Beach Olympics

Matt: I got roped into (pardon the pun, see pic above) joining Nail, Syma and Friends for a day of competitive fun at the Duplays Beach Olympics last weekend.

It was a great day out on the beach, playing all manner of games against 32 other teams of 8. We managed to win all 4 tug-of-war games, weren't quite as successful at Volley Ball, Dodge Ball, but we very respectable. I can't believe how exhausting pulling on a rope can be. Was shattered.

Ultimately a good cause

Matt: The teams were gathered, it would be a showdown like no other, well kinda similar to last years tournament but that's not the point, the field was set, the warring factions drawn (read friendly players), the battle was ready to rage on through the scorching heat. Yes, we gathered at the American School of Dubai for another Ultimate Frisbee Charity Tournament, the third of it's kind. DUCE as it's now fondly known, Dubai Ultimate Charity Event

We raised a total of $10,500 for the charities - Schools in remote parts of India.

It's a really fun day, with people coming from all over the place to join in, we had teams from Saudi joining us this year.

A word from the organisers:
"The DUCE Tournament provided exciting examples of teamwork and athleticism, all in the spirit of friendly competition. We had raffle prizes, a BBQ and our Room to Read Café served up some treats in a nice quiet atmosphere. Certainly, if you could make it there was something for you to enjoy. Of course, we cannot organize these events without the support and donation of valuable time by our faculty and parents. DUCE was no exception and on what was a very busy weekend for our community, people came out and showed their support. For this we are very grateful."

Exploration

Matt: We went exploring - Jon and I took ourselves off into the unknown last weekend to see if we could create some new hikes, well one at least. We scouted the terrain in the Twain region on google earth and set off.

After nearly 2 hours of driving, and winding down some rugged tracks, we found ourselves at a large dam spanning the base of a wide wadi, the Twain Dam, so we did the courteous thing and drove up it and parked the car. Crossed the dam and set off to get to the top of the nearest peak.

It proved to be a pretty tough climb, with no path and a few false summits. But we eventually saw something that became our goal, a large billowing UAE flag a few kilometres away and a few hundred metres above us.

The terrain was reasonable flat, and crisscrossed with track where clearly quarrying companies had been prospecting for new sites. We climbed a steep track up towards the flag, it was surprisingly steeper than it appeared from a distance. "Oh the burn" cried Lenny, while I was concentrating on my funny walk to prevent an already large blister from getting worse, Stupidly decided to wear thick woolen sock and a pair of boots that I don't normally hike it. Idiot!

We made it and it gave us an impressive view of the wadis below, where there was a hugh amount of quarrying going on. It also afforded us a view of other potential areas to explore. After a spot of lunch we made our way back to the car.



We made it..



A game of CTF anyone?