important lessons. There are times when it's been a lonely existence - but that only serves to make you stronger and more comfortable with yourself.

The 25th also marked my 34th Birthday, I guess some of you never imagined I'd make it this far - lol - either because you'd kill me yourselves or because of the crazy things I have a tendency to get up to! But I'm here and I'm loving it. We had an awesome weekend celebrating in style - Matt Style that is.. none of this poncy dinners in posh places.. nope.. We held a School Sports Day Olympics on the beach!! A lot of fun with events like javelin, shot-put, hurdles, long-jump, sack race, egg-n-spoon.
It was a great turn out too, take a look over the pictures - links below.

We chilled in the evening with a Bar-B-Que back at my Villa. Big thanks to Aimee for all her hard work and organising and thank to Matt (no not me) too for manning the grills, SOOO much food it was stoooopid! And finally thanks to everyone for showing up and making the day a lot of fun and for your kind gifts and cards!! You all best start mentally preparing for next year!! :)

Check out the pictures.
Album 1
Album 2
Album 3

Next: We revisit the 60 Metres of Rope hike

All in a good cause

Matt: My good friend Steve and JQ have been riding Motocross bikes in the dunes around Dubai together for a while now, along with Sean and Paul they have decided to ride the UAE Desert Challenge and raise money for charity in the process.

They asked me to help them out and get involved - which I was happy to do. So we've put a website together to track the progress, donations and the event itself. check out www.uaecharitychallenge.com for more info - photo etc.


We all had an amazing day a few weeks back when we went to visit one of the chosen charities that we will be supporting. The Dubai Centre for Special Needs. We got to meet lots of the kids and see the amazing work that the staff here do. It's a deserving charity and I'm proud to be part of the crew raising money and awareness. The guys, Sean, Steve, Paul and JQ are doing something really amazing and hoping to raise enough money to pay for a new, much needed, bus for the centre.

More photo's are available on the website gallery here.

Visit the UAE Charity Challenge website and see what you can do to help out! Every bit of your personal donation goes to help the charities we are supporting.

Business Begins Again

Matt: So I setup on my own out here over a year ago with Matt Wilson Design, time certainly races by! Thing went great and I gained a good reputation and a lot of great clients. Back in November 2007 I sat down with an old (nearly 40, Sorry Nick couldn't resist) colleague of mine. Nick Griffin has been in the design world for a long time, working out of London and Dubai and we've always shared a creative interest. I needed help on a big project that I had won and so I asked Nick to help me out. The project went really well and we enjoyed working together immensely. So soon after WilsonGriffin was born.

We have now official setup the company and are seeing a great deal of growth even in these early days. The website is up and running detailing project both Nick and I have been involved in over the years and we are getting our teeth into some great projects. Things are going really well and we're having a lot of fun, in between the headaches..

So check out www.wilsongriffin.com and if you need something creative drop us an email or give us a call. Your support will be very much appreciated :)

Desert Fun

Matt: Finally managed to get the dune buggy photos from Mary the Fairy(as pictured above).. So here they are for your viewing pleasure Click Me

Great weekend of Sadness

Matt: I've learned in life that you have got to take the rough with the smooth, while keeping a positive outlook! Consider that everything happens for a reason and turn th negative into a positive wherever you can!

Naomi, my dearest friend and my number one house mate for the last 2 years, has left me! She's moved back to the UK to be with her man. Over the last 2 years we've spent a lot of time together and had some really great times, adventures, laughs and much much more. She'll be missed by a lot of people here in Dubai, especially me. But this is a great move or her and I wish her all the happiness in the world. I love you Noms you'll always have a place to stay wherever I am and you'll always have a place in my heart!! :)
(so turning that into a positive: I get the master bedroom now, with a full-sized bath and everything)

The long weekend (Due to the Prophet Muhammed's Birthday) was taken up with a great Quad biking excursion into the desert, Hatta visit, social fun and goodbyes at Barasti, Dune Buggying and a last supper for Naomi.

The Quad Bike excursion was a lot of fun, we got up bright and early of Thursday morning and drove out to a section of the desert fondly known as 'Area 53'. Where we donned our protective gear, saddled up and hit the dunes on 450cc Yamaha Wolverines. A lot of fun ensued. These things are great in the dunes with a little practice and knowledge of the desert, the Wolverines are virtually unstoppable.
I went with, 4 friends, Karin, Gillian, Lauren and Martel (A swede and 3 South Africans) all ladies - yes it was a hardship!! *grin*. All the girls loved it too so it's not just a testosterone fueled, adrenaline ride. Martel managed to impressively roll her Quad, she dexterously jumped clear as having 230 kilograms of machinery land on you is none too appealing! I rolled the thing back onto it's wheels and a little shaken, she climbed back on and we continued.

We completed 50-60km worth of desert in a round trip over the course of 3 hours. I highly recommend it! Didn't really have a chance to fully open up the Wolverine, but I will, oh yes... I will!!





As if that wasn't enough desert for one weekend I took Angelica Dune Buggying for her birthday - it's a completely different experience to Quad biking, you feel very safe but that takes away a little of the thrill, there isn't so much skill involved and I had my foot to the floor the whole time wanting to go faster. But still we had a lot of fun and it gave Angelica her first experience of driving in the sand!! Happy Birthday Sweetie!! x

and Happy Easter to the rest of you!

Home-Coming

Matt: The rain has just started, again, and the storms are due at anytime now. I just hope the 80 miles per hour winds they are predicting today don't delay my flight back to the sunshine!!

It's been a great trip back to the UK, 10 days of family and friends, but it's coming to a close today.

Last weekend saw an influx of Family for Ma and Pa's 40th (Ruby) Wedding anniversary, 2 days of celebrations, food and joviality ensued. It was great to see folk, that I haven't seen in years and even at my age they are STILL saying 'Oh hasn't he grown' and other such classics.

Ma and Pa are truly an inspiration to us all, the trails and tribulations they have been through over the years and the everyday troubles they have to contend with must be extremely taxing. But in a time when divorce and separation are rife, they still stand together strong. They renewed their vows to each other on 2nd March 2008 at Clarenece Park Baptist Church and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house after Mother made her moving speech.

Congratulation to you both, from you ever loving Son. Dubai may be a world away to you, but I hold you both extremely close to my heart everyday.

P.S. Way-to-go Pops, with the whole stair and hall enduro ;)

Stairway...

Matt: 4.41 am it's still pitch out side, the wind blowing my flimsy tent around, I guess there isn't gonna be any more sleep before the start. I can hear Lenny stir in his tent, next door to me, he's on an even thinner bed than mine - on this ground, that can't be comfortable..

5:00 am my mobile lets out it's melodic electronic squeal telling me to get up. The winds picked up even more, but my tent is still standing. I look out through the fly net to see the blackness beyond, I can barely make out Lenny's Prado some 20 feet away across the stony Wadi bed. We pitched the tent on this uninviting rocky vista in the dark and we're waking in the dark. So this is it, this is how the Stairway to Heaven greets those intrepid enough to sample her splendors. Through tired eyes and limbs we pack up our tents and don our walking boats..

6:02 The blustering wind brings a light rain as our group begins it's trudge to the base of the climb, 20 minutes walking with flashing head-torches eradicating my night sight. The pace is quick to wheedle out the stragglers and split the group into 2. This was necessary as even leaving at 6am in the dark at a quick pace, if we waited for those not keeping the pace we could end up returning in the dark via some dangerous territory once we reach the point of no return... Group 2, with their leader, would be advised to do some of the hike and then return.

Stairway to Heaven: A serious hike that should not be take lightly.

Like most of the Wadi hikes in the UAE the Stairway is really tough going - especially in the dark, clambering over boulders and rock fields as the wadi swiftly climbs. It's also
a difficult path to find and I would recommend anyone attempting this to go with someone who knows the route well.

The sunlight, although filtered by a mass of dark clouds, was very welcome.

Like most of the Wadi hikes in the UAE it's really tough going - especially in the dark, clambering over boulders and rock fields as the wadi swiftly climbs.

The sunlight, although filtered by a mass of dark clouds, was very welcome from an illumination point-of-view - but did little to take the edge off the biting wind. I did have to remind myself on occasions that we were actually in the UAE and not the Peak District mid Winter..


The hike gets tough and steep, after about 4 hours you start to climb the cliff that gives the hike it's name, it's steep and has makeshift steps in palaces, piles of rocks to aid your ascent. The blustering wind was really strong up here, to the the it felt unsafe at times, in the main you were being blown against the cliff face, but as is the nature of wind in confined spaces, it was at best unpredictable.
Climbing the scary bits.
How these Stairways are constructed.

After several stairways we took stock of our situation, with another 20 minutes to the crest, then 4 hours along the ridge over numerous false summits before we reach the opposite side of the wadi and can begin the descent, we had to consider the weather. Thick cloud now gusted through the troughs around us but clung, a hundred feet over our head, like a table cloth along the entire ridge line. Up there visibility would be questionable and with the wind as it was, someone could have easily been caught off guard and thrown 2oo metres down to the rocky bed. It was unanimous, we'd done the most exciting and exhausting part of the climb and weren't willing to risk our lives for the sake of it, so we decided to head back the way we came.
This is how the ridge looked, hence we made our decision.

All-in-all, even though we didn't complete the intended circuit, it was a very rewarding hike. Some exciting climbing and we met some good people. We started at 6am and got back to the cars for around 12:30, a good days work I feel..

Thank to Anita for the Photos

Run, Mountain, Run

Matt: In my infinite wisdom, pure clarity of mind and stable state, I thought that after coming back from South Africa, where incidentally I went down with a bout of the flu, I would agree to run the Wadi Bih Relay..with merely a week to train and a get rid of a nasty chesty cough left over from the flu. Genius!!

What was I thinking??

The Wadi Bih Run: I 76km run through the Haja Mountain, broken down into stages, climbing to 1100 metres. The relay is for a team of up to 5 and you can split the sections however you see fit, the longest of which being around 6km. Mental.

Paul Louzado, somehow convinced us to join in. Making up 2 teams, team Road Runner and team Wile E. Coyote. We set off from Dibba beach at a little after 8am and proceeded to run for the next 6 hours, the support car would drive on to the next check-point for the swap over, so some legs of the run were very long and lonely affairs, but through the majestic Haja Mountains, rugged cliffs raising up on either side of you, funneling you on to the next bend in the trail.. occasionally rounding these bends the track would open out to wide wadi bed with impressive view of the vista ahead.

Overall a wholly rewarding exercise, with 62 teams entering, couldn't be all that bad, could it??

Well done to both our teams for completing the run respectably.

Yep - if you look hard enough at the pic above you can see me on the road ahead..this was the flat gravel road before climbing into the mountains!! Before I nearly died from exhaustion..

This weekend - Stairway to Heaven Hike....(sanity check optional)

Cape Fear

Matt: What a start to the year.. It's all been a bit of a whirlwind - so let me start by saying HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all had a great festive season.. I know it seems a long time ago now, but Hey! I've been busy!

So come the 6th of January I was away, winging my way to Cape Town South Africa to meet up with the delightful Angelica for a week of adventure and fun! Well that's how it was supposed to happen, let me back track to a few days before...

Fiona, Lenny and Myself decided to head out for a hike in the Haja Mountains, sadly we were greeted by a close border post, this but paid to our plans as all the hikes we knew in the area were through the border. But we were downhearted? No. we decided, with GPS in hand, to forge a new hike, hence for to be known as the FlyBoy Hike.

We drove through a small settlement nestled at the base of a steep looking unknown wadi and figured we'd climb up as far as we could and then about-face and come back down. So we logged the car point on the GPS and set off. It was a really good yet tough scramble, with some really interesting climbs and varied terrain. Eventually we ca to the summit 750metres up, there was a narrow pass which we decided to explore. We rounded a cliff to see far below an abandoned settlement atop a small plateau, typical dry-stone buildings you often find hidden in the mountains and beyond that there looks to be another wadi that could lead down to the road and back to the car. After a brief discussion and memories of '60 Metres of Rope' we decided what the hell, lets do it!
Pointing out the settlement to the others..

So we made our way down toward the settlement to survey the wadi. It was all looking very promising. We broke for lunch here with an amazing view and such peace from the bustle of the city. Traversing out way round the cliff to get to the plateau.

We decided it would be possible to get down the wadi to the road and make our way back to the car. It was a little scary heading into unchartered territory, but a real thrill and we had all the precautionary equipment if needed. There were some high technical descents which involved climbing and care, but we didn't attempt anything too dangerous. As we went down something flew in to my eye, causing me a great deal of discomfort, I couldn't keep the eye open for any time at all! Eventually after a lot of rubbing and prodding and inspections, I managed to get moving again, Fiona couldn't see anything in there, but I could sure feel something.
Well we managed to get back down the wadi and to the car safely, with a few 'I can see' stops on the way.

The eye irritation continued all that evening and I gave it a good eye bath the next day, the following night at 4am, I woke up in a lot of pain in my, red and inflamed, eye! After 30 minutes or so of prodding around in there with a torch and a cotton bud, dosed in Optex, I manage to get out one of the culprits causing the pain.. a live wriggling maggot, squirming on the end of the cotton bud, more were in there. I eventually got another out, but could still feel more.

Next morning, a doctors and a hospital visit later, I was sporting an eye patch and a small medicine cabinet and then boarding the plane to South Africa. Mid flight, I felt more movement in the eye! Yay!! So first stop post landing in Cape Town was the Ophthalmologist, who very excitedly removed the remaining maggots.. nice! Hence FlyBoy Hike, a fly must have died and dropped the buggers in my eye as I squashed him, they were still all out now and the vacation could begin!

Penguins at Simon's Town.

It was a great vacation too including: Exploring Cape Town, Climbing Table Mountain, Sea Kayaking, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Walks on the Rocks, A Game Drive, Sand Boarding, Bungee Jumping (Oh my gawd, the Fear!), and much more..

Click Here for the pics.