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.

Hanging's Tough!

Matt: Took another adventure trip this past weekend, I coerced Fiona into joining me as I knew she'd be the only one I could persuade!! and sure enough, she came, not really knowing what she was in for!

We took the long drive down to Muscat and then on to Bandar Khayran, ok that makes it sound straight forward and simple, there was the border to contend with which was hellishly busy and then there was the fun and games when we realised we'd left the maps behind..which in turn lead to us driving around Ruwi, Muscat for about 2 hours trying to find a turn off next to nonexistent 'Live Chickens' sign! But eventually we made it to our destination.

We setup camp on the Beach at Bandar Khayran with Anita, a fellow explorer. After a sleepless night due to noisy neighbours the sun rose over the impressive fjords of our bay, we woke ourselves up with a dip in the, millpond like, India Ocean before our guides arrived!! Whereupon we set about sorting the equipment and loading the Kayaks ready for our journey to the island an hours paddle across the bay.

We beached the Kayaks and the kitted up, donning our harnesses, gloves and helmets before trekking up to the plateau and across the island to the start of today's adventure.. Via Feratta!! Which roughly translate from Italian to 'Iron Path'..

The idea here is to traverse along the towering cliff faces, clinging to the rock face 40 metres above the ocean and rocks below! Whilst being safely clipped to a cable, just-in-case..

It was exhilarating, tiring and thrilling all at once! In some place the rock face was so steep and sheer we were virtually hanging from the cable with our hands with our feet braced against the drop! It took us about 2 hours to traverse the route to the point where the cable had snapped and we could go no further. To be honest by this point we were pretty knackered and still had to kayak back to the mainland and then face the 5 hour drive home to Dubai.

It was a great weekend which I throughly enjoyed, I think Fiona is realising that saying yes to my suggestion will always lead to a bit of an adventure!! Considering the difficulty of some of this adventure and the fact she was just coming through a cold, she did amazingly well and conquered some fears along the way!! :)

Full Selection of Photos Here


Here's Wising you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS - Love to all!

Congratulations

Matt: Andreas and Ruta have become, Mr. and Mrs. Vocale. Congratulations guys. It was a really small wedding here in Dubai as the main wedding will be held in Italy next year. They both looked really great and really happy! It was a real honour to be there.

In other news, I've been managing to make the most of the weekends, took a trip to Musandam last weekend, it was a 6 nations trip (Croatia, Germany, Switzerland, US, Canada and Britain)..We camped out on the beach amongst the fjords and the following day took a Dhow trip, which was very chilled. The scenery up there is really impressive, high jagged cliffs, still blue seas - amazing!! I was invited on this trip by Angelica (The Croatian of the 6) who I met the week before through a mutual friend. We had a really good time, saw Dolphins, Shooting Stars and got repeatedly stung by Jellyfish and sang songs round the camp fire, all ideal :)


Also that weekend, we did a little dune bashing and had a couple of BBQs. Overall it was a very social weekend, with a little stress and work thrown into the mix too. This past weekend involved, the 2007 Ultimate Frisbee Charity Tournament, which nearly killed my shins. We had a good team and ended up getting 3rd place - close guys, next year!!! and if that wasn't enough leg exercise for one weekend I then went on a 6 hour, tough hike on the Saturday. This was another, 6 nations trip (Croatia, US, France, South Africa, Lebanon, Britain), with only myself and the lovely Angelica having been on the previous trip. I really enjoy spending time with different nationalities - it's too easy to gravitate towards your own people whilst away from home. It's amazing how different peoples lives have been to your own and you can learn so much from them. It goes to show what a cosmopolitan city Dubai really is, it's a mixing pot and that's a good thing.

Busy Month

Matt: It's been a very busy month, I've had visitors for the past three weeks and work has been a little crazy!! Lesley and Sandra came out to visit - and we had a great time swanning around! The above pic was taken at 360, a 360 picture at 360 - I like it!! :) Spot the usual suspects!

Then for the last fortnight, my Sister, Claire and her family, Brian and Kalani, have been out visiting! It was really great to see them and show them around. Ok I was a little busy with work and couldn't spend as much time as I'd like with them, but they seemed to enjoy themselves, what with Snowboarding, Scuba Diving, Wild Wadi, Dune Bashing, Camping, Tethered Balloon ride, Dhow Trip and more.. I think I showed them a few things! Although there was still more to do - next time hey? :)

Thank to Alessia for these great pics:
Claire and Kalani: On the Dhow
Brian and Kalani: In the deep blue

Of course I managed to teach my nephew a few new tricks to entertain the ladies, bless him, he's such a cute kid and a babe magnet, I could use him as a wingman any day - just look at that cute cheeky grin in the above photo! It was great to have you all come to stay: Love you and Miss you already.

Other news: For the first time I lead a trip into the desert for a dune bashing session, a 4 car convoy, it was great fun, a few peeps got stuck but I managed to rescue them all. Well done to Becs for being the only one not to get stuck.

Retracing our steps..

On the approach to the village.


Matt: Lenny (John Lane, you figure it out) and I decided to kick start the Autumn activities this weekend. A hike, we thought, but where? we considered the options and both had the same thought. Why not go back and do the original '60 Metres of Rope' Hike to the plateau where we replenished with rain water? So we did.

We set off early Friday morning and drove up to RAK and Wadi-Bih. We let Fiona (She was gutted not to be able to join us) know where we were heading, as she knew the route and could guide anyone searching for us there with relative ease (should the need arise).

With 3 litres of water each, a reasonable stash of food and plenty of emergency gear to keep us warm and hydrated we set off. It was probably a little too tough for the first hike of the season, the first 2 hours are intense climbing and scrambling over huge, sharp rocks and boulders that got the heart pounding in your places that don't normally pound. We made good time on the initial ascent and exited the first wadi after a little over 2 hours.

The rest of the way to the plantation/plateau was easy by comparison with only a little climbing involved. As we ascended the second Wadi, we spotted some locals high on the cliff side above us. They called down inviting us up. Wanting to complete our goal we decided to continue to the top and then double back along the escarpment to join them, so as not to offend. We also wanted to take the opportunity to find out what was going on in this area, what the rock shacks were used for and who made use of them.

We made our goal after about three and a half hours and join the locals in this strange mountain-top village shortly after.

We made our way along the top of the escarpment and approached the deserted looking village, not really knowing what kind of welcome we would receive. The Emirati's spotted us as we made our way through the of rock walls and shacks. We were greeted by 4 young Arabs from RAK (Ras Al Khaimah) they bid us to join them. Only one of them spoke any English, Mohammed, which accentuated our ignorance and limited use of the Arabic language. We chatted with them a while, shared our dates with them and they offered us water and somewhere to rest.

It turns out the mountain top area was once used for farming and to growing wheat for bread, but is now merely used as a place of escape and solitude. Locals use the shacks now as little stores and getaways. We could completely understand why. The peace and simplicity of the mountains is such a welcome contrast to the chaos of the cities. It was nice to see 4 friends far from technology and distractions, with only each others company and a pack of cards. We shared stories and backgrounds with Mohammed and his friends and then bid them farewell, they showed us a easy root back down from the plateau, which was far from easy - but safer that our original decent plan.

We felt enlightened and it was surprisingly rewarding to go back here, knowing what to expect. We'll definitely go back again and camp out. Maybe even venture further and find the fateful place where we huddled together under single foil blanket to fend off the cold of the Arabian night.

Lenny at the top of the first Wadi.
The steep decent, spot the car at the bottom there. yep - we're heading straight down that gully!

Busy times

Matt: Things are cooling down at the same time as they are hotting up!! The weather is great now, you can actually step outside without sweating within seconds the fabulous middle-east winter is fast approaching, so the activities and fun are about to begin! Starting this coming weekend with a desert camping trip and dune bashing session!

Work on the other hand is getting busy,Matt Wilson design is taking on new clients and projects all over, I'm even having to draft some help, which is great.

I know I left you on a bit of a cliff hanger last time I wrote, well i'm in the process of exploring some other business opportunities and I just don't want to put the kiss of death on things yet, so stay tuned!

Other than that business as usual.. Wake boarding at the weekend with some crazy guys, snowboarding last night and I'm trying my hand at water polo, now I'm not a great swimmer so the idea here is to improve my swimming and swimming fitness - I think I'm a long way from being able to tread water for a full 45 minute game yet, but all good fun! (even if the team is made up of 16 year old kids that put my fitness to shame, drowning them is my tactical technique)

We did go scuba diving the other weekend again which was good, Leny and I went for a trip around snoopy, just the 2 of us (no not in a romantic way, Morwenna might be reading this)

Been a while

Matt: I'm rubbish, I know.. It's been a long time since I last updated. There has been a lot going on (just to make a change). We had a great diving trip last weekend, although one of the days was a little bit rough on the boat (green). I borrowed Fiona's new underwater Camera to test out, as sadly she had to fly to the UK. Got some great shots though. The visibility was great on day one. We saw turtles and sharks as well as the usual plethora of aquatic life.


Take a little look!
Work wise, I took a trip to Qatar to have a meeting with a potential client, which was nice, especially with afternoon tea in the Ritz! Doha, Qatar is like a sleepy, more chilled, less westernised version of Dubai. I imagine it's how Dubai was 15-20 years ago, it's up and coming though and give it a few more years and it will also be a business hub and tourist destination!

Thursday saw the start of Ramadan, a Muslim observance, so in true Ex-Pat style we had a pool party. Aimee hosted a rather splendid party with lots of fun, food and frolics in the pool. Thanks Aimathon! Then Saturday we headed to Dreamlands water park.. but that's a story for another time :)

Keep an eye out for more news from the middle-east.. could be exciting things happening here soon! out!!

Abu Dhabi (No not north Wales)

Matt: I'm currently sat, with the lovely, sleepy Fiona, enjoying a Latte at Starbucks in the Abu Dhabi Marina Mall. Having spent the weekend in the UAEs capital. We came down on Thursday evening joined by John and Morwenna and met up with a number of Dhabi based friends. Dinner at Bice (Be-Che that is John) in the Hilton on Thusrday evening with the Dhabi crew and then we spent Friday on the Beach and wake boarding. Aimee and Fran came down to join us for the day as Aimees friend Emma was arriving Friday night, coming to live in the emirate. So we used the opportunity to introduce her to a few people and have a few days fun with change of scenery.

Fiona wake-boarding in front of the Emirates Palace. Carving up the wake nicely! Boat could have been a little faster me thinks!!
Aimee looking very happy about being in Trader Vics awaiting the arrival of her friend Emma. Love the cheese balls don't we iAimee!!

Fran trying to look pleased about the cocktail Morwenna ordered for her: " Do I drink it or swim in it?"



Arhhh Love in Rock Bottom: Not sure why it looks so painful John! Where are your hands Morwenna? :)

Thanks for the wonderful Hospitality Justin and Emily. It was great to see all the Abu Dhabi crew again.