We organized a camping trip during National Day weekend withe the ADSUP club and UAESUP, which was an awesome way to spend the special day. There were 8 of us who headed out an island off of the mainland armed with our SUPs, ready to paddle, relax, roast marshmallows and enjoy the serenity of being off the island on what is an absolutely crazy night in the city.



We paddled a bit in the afternoon after getting all set up and as the sun set we started dinner. Hot dogs, beans and potatoes did the trick. No campfire would be complete without marshmallows and smores. About 9:30 came around and we were luck enough to be a great position to watch the fireworks go off from Abu Dhabi, with a sound delay of about 10 seconds.



In the morning we got up and all went out for a paddle around 7:30 and to our surprise almost immediately we spotted 3-4 dolphins right in front of us. We chased them for a while, but they still are a bit scared of us innocent paddlers. Nonetheless very cool!


The boat picked us up at 12 and we still had a chance to paddle around Futaisi Island which has some amazing Osprey nests, with the birds flying all around I think we were a bit nervous that one would attack us as we paddled into their territory, thankfully they didn't.


Only problem with the camping trip was that it wasn't 2 nights instead!

During Thanksgiving Nick had a couple days off so we drove up to the tip of Oman called the Mussamdam Peninsula for some camping and paddling. We had just bought ourselves a couple of inflatable SUPs from C4 waterman and were stoked at the chance to now roll these suckers up in a backpack and put them in the car. While we still have our hard boards, these are much easier to travel with and were excited to put them to the test.



We did a lot of driving the first day and we headed all the way north through Dubai and the other northern Emirates to Khasab in Oman. Once you head north, the glitz and modernity of the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai quickly fade and once your cross the border into Oman, the scenery changes completely. Here you have the mountains that go in to the sea, where just off the road are small villages, where Omanis still lead pretty simple lives.




Once up there we drove to Khor Al Najd beach, which is this long winding road that takes you up and over a pass and then drive down to a gorgeous bay. We paddled for about 3 hours here uninterrupted except for a few boats, it was a amazing!

Not entirely sure where we were going to camp, we decided to drive along the coast for a bit and as we were going to end up in Dibba on Eastern side the next night we thought we'd just go there early, so we set off for another 3 hour drive before it go to dark. There used to be an easy way to get there with a check point, but that border has been closed so now you have to down and back into the UAE, around to the Eastern shore and then re enter Oman again.



We got to Dibba just after sunset and set up camp for the next two nights. The morning came we got up early and headed out for a gorgous sunrise paddle and in the afternoon headed to Wadi Bih driving up the mountain for a couple hours. While you don't necessarily need a 4 wheel drive as this is a graded track, it helps and we were thankful that we do have one. This a great drive up to the top, with some great views of the valleys and other peaks of the UAE close by.

Well, at least there's no wineries in the center of town. Bordeaux was the reason why we were off to France and Europe. I attended Eurocall 2010 and delivered a presentation there on Cultural Activities Promoting Active Student Learning.

It was very sudden but an old student of mine from Japan contacted me on Facebook to see if I really was in Bordeaux. We met Yumeko for a coffee and catch up chit chat. Truly amazing to see her again, in Bordeaux! She was there doing a Woof homestay. It is where you stay on a farm for free but have to work a little to pay your rent.

There's plenty to see in Bordeaux over a few days but I think we saw it all. Churches, rivers, cafes charging far too much for far too little coffee... things like that. Oh and where we stayed in town was covered in dog poop. They never clean it up. Thank goodness it rained one night to wash most of it away.... shame Jen and I got caught in the 20 minute down pour.